Manon Robinson represented Glen Urquhart High School at the National Spelling Bee competition held at the Scottish Parliament last Friday. She achieved the best score of all the First years taking part in the school and was invited to compete in the final in Edinburgh.
Thirty seven S1 pupils from twenty schools in thirteen authorities participated in the semi-final. They were asked to learn two hundred words in French, German or Spanish. They had to be able to translate the words from English and spell them using the alphabet of the target language. They had to spell as many words as possible in one minute.
After a guided tour of the Parliament, pupils were ushered into a rather grand committee room for the semi-finals. The contestants were facing the audience and the words were displayed on large screens behind them. The atmosphere was electric and there was a lot of encouragement from the supporters.
In the first round, four were chosen to go through to the final. Manon was first and subsequently achieved a score of fifteen words in the final, becoming the first National Spelling Bee champion for French.
The event was supported by the European Commission and organised by the University of Strathclyde and SCILT (Scotland’s National Centre for Languages). The MSP Maureen Watt sponsored it. The event was so successful; the organisers are very keen to see it grow.
Many thanks to M. Nègre, who encouraged the pupils to take part and supported them all the way to the final. A well-deserved trophy for the school.
