HAMILTON South Public School student, Maya Thiruchelvam, has become the junior champion of the 2023 Premier's Spelling Bee.
The year 4 student beat 29 other children from across NSW at the spelling showdown at the ABC's Eugene Goossens Hall, in Sydney on Friday.
Maya's winning word was "tortellini", beating runner-up Joshua Quek from Putney Public School, who incorrectly spelt the word "amalgamate".
"I just pictured the word in my mind - that's what I usually do - because I've probably read it in a book somewhere, and then I pretend it's written down, and then I can spell it from what I'm picturing," Maya said.
The secret to Maya's success was simple - lots of practice.
"Most nights I did 10 to 15 minutes [practice], sometimes more," she said.
"Sometimes I'd read my word list before bed or before I did things, or when I had a moment of spare time.
"And then in the car, on long and short trips, mum and dad would give me some words to test me and I'd spell them."
Introduced in 2004 as a fun way for primary school students to engage in spelling, the Premier's Spelling Bee is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
A pool of 180,760 students entered the 2023 Premier's Spelling Bee.
Maya was the only student competing from the Newcastle/Hunter Region.
