Spelling bee whizz: Brighton Beach Senior Primary learner tops Umlazi district
Rishay Kaur from Brighton Beach Senior Primary School reclaimed the title of first place in the Umlazi district at the regional spelling bee.
RISHAY Kaur of Brighton Beach Senior Primary School again proved himself to be a master speller when he claimed first place in the Umlazi District round of the recent regional spelling bee.
Also read: Buzzing spelling bee performance by Brighton Beach learner
The talented Grade Six learner, who won third place at the inter-district competition last year, said he was optimistic heading into this year’s competition. “I was very calm and confident heading into the spelling bee, and I think it comes from knowing I was able to do it last year,” said Rishay.
Following closely behind Rishay was Nizam Road Primary School’s Grade Six learner Annaleigh Moodley. Annaleigh secured second place in the district round of the spelling bee. The wordsmith learnt around 1300 words in preparation for the spelling bee.
With the first round complete Rishay will shift his focus to the inter-district spelling bee competition, which will be the real challenge for him.
Determined to perform better this year, Rishay said he has been putting in more effort. He has raised the stakes by increasing the number of words he learns in a day from 100 to 400. Last year Rishay was taken out of the competition by a word in the unseen section, so in order to combat that the bright learner has started reading and learning words straight from the dictionary.
“I started my spelling bee journey two years ago when my mother encouraged me to expand my abilities and step out of my comfort zone. When she saw how well I did in my initial competitions, she encouraged me to keep doing it,” said Rishay.
The spelling bees are one of eThekwini’s initiatives aimed at creating a passion for reading among Grade Four to Grade Six learners, and to practise good competition and public speaking skills.
The inter-district spelling bee will take place on September 11.
For more Southlands Sun news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox.
