A chance to throw another curveball to Anthony Albanese inspired one of the country’s best spellers to claim the crown for the second year in a row.
Zachary Cheng, 14, returned to the prime minister’s office on Monday afternoon with a plan to catch Mr Albanese again.
“He’s not a great speller,” the Melbourne student joked.
Zac, Abigail Koh, 12, and nine-year-old Samuel Wright were crowned champions across three age groups in the Prime Minister’s spelling bee this year.
Zachary Green, Abigail Koh, 12, and nine-year-old Samuel Wright were crowned champions in three age groups in this year’s Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee
Last year, Mr Albanese didn’t get four letters of ‘magnanimous’, meaning generous or forgiving, before Zac stepped in to correct him.
Unfortunately, things didn’t get any easier this year after Zac asked him to spell ‘balalaika’, the word for a Russian stringed instrument.
“I don’t even know what that is… How can I be expected to spell Russian,” Mr Albanese laughed, before offering to spell ‘Russian’ instead.
Perth students Abigail and Samuel also joined in the fun of working with the Prime Minister.
Abigail, who scored a perfect 30/30 in the 5-6 year group, said she knew she wanted to combine her love of English and music and asked him to spell ethnomusicological, which means the study of music in its social and cultural context.
Despite the Prime Minister’s passion for music, even he could not correctly guess how it was spelled.
“I can say it,” the Prime Minister offered.
Samuel, who took home the Year 3-4 crown, asked Mr Albanese if he knew how to spell ‘Caesar’.
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister scored 0/3, misspelling it as ‘Caeser’, before having to go out to vote in a divided House of Representatives.
Four of the last six Spelling Bee winners are from Western Australia and wonder what makes their students in Perth such good spellers.
“What’s in the waters there?” Mr Albanese asked.
Perth students Abigail and Samuel also joined in the fun of working with the Prime Minister
The Spelling Bee, which is run by Children’s news and News Corp Australia, almost 60,000 students from 890 schools had registered for the competition.
Part of the prize for the winners was the chance to meet Mr Albanese at Parliament House.
News Corp community ambassador Penny Fowler said Spelling Bee was just one example of the organisation’s “investment in our youngest generations”.
“By making it fun, it helps instill in our children a genuine, lifelong love of learning through the written word,” she said.
“As a community ambassador for News Corp Australia, I am passionate about education as a force for good, driving positive change, and I believe this is critical to our long-term prosperity.
‘Making a difference through news and advocacy is the essence of News in the Community, where education is a top priority and Kids News an essential part of the way we inform, advocate and inspire to build a better Australia. ‘
Children’s news Editor Diana Jenkins revealed the competition would return for a fourth year in 2024.
“It is a joy to connect with school communities across the country to support the literacy of every young Australian,” she said.
‘Fun and free, the Bee brought together 57,453 registered students from 890 schools thanks to all the wonderful teachers who believe as passionately as Kids News that spelling skills change lives and create a better future for our children.’