Sending this out to the entire school staff later. I liked it so much that I couldn’t resist sharing it here. In another life, I would be a columnist.

True story.

During my latest work review, my Reporting Officer asked why I often misspelt Google as Goggle.

“At least twice,” she pointed out.

Realisation hit me like lightning. It never occurred to me that I was making this blunder.

“Thank you,” I replied sheepishly.

Now, I bring up this anecdote because the English Department will organise our signature event this semester: Spelling Bee 2023. The Preliminary Round will be held:

• next Tuesday (18 July)
• 2.45-4.30pm
• Auditorium

We put ourselves in our students’ shoes and asked what would make this event more exciting for them. Our conclusion? If only teachers participate alongside students in the competition…

Therefore, we would like you to join us as teacher participants. We hope to have 4 volunteers.

Each class will send a pair to the Preliminary Round. Like last year’s finals, we plan to have Y1 classes compete with Y2 classes. Another round will comprise Y3 and Y4 classes. The students will spell about 10 words.

If you join us in the Preliminary Round, you will spell 10 words too. Perhaps you will get a perfect score, or maybe you will get some words wrong. We are asking our teachers to take a risk and have fun with the kids. Let’s show up, laugh together and enjoy the experience.

Because you wouldn’t be losing face. As English is an international language, it has absorbed influences from everywhere. This results in irregularities in its spelling system. It’s entirely normal to make mistakes - something that we emphasise to the students.

However, we also want students to adopt a growth mindset. After all, they can master spelling when they apply methods to learn words systematically. Your presence as teachers will demonstrate to them that mistakes are an integral part of the learning process. Part and parcel of becoming better.

If you would like to journey alongside the students for Spelling Bee Preliminary Round 2023, please let Kai Le know. We will include you in the schedule.

Who knows? Your presence could help a student remember a word for life.