Sydney, Nov 7: The NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee has crowned its 2025 junior and senior winners, with students from Narellan Vale and Eastern Creek taking out the top titles at today’s state finals.
Year 4 Narellan Vale Public School student Finn McGhee secured the junior division after correctly spelling subcutaneous in a tense spell-off.
The final came down to Finn and Year 4 Chester Hill Public School student Sukaina Kazmi, who misspelled sabbatical after an extended battle.
In the senior division, Svastik Biswas, a Year 6 student from Eastern Creek Public School, claimed victory after eight swift rounds with the word instrumentalist. His competitor, Mona Vale Public School Year 5 student Blaise Reid, faltered on Precipitous.
The finals brought together 64 of NSW’s top young spellers at Penrith’s Q Theatre, with participants travelling from as far as Broken Hill, Tregeagle, Tathra and Bega.
This year’s Spelling Bee broke participation records, with almost 200,000 students from more than 1,000 public schools taking part. Half of the state finalists came from regional, rural and remote areas, including all returning 2025 competitors.
Among them was last year’s junior champion Wafiq Ayyash from New Lambton Public School, back to defend his title, and Year 6 Coonabarabran Public School student William Weatherall, marking his fourth consecutive finals appearance.
Hargraves Public School was the only school represented in both categories, with Year 2 student Jack Primmer among the youngest competitors.
Students began with ‘seen’ word lists supplied by Macquarie Dictionary before moving to challenging ‘unseen’ rounds designed to test accuracy and composure.
This year, almost 2,000 students competed in 64 regional finals, and 23 finalists speak a language other than English at home, representing 16 language groups.
Launched in 2004 by the Carr Labor Government, the Premier’s Spelling Bee continues to engage NSW primary students in spelling, literacy and academic confidence.
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