All abuzz for the National Spelling Bee

4 Jun 2018

Learners across the country are getting ready to compete in this year's Spelling Bee South Africa, which is part of the Department of Basic Education's Read to Lead Campaign to develop a culture of reading and to improve learners' performance especially in the English language.

Now in its fifth year, the Spelling Bee - a competition for children in Grades 4 – 6 - has steadily gained momentum and learners are excited to vie for the sought-after title, ‘Champion Speller of South Africa’.

Old Mutual Marketing Executive Marcelle Arnold believes a love of learning and reading has the power to change lives. “It is great to be a part of something that is boosting literacy levels among our youth in a fun and stimulating way,” she says.

“Our country urgently needs more interventions such as this, as is evident from the results of the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which assesses reading comprehension and monitors trends in literacy at five-year intervals. It placed South Africa last out of the 50 countries that participated. At Old Mutual, we take our role in enabling positive futures seriously and investing in education is at the core of this.”

Partnership and prizes

In partnership with Camp I Am, an activity and skills building school holiday programme, Old Mutual has committed to print and distribute 40,000 Spelling Bee workbooks with CD-Roms to learners nationwide as well as sponsor cash prizes worth R20,000 for the winner of the National Spelling Bee.

Kai Crooks-Chissano, creator and executive director of Camp I Am, says, “Being able to spell correctly is key to being able to communicate clearly, either verbally or in writing. It is a skill partly developed from reading and opens the door to a child’s early academic success. Reading is the basis for literacy development and it provides a love of learning, and allows the child to explore and imagine. The Spelling Bee not only gives a child an opportunity to learn new words, it improves their level of literacy.”

The Spelling Bee is rolled out as a series of events that run from the school-to-district-to-provincial levels and takes place from May to August. The district winners compete in their provincial competitions, held nationally during August and September. The top three winners from each province go on to compete at the national finals in October and battle it out for the honour of being crowned the ‘Champion Speller of South Africa’.

Marcelle Arnold concludes, “It is an exciting time for all the spelling enthusiasts. As we gear up for the competition, I challenge parents especially to get on board by reading to their children and helping them study their spelling words. Our learners are the leaders of tomorrow and we love making their future brighter!”

For more information about the Spelling Bee or the 2018 Camp I Am Workbook, visit www.education.gov.za/Programmes/SpellingBee.aspx or www.campiam.co.za/spelling-bee/.