Junior Spelling Bee

Our junior students are buzzing after the annual Queen’s High School Spelling Bee which was held recently. This bee-utiful event was held on Friday 23 August in the Information Centre in front of a sweet audience. There were approximately 30 entrants from Year 9 and 10 and our MC, Ms Lesley bumble bee Signal-Cambridge kept us entertained with her string of bumbling bee jokes.  All junior English classes have been a hive of activity in recent weeks, learning their spelling words and preparing for the swarm of competition from other classes. The queen bee for Year 9 was Jessie Avison (9SMI) in first place, followed closely by Chloe Gray (9SMI) in second place, and Lily Edwards (9SPE) buzzed in at third. The queen bee for Year 10 was Te Anahera Weepers (10BIS) in first place, followed by Micaela Silan (10SHR) in second place, and Billie Allan (10BIS) flew into third. We are extremely grateful to the honeys who were our sponsors; Shane and Julie Robinson from One Agency and the Queen’s High School PSTA. The queen bees in Years 9 and 10 received a prize pack including a Lenovo tablet to assist them in their flight through education in the Queen’s High School hive.

New Zealand Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Chloe Gray (Yr 9) who was first equal in the Regional Final of the New Zealand Spelling Bee, held recently. Chloe has won the right to compete in the National Final in Wellington in November. Chloe, and many other students in Years 9 and 10, put in a huge amount of effort to learn their words to qualify, and we were delighted that five of our students scored highly enough to make the regional competition. 

Poetry

Queen’s students have also excelled with their poetry writing. Ella McBride and Jessie Avison (both Year 9) gained 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, in the WriteNow Dunedin Secondary Poetry Competition.

This year’s judge, writer Fiona Farrell, made the following comments on their poems:

Candy floss skies (Ella McBride, 2nd prize junior section)

"This poem earns its place in a very strong section with its simple evocation of happiness: skipping along a beach, a candy floss sky. It’s delightful."

Book Fish (Jessie Avison, 3rd prize junior section)

"This poem chooses a surprising and original image for becoming absorbed in a book, and develops it colourfully. The language is fresh: the writer's mind 'slithers'. The brain is 'sandy'. And the whole poem works toward the moment of surfacing from the experience. A fine piece of writing."

Well done to all these girls. We are very proud of them and their efforts.