NASRUDDIN Islamic School surprised the more fancied schools in the province when they finished second in the annual Pick n Pay Spell Check Regional Finals Eastern Cape, which was held at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (South Campus Auditorium) recently.
Since its inception five years ago, the competition, which is designed along the lines of the traditional American Spelling Bee for Grades 5 and 6 pupils, has been a resounding success, with both prizes and participants increasing annually.
The competition is judged according to individual and team categories.
The top three in the schools category were Glenwood House Preparatory from Knysna, Nasruddin Islamic School and St George's Preparatory.
According to Nasruddin principal Nabeel Schmidt, the team of Grade 6 pupils – Nabeelah Jallal, Thaakirah Samie and Nishaat Johnson – all 11 years old – were chosen on the basis of their English performance throughout the year.
"We have a quarterly Spelling Bee within the school. And through that we did our own process of elimination and produced our top three spellers. And they did not disappoint, in fact they shocked us all with their success," said Schmidt.
English teacher Soeraya Laher explained that it was the girls' own dedication that took them to the top three.
"Pick n Pay sent each school a book containing 1400 words which could be asked at the competition. Obviously we had our own curriculum to finish although we did go through a few of the words with them. The majority of the work was done by them in their own time.
"It didn't take them long to get used to the atmosphere. All three of them progressed to the top 10, Nabeelah and Thaakirah went on to finish fourth and fifth respectively in the individual category," said Laher.
Nasruddin received a R2500 voucher from Pick n Pay and three reams of paper and a trophy.
Nasruddin were not the only representatives from the Northern Areas in the competition.
Courtney Bouwers of Sanctor Primary School achieved second place in the individual competition.