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The 2020 Spelling Bee was enjoyed by students across the College who tuned in from their Pastoral Care Classes.
Mr Lindeback and Mr Street, aka, ‘the BackStreet boys’, hosted the live event which was broadcast across the globe.
The College’s technical expertise was on full display as House Captains participated in a game of ‘Wheel of Literacy’ with Liddell correctly guessing the phrase ‘Get out of my swamp’ and Wilberforce expertly guessing ‘Onions have layers’. But it was Carmichael who had the most points at the end of the round, with a few lucky spins from Ms Raft and some well chosen letters. When asked about their letter selection strategy Carmichael representative Isabella said “we choose popular letters”, which was evident in their choice of the letter ‘V’.
The next round had students working together to crack the code. Year 7 and 8 were given a simple A1Z26 code. There are 26 letters in the English alphabet so A=1 and Z=26 because it is the 26th letter in the alphabet. Most houses cracked it with ease.
Years 9 and 10 were given the ATBASH code, this code is the alphabet backwards. For example A would equal Z.
Years 11 and 12 were given a Caesar Cipher. A code invented by Julius Caesar so his enemies could not read his letters. It is 3 letters back so A would be X.
Ms Pettet made a special extension code for the students who relished a challenge. Can you solve it?
It doesn’t matter what you read these days. It seems that you watch television or stream things. You feel you are getting a well rounded exposure to literature. You think that reading is a chore. Tomorrow isn’t, today is the day to change that habit. To change how that habit impacts your life. Go to your House and find a good book. What the book is doesn’t matter. Just slowly open the pages and read. It is the best experience in the world.
Hint: Go fourth and read – it may help you spell better.
The final round had spellers from each house competing in a traditional spelling bee format. Each house had success in different areas, with Lewis dominating the Anagram rounds but falling short in the quick spell. Would you be able to spell the words? Here are some from the day:
Year 7 and 8: Mischievous, Oscillate
Year 9 and 10: Parliamentary, Vulnerable
Years 11 and 12: Disappearance, Nonchalant
Mr Nicholas Lindeback
House Patron
