Spelling Bee

EXCLUSIVESpelling Bee

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL PUB DATE FRIDAY 19 SEPTEMBER
Photo: Elsie Chittleborough (12), Prime Minister's Spelling Bee champion. SA's Elsie Chittleborough of Torrensville Primary School is the state's first ever national champion title in the PM's Spelling Bee after claiming the Orange level (Years 5-6) of Kids News' national spelling challenge, following a record-breaking 82,000 student registrations. Kids News and the Bee are key pillars in the News in the Community program led by Penny Fowler. Picture: Tim Joy. 16th September 2025

Bee spelling success pretty sweet

Back-to-back victories and a breakthrough win for South Australia have marked the fifth anniversary of Australia’s premier student spelling competition. FULL HONOUR ROLL

EXCLUSIVESpelling Bee

PM’s Spelling Bee national finalists

The third and final round of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee starts Wednesday, after state and territory finals decided this year’s national finalists. FULL LIST OF NATIONAL FINALISTS

Pictured is a current circulation $50 note printed with the word

Millions of $50 notes have spelling mistake

The Reserve Bank of Australia has confirmed it accidentally printed 400 million $50 notes with an embarrassing spelling mistake.

Kids News Spelling Bee for kidsnews.com.au

PM urges all to join Kids News Spelling Bee

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says spelling and literacy should be a national priority and urges all schools to join the upcoming Kids News Spelling Bee

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CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos - November 25, 2024: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese poses for a selfie with Red level (Years 7-8) National Champion of the 2024 Prime Ministers Spelling Bee, Aditya Paul and his family at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Bee blasts NAPLAN woes away

Teachers across Australia have flocked to register more than 51,000 students for the annual Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee as NAPLAN results highlight ongoing foundation literacy challenges

VIDEOSpelling Bee

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 24 2025

UNDER EMBARGO for print and Kids News for Sunday papers on 27/7/25 - please check with pic desk or Kids News editor Di Jenkins.

Supercars legend Mark Winterbottom with son Austin (front) and his Keilor Thunder basketball team members Nathan, Jalen, Matteo, Elliott, Henry, Luca, Leon, Oliver and Jackson

Picture: Brendan Beckett

Spelling skills rev kids’ engines

Racing legend Mark ‘Frosty’ Winterbottom spells out the secret to his success, as the father of three encourages Aussie kids to turbo charge their literacy skills in the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee

VIDEOSpelling Bee

DAILY TELEGRAPH JULY 4, 2025. EMBARGOED UNTILL SUNDAY 20 JULY FOR THE 5TH ANNUAL PRIME MINISTERÃ¢â¬â¢S SPELLING BEE.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Rockdale Public School year 3-6 students from left Roneyo Sherchan, 12, Katelyn Huynh, 11, Narayan Skene, 12, and Addison OÃ¢â¬â¢Docherty, 10, who were finalists in the NSW PremierÃ¢â¬â¢s Spelling Bee. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Albo celebrates Bee’s big birthday

Anthony Albanese launched the fifth annual Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee with the help of Rockdale Public School students. Get your free Years 3-8 activity poster for class and home HERE

VIDEOSpelling Bee

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL MAY 17, 2025, Do not use unless cleared by Kids News editor Di Jenkins and Sat Mags national editor Laura Chalmers. PMs Spelling Bee 5th birthday national feature for the Sat mags - Look back with the 11 national champions. Victorias three national champions - 2021 Green level (Years 3-4) champion: Arielle Wong 13 now year 8,
2022 and 2023 Red Level champion Zachary Cheng, now in Year 10, and 2021 Year 5-6 (orange) winner Theekshitha Karthik, then 12 now 15 year 10.
Picture: David Caird

Where are our Bee champs now?

With over 200,000 registered students since 2021, the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee turns five in Term 3 when the fun, online Kids News comp opens. Meet our champions and TRY THE BEE

VIDEOSpelling Bee

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos - November 25, 2024: National Champions of the 2024 Prime Ministers Spelling Bee. L-R Journalist and editor Diana Jenkins, Orange level champion (Years 5-6) category Jillian Strong, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Red level (Years 7-8) National Champion Aditya Paul, Green level champion (Years 3-4) category Echo Feng and News Corp Australia's Community Ambassador Penny Fowler in the Prime Minister's office at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Bee winners put PM to the test

It has become a tradition for the PM Spelling Bee winners to give the Prime Minister a little spelling test of his own, but there was one especially tricky word that Mr Albanese chose to pass on

VIDEOSpelling Bee

UNDER EMBARGO

10-year-old Jillian Strong at her Bellbowrie home, Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - Picture: Richard Walker

New Spelling Bee champs crowned

After over 70,000 student registrations, three riveting rounds and every state and territory in Australia joining the hive, it’s time to meet the national champions of the 2024 PM’s Spelling Bee

PM’s Spelling Bee: national finalists

The third and final round of the 2024 Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee is underway, after state and territory finals decided this year’s national finalists FULL LIST OF NATIONAL FINALISTS

VIDEOSpelling Bee

EMBARGOED FOR PM SPELLING BEE STORY UNTIL SUNDAY 1st. SEPTEMBER. National state and territory finals story in the Sunday.
Perfect score kid. Serpell Primary School student Kyle Hu 10, topped the country in the Years 3-4 Green level category of the school round of the PM's Spelling Bee and has advanced to next week's state and territory finals, representing Victoria. He scored 30/30. Kyle surrounded by some of the words he studied. Picture: David Caird

Meet the Bee’s ‘perfect score kids’

The 2024 PM’s Spelling Bee saw a record-breaking 70,557 student registrations – now 4500 of them head to state and territory finals. See the top school round results

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KIDS NEWS 2024: Prime Minister's Spelling Bee - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Education Minister Jason Clare encourage all teachers and eligible students to

It’s game on as Bee breaks record

Record numbers of students, teachers and schools have registered in the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee with more than 63,000 kids in Years 3-8 entered in the school round, running until August 23

Sydney based Author Suzanne Leal and her daughter Miranda, 8, have been receiving letters from Suzanne's mother's best friend Alison Whittle for years and believe there may have been a resurgence in letter writing during the Covid-19 era. Pictured are some general photos of the letters Alison has sent over the years. Picture: David Swift.

Letters worth writing home about

Writing letters by hand was once a primary form of human communication – it’s a dying art now but experts say the practice should be rescued from the dustbin to help Gen Alpha thrive

VIDEOSpelling Bee

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, NewsWire Photos. NOVEMBER 13, 2023: 2023 Prime Minister's Spelling Bee national champions: Years 3-4 (Green) winner Samuel Wright, 9 (grade 4), Years 5-6 (Orange) winner Abigail Koh, 12 (grade 6), Years 7-8 (Red) winner The Bee's first back-to-back champ Zachary Cheng, 14 (year 8) at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Kids go for gold in Spelling Bee

When they aren’t cheering on Team Australia at the Olympics, over 35,000 students and counting from across Australia are going for their own personal best in our national spelling challenge

VIDEOSpelling Bee

Business security concept with hacker with laptop and digital forex chart with graphs and pixel map.Double exposure.; scammer generic fraud

Scam smart kids start with ABCs

Scott Pape and other financial experts believe Australian kids need a ‘vital’ tool as Generation Alpha’s digitally-led lives mean they have to be scam savvy from a younger age than ever before

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DAILY TELEGRAPH. EMBARGOED FOR SUN 21 JULY, DO NOT USE PRIOR. Preview for the Prime MinisterÃs Spelling Bee. 2Day FM radio hosts Dave ÃHughesyÃ Hughes and Erin Molan pose on the stationÃs balcony at World Square. Monday 15/07/2024. Picture by Max Mason-Hubers

Is English down the ‘skibidi toilet’?

TikTok and YouTube slang has Gen Alpha speaking a ‘new language’ while parents and experts express concern about the state of literacy in Australia as social media reigns supreme

VIDEOSpelling Bee

Embargoed for the editorial launch of the Prime Minister's Spelling Bee, Sunday 21 July, please DO NOT USE. We have permission for ONE USE ONLY, these images are ONLY to be used in relation to Nundah State School's hosting of the PM's visit for the 2024 Bee launch.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Nundah State School students Matilda Sedgman, 8, year 3; Zoe Caporale, 10, year 5; and Avhi Hejeebu, 11, year 6; Prime Minister's Spelling Bee launch. Picture: Liam Kidston

PM e-n-c-o-u-r-a-g-e-s kids to BEE in it

The fourth annual Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee opens Monday as the PM rallies Australian kids to take part, as technology changes the world

VIDEOSpelling Bee

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, NewsWire Photos. NOVEMBER 13, 2023: Di Jenkins, Kids News editor, Penny Fowler and Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese with the 2023 Prime Minister's Spelling Bee national champions: Years 3-4 (Green) winner Samuel Wright, 9 (grade 4), Years 5-6 (Orange) winner Abigail Koh, 12 (grade 6), Years 7-8 (Red) winner The Bee's first back-to-back champ Zachary Cheng, 14 (year 8) at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Bee winners spell trouble for the PM

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been put to the test by the nation’s best young spellers. Discover if he was able to match their impressive word skills