The Times has valued the feedback received from teachers entering the 2009 Spelling Bee. All suggestions have been carefully reviewed and consequentially, the 2010 Championship features minor enhancements designed to make participation a more rewarding experience. We hope that these small changes will encourage existing schools to re-enter as well as generating new interest.
The format and structure of the Championship comprising of local heats, Semi-Finals and a Grand Final remains the same for 2010 but we have introduced a small number of minor changes to the spelling challenges which take place in each heat.
These minor changes include:
In the Spelling Play-Off teams will be rewarded two points for each correctly spelt word.
Reserve players have a chance to take part this year. It is ultimately the teacher and the team's decision, but teams may swap a player with the reserve before the Quick-Fire Challenge commences if they wish. The Spellmaster must be made aware of the change of player during the break.
The team MUST choose the level of difficulty they wish to take on in the Quick-Fire Challenge and submit their decision – in writing – to the Spellmaster before the end of the team break. Any team that fails to submit a written decision for level of difficulty required, by the deadline, risks elimination.
Team members MUST rotate during the Quick-Fire Challenge. This year each player has to spell in turn – teams can choose the initial order they go in and may still pass on words.
During the Quick-Fire Challenge the judge will be armed with a buzzer – if the judge deems a spelling from a player to be inaudible the judge will buzz: this signals to the player their spelling must be repeated before moving on to the next team member.