NEW Lambton Public School's Wafiq Ayyash has been crowned the junior winner of the 2024 Premier's Spelling Bee final.
"It feels amazing to win," he said.
Held at Penrith's Q Theatre on Friday, November 1, 60 students battled it out with words such as 'fascinate', 'anemometer', 'allegory' and 'sovereign'.
Wafiq is from Bangladesh with his primary language being Bengali and his second language is English.
"Reading books has allowed me to learn English quite well," he said.
The last word he had to spell at the competition was 'treachery' and he felt relieved he had heard of it before.
"It was probably my favourite word because it is a little challenging," he said.
The spelling whiz came up against 30 students in year 3 and 4, while Hunter School of the Performing Arts student Mary Emile Obligado came runners up in the year 5 and 6 senior competition.
Hunter siblings Anica and Calvin N, from Biddabah Public School, and Anika and Anushka Iyengar, from Maryland Public School also competed on Friday.
The 2024 Spelling Bee's participation has increased by almost 10 per cent on last year, with nearly two-thirds of NSW public primary schools competing.
Regional areas are well-represented with students travelling to Sydney from Temora, Dungowan, Griffith, Yamba and Mullumbimby to compete.
Yamba Public School in northern NSW has had students compete in the finals five times in the past eight years, with this year's entrant Year 5 student Willow Allen.
More than 1,800 students competed in 60 regional finals over a 10-day period to reach the State finals. Of these, 303 students (200 juniors and 103 seniors) speak a language other than English at home, and 95 students (46 juniors and 49 seniors) identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said she was thrilled with this year's competition.
"The Spelling Bee shows just how inclusive our public education system is - any student, regardless of where they live, can compete and be a contender for the top honours," she said.
