The Times Spelling Bee 2011 school team champions are: Thomas Kirkham, (12), Joe Tagliaferro (12) William Harrington-Clark, (12) and reserve Liam Spurgeon (12).
The outstanding young spellers gained a record-breaking 103 points, spelling words such as pluperfect, necromancy and expostulate.
To add to the accolade of being Britain’s best young spellers, TV personalities Dick & Dom presented Colchester Royal Grammar School with The Times Spelling Bee trophy and the winning prize, which is the chance to guest edit the Young Times section of The Times newspaper. Prizes for the top team also include a netbook for each winning pupil and a laptop for the school from Microsoft, an annual Cineworld pass each, the Spelling Bee trophy, a Collins English dictionary for the contestants and goody bags.
The individual winner in the Spelling Play-Off was Joe Tagliaferro from Colchester Royal Grammar School, Essex. The award for the last player standing is sponsored by Collins, the official dictionary of The Times Spelling Bee. Joe received an Amazon Kindle pre-loaded with 10 HarperCollins Children’s books, and the Collins Trophy.
James Harding, Editor of The Times, said: “I would like to congratulate Colchester Royal Grammar School on an outstanding performance in what has been the most exciting Grand Final to date. The standard of spelling has been remarkably high this year, so well done to all the teams who took part. The Colchester Royal Grammar School team have done particularly well throughout the championship, fighting off tough competition from the record number of schools who took part this year. They have trained incredibly hard and truly deserve to be the 2011 Times Spelling Bee champions.”
In second place was Brighton College Prep School, Brighton, with 93 points and in third place was Orley Farm School, Harrow on the Hill, with 91 points.
The Times is a committed supporter of English standards and a respected commentator on educational matters. The Times Spelling Bee is one of a series of nationwide initiatives to help inspire children and support teachers. For more information and a brief video of the 2009 championship which gives a flavour of the fun team format, visit: www.timesspellingbee.co.uk
