Horizon Spelling Bee 6th edition set for 25th September 2021.

The Horizon Community is all buzzing as we excitingly  look forward to hosting the 6th edition of the Horizon Spelling Bee Contest that is due to take place on Saturday 25th September, 2021. This year’s edition will be conducted online via the Zoom platform and it will also be live across our official social media platforms. The contest shall be strictly internal and  participants will constitute students from the sections, i.e. upper primary (years 4,5, and 6) and lower secondary ( years 7,8 and ). What a competition to look out for! 

The contest shall commence at exactly 11:00am for the upper primary spelling session till 12:00pm, and thereafter the lower Secondary spelling session that will run up to 1:00pm in the afternoon. Participants are kindly requested to keep time and be available to take on the challenge as per their different time schedules. 

AWARDS

UPPER PRMARY AND LOWER SECONDARY FINALISTS. 

• 1st place – UGX 150,000 and a Gold medal
• 2nd place – UGX 100,000 and a Silver medal
• 3rd place – UGX 50,000 and a Bronze medal
• All participants will be awarded with certificates. 

RULES FOR THE 2021 HORIZON ONLINE SPELLING BEE

Our goal as Horizon Spelling Bee is to promote best practices for fairness in conducting a first-class online spelling bee. 

1. Each speller will use his/her webcam to show the entire room including closed doors and spellers’ ears.  At the start of his/her spelling, each speller will be asked to use his/her webcam to show all parts of the room, including all doors which are required to be closed.
2. This spelling bee is conducted entirely online platform via Zoom. A computer with a working microphone and webcam is required. It should be tested in advance by the participant/parents.
3. Speller’s computer will be on a table with a speller facing the wall.
4. Spellers should try to work from / spell from a place without background noise or interruptions.
5. Spellers should try as much as possible to have stable internet during the online spelling bee competition.
6. Spellers may not access outside help or resources at any time during the competition. This includes people, devices, word lists, books, an additional computer monitor, earbuds, or software of any kind.
7. All Rounds will be held on Zoom, recorded, and/or streamed online.
8. Each speller will stay muted until they are picked on during their turn to spell the word. A speller who will disrupt other spellers will be disqualified.
9. Speller will have his/her face and hands visible the entire time he or she is spelling. At all times a speller is fielding and spelling a word, he or she must be visible for the judges to watch remotely, and his/her hands must also be kept visible. The sound may not be turned off at any time while a speller is spelling their word.
10. The speller will be encouraged to pronounce say the word before spelling it and after spelling it. However, no contestant will be eliminated for failing to pronounce a word, but the contestant must spell the word that is pronounced. While the judges attempt to detect a speller’s misunderstanding, it is sometimes impossible to detect a misunderstanding until a spelling error has been made. The judges are not responsible for the speller’s misunderstanding.
11. There will be no warm-up session, the spellers will be eliminated starting from Round 1. If this word is missed, the speller is out of the competition.
12. If spelling for Round 1 word is correct, speller will immediately proceed for Round 2 word. If the speller’s Round 2 word is correct, that speller is eligible to advance to the final/ following rounds
13. During these oral rounds, spellers may request any of the following: alternate pronunciations, part of speech, definition, etymology, and a sentence. Spellers may request for the word to be repeated.
14. All rounds will be timed. The speller will have two minutes to gather information, and finish spelling. 
15. Tiebreaker Test – This will be 25 very difficult spelling words that the spellers will contest until the tie is broken.

PRONOUNCERS

• The pronouncer in a round will give all available word information requested by the speller for the round.
• The pronouncer shall grant all such requests until the judges agree that the word has been made reasonably clear to the contestant.

JUDGES

• If a judge feels that the pronunciation of a word is incorrect, they may request that the pronouncer corrects his pronunciation. 
• The judges and pronouncer will not communicate with the speller during the final 30 seconds of microphone time. The judges will disqualify any speller who does not provide a complete spelling before the expiration of time. If speller was disconnected due to poor connection, a new word will be provided upon reconnecting.
• THE JUDGES MAY DISQUALIFY ANY CONTESTANT WHO IGNORES A REQUEST TO START SPELLING. The judges may also disqualify a speller (a) who does not approach the microphone when it is time to receive the word; (b) who does not comply with the eligibility requirements; (c) who engages in unsportsmanlike conduct; or (d) who, in the process of spelling, utters unintelligible or nonsense sounds.
• The judges’ decisions are final. 

APPEALS/CHALLENGES

• Appeals must be made via Zoom chat prior to when the speller would have received his/her next word. If in a late-round, the speller must appeal immediately, or the appeal will be automatically denied. 
• Appeals will only be entertained if a speller offered a correct spelling of a given word listed in the official dictionary that exactly matches the pronunciation, definition, and etymology given. Archaic variants are not appealable. 
• Appeals based on a speller’s misunderstanding, mispronunciation, or any other reason other than correct spelling, will be denied.

LEGAL

Online Spelling Bee will be recorded and potentially live-streamed via live-stream technology by Horizon International School Uganda. By the child signing up for this online contest, it means the contestant’s parent or guardian consents to allow the use of the contestant’s name and likeness, performance, voice, and image in any form by Horizon International for the purpose of promoting and delivering this event. We reserve the right to blur any images of items or individuals in the bee at our own discretion.

A note from the Patron – Edith Kawuma

Keep studying and learning as many words, definitions, and roots as possible to be as prepared as you can for the first-ever Horizon Online spelling bee 2021!  We intend for this to be challenging and fun for all. This is truly an event you don’t want to miss!