Biddabah Public School siblings Anica and Calvin N and Maryland Public School siblings Anika and Anushka Iyengar will compete against each other in the 2024 Premier’s Spelling Bee finals on 1 November at Q Theatre in Penrith.

Anica and Anika, both in Year 3, will go head-to-head in the junior Spelling Bee, and their siblings Calvin, Year 5 and Anushka, Year 6, will compete in the senior Spelling Bee later in the day.

The siblings are among nine students from the Newcastle region hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow Novocastrian and 2023 winner Maya Thiruchelvam from Hamilton South Public School, winning with the word ‘tortellini’.

The Newcastle juniors will be up against returning junior competitor Bobby (Bogdan) Ivaneza, Year 4, from Annandale Public School.

Also returning is 2023 junior state finalist and Year 5 Coonabarabran Public School student, William Weatherall, who will be contesting the senior competition.

More than 1800 students competed in 60 regional finals over a 10-day period to reach the 2024 finals. Of the finalists, 303 students – 200 juniors and 103 seniors – speak a language other than English at home, while 95 – 46 juniors and 49 seniors – identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

Students spelled their way into the finals with words such as ‘fascinate, ‘anemometer, ‘allegory’ and ‘sovereign’.

To compete at the regional finals a student must have first won their school spelling bee.

The Arts Unit Premier’s Spelling Bee Support Officer, Desiree Lane, said the 2024 Spelling Bee’s enrolment increased by almost 10 per cent on last year, with just under two-thirds of NSW public primary schools competing.

“This year we’ve had a noticeably lower number of withdrawals from the bee, which suggests the new Zoom format we’ve implemented is making it easier for schools to participate, especially in rural and remote areas,” Ms Lane said.

“We had a starting pool of just under 200,000 participating students, with the most remote student from Broken Hill.

“In November, we’ll have finalists travelling into Sydney from as far away as Temora, Dungowan, Griffith and Mullumbimby, so the state is well represented.”

Ms Lane said Yamba Public was another school with strong traditions in the competition.

“Yamba Public has had students compete (in the finals) five times in the past eight years. The school has a history of strong spellers, and Year 5 finalist Willow Allen is no exception,” she said.

The Premier’s Spelling Bee encourages students to improve their vocabulary and spelling and promote literacy skills in combination with the English K-6 Syllabus.

The 2024 NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee is proudly supported by Primary English Teaching Association Australia, ABC Radio Sydney and ACCO Brands Australia, and Word List Partner Macquarie Dictionary.