Pupils Create Buzz at Spelling Bee Contest
Year 5 school children from the local area have showed off their spelling skills in the first spelling bee contest organised by the University of Hertfordshire.
Twenty-five children from five different schools competed in front of and audience of over 120 people at the Grand Final, held at the University of Hertfordshire’s College Lane campus.
With each round, the year 5 pupils from the Hatfield schools Oakview Primary, Howe Dell, St Philip Howard RC Primary and Greens Lanes, as well as from St Johns CE JMI School in Lemsford, were progressively faced with harder challenges. At the end of the competition, Ronak Parikh from St Philip Howard RC Primary School emerged as the overall winner. Pupils Stephanie Purcell and Zarah Mohammed from Howe Dell School took second and third place.
Susan Poole, Outreach and Widening Participation Project Co-ordinator at the University said: “The children and the audience all thoroughly enjoyed the extremely tense evening. We will be running the spelling bee again next year and give more schools the opportunity to join in.”