Celebrating Pupil Success in the CEBSB Bilingual Spelling Bee

During this academic year, the Chinese Department proudly hosted the Chinese-English Bilingual Spelling Bee (CEBSB) for the first time, a programme that seamlessly blends linguistic competition with cultural exploration. After months of preparation, we are thrilled to announce that nearly 100 primary and senior school pupils have successfully advanced to the Hangzhou regional round, an outstanding accomplishment that embodies the collective dedication and collaboration of our community.

Unwavering Support from 

Home-School Partnership

Following endorsement by the senior leadership team, we detailed the competition to parents through Dingtalk and letters to parents, receiving overwhelming enthusiasm. Many parents expressed gratitude for the commitment to providing diverse developmental opportunities.

Behind the Scenes:

The CEBSB Core Team

With members including Christy Wang, primary Chinese lead, Louise Zhu, Chinese language teacher and Nana Zhang, head of Chinese, the team worked closely with the national organising committee to develop tailored preparation strategies.

Overcoming Two Key Challenges

We provided question comprehension support for pupils strong in Chinese but weak at English listening.

We innovated solutions for the new 'Chinese Character Evolution' round (featuring small seal script).

Breakthrough Solutions

Ms. Zhu curated animated tutorials on character evolution and compiled a 500-character comparative chart of regular script vs. small seal script.

Our special thanks go to Y9 Cheney Z. for voluntarily contributing research materials. Cheney, a passionate pupil of Chinese characters with his unique understanding of their evolution, willingly shared his interpretations with his peers.

Pupil Excellence

Y10 pupils achieved a 95% advancement rate, which is particularly impressive given that many were also preparing as early entries for IGCSE examinations. Their dedication is the true testimony to the Wellington values of Responsibility and Courage.

This achievement belongs to every teacher who provided extra guidance, every parent who encouraged practice, and every pupil who embraced the challenge. As they prepare for the Hangzhou regional round, we cordially invite all teachers, parents and pupils to witness their growth. We are looking forward to celebrating their next accomplishments.