RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship is Back

THE search for Singapore’s top speller is back!

RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship – or The Big Spell – was launched on Jan 26 at Shaw Theatres Lido. The event was  attended by over 300 invited guests, including teachers, pupils, organisers’ representatives and partners.

A group 160 students got a taste of what it will take to get through The Big Spell at the launch. To kock start the championship, two teams from Tampines North Primary School and Yu Neng Primary School faced off in a friendly spelling competition.

The students and guests were then treated to a movie, The Lorax, which is based on a book of the same name by famous children’s book writer Dr Seuss.

A group of omy Blog Club bloggers were also invited  to attend the launch. You can visit the omy Blog Club website to read their about their experiences. 

Here are some photos I took at the event:

This year marks  the second year that Malaysia’s RHB Banking Group and Singapore’s leading English daily are collaborating on the competition.

Mr Johari Muid, Managing Director of RHB Bank Berhad, the main sponsor of the Spelling Championship and a co-organiser of Malaysia’s Spell-It-Right since 2008, said: “The RHB Banking Group believes in making a difference and that is why we have embarked on this journey to nurture, inspire and empower the younger generation. The RHB-ST National Spelling Championship is just one avenue for us to reach out to as many young minds as we possibly can in the hope that one day these young minds will be able to create positive changes within their community.”

The Kuala Lumpur-based RHB has over 200 branches across Malaysia and the region, including seven branches in Singapore.

The preliminary round will kick off on March 9 , with more than 1,000 students from about 180 primary schools taking a paper test as a first step to qualify for the zonal rounds and the grand finals of the RHB-The Straits Times National Spelling Championship 2013.

Rich rewards are in store for those who make it to the top. The champion speller will take home $5,000 cash and win for his or her school the Challenge Trophy. The first and second runners-up will win $3,000 and $1,000 in cash respectively.

The contest aims to develop a greater appreciation of the importance of spelling in literacy development among primary school pupils and is organised in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MOE).

This year, The Big Spell will also increase spelling buzz in cyberspace, where the public can test their spelling chops in a suite of spelling games, fuelled by education technology firm iQ-hub.

The competition is also supported by the National Library Board (NLB).

All Primary 4 to 6 pupils of a full school under the MOE or the equivalent can apply to take part in the spelling contest. They must be nominated by their schools, which will register directly with the MOE.

The Big Spell’s official website will feature footage and updates of the competition.

Even if you are no longer a primary school student, you can still take part in iQ-hub’s suite of online games, which are also available via a mobile app. Game participants also stand to win prizes if they chalk up the highest scores on the leaderboard. Hurry and join now! 🙂