OVERVIEW

The 2010 FUNSBEE (The First Uganda National Spelling Bee Competition (pilot phase Competition) will take place at the Rwenzori Ballroom Sheraton Hotel on 1^st August 2010 at 2pm. The First Uganda National Spelling Bee pilot phase Competition is open to

Students who:

1.    Are registered in senior 1 to senior 3 for the academic year 2010.

2.    Have good grades generally and especially in the English department.

3.    Are willing to participate in this event.

4.    Are recommended to participate by their teachers.

5.    Have got consent from their headteacher to participate on that day.

GUIDELINES

These guidelines apply to the 2010 First Uganda National Spelling Bee pilot phase Competition They are made available to participating schools, teachers, and students in advance of the First Uganda National Spelling Bee Competition.

They are encouraged to follow these guidelines and rules for their local spelling bees in preparation for the contest in August.

1. Participating schools must designate an English Head of Department or teacher who will coordinate and promote a school level competition, facilitate the participation of the winner at the final competition and provide information about the student’s participation in the Spelling Bee to the parents of the finalists.

2. The Pronouncer and judges are in charge of the competition on the day of the event.

3. During the competition, if a question arises among the officials, the Lead Judge and/or the Pronouncer may stop the competition, address the question in private by convening on-site, and when they reach a final decision, the Lead Judge articulates to the public both the question and the decision before continuing with the event.

3. Challenges or appeals to the judges' decisions by participants or members of the audience will not be considered.

Responsibilities of the Judges

Judges will uphold the rules and determine whether or not words are spelled correctly; Judges’ decisions are final; there are no appeal mechanisms in this competition.

Judges will disqualify a speller from the competition who:

– does not comply with the eligibility requirements, prior to or during the competition

– is not present when his/her number is called

– engages in impolite or inappropriate conduct

– does not approach the microphone when it is time to receive the word

– fails to start spelling when prompted

– alters the sequence of the letters already mentioned when in the process of restarting/retracing a spelling, or utters unintelligible or nonsense sounds in the process of spelling.

Judges will not accept any challenge or appeal to their decisions.

Judges will not allow participants and/or members of the audience to interrupt.

Only judges may ask for a playback of the current student’s spelling.

Responsibilities of the Pronouncer

The Pronouncer meets with the Judges before the start of the competition to review the words and sentences, and to make any necessary last minute adjustments where needed.

The Pronouncer ensures that the students are seated and ready, and may give words of

encouragement to participants.

The Pronouncer pauses for the individual contestant to take a position in front of the

Microphone.

In each instance, the Pronouncer will enunciate each word in a clear, distinct and audible manner as follows: the Pronouncer will read the word twice and will read the sample sentence and repeat the word for a third time if requested by the speller.

The Pronouncer shall pause for students to start within a reasonable time (no more than a

Minute), and encourage students or seek advice from the judges if a student fails to begin to spell the word provided.

The prepared word lists are graduated in difficulty; the pronouncer will begin a new word list or round when the previous list is exhausted, or when there are not enough words on the previous list for each speller remaining in the competition to spell a new word; these words may have been in the lists given over to schools for revision.

Responsibilities of the Spellers

Spellers are encouraged to have a nutritious meal before departing for the event; they shall be provided with snacks and water during the competition’s appropriate breaks. However, there will be no drinking, eating or gum chewing on the stage or in the auditorium during the event.

Spellers are expected to arrive appropriately dressed in their school uniforms for the event one hour before the start of the competition. The participants should be wearing the FUNSBEE t-shirts given to them.

Spellers will each receive a lanyard, upon arriving at the Sheraton ballroom. Accompanying teachers and parents will receive a copy of the programme.

Spellers will be seated with their parents, teachers or guardians until their names(given to the judges by the organizers) are called to step up to the stage; they will be assisted at the stage for seating arrangements, where final instructions will be provided.

Once on the stage, the group of spellers will be read the competition rules, spellers will be encouraged to pronounce the word both before and after spelling it.

Spellers may ask the Pronouncer to repeat the word and the sentence up to three times.

Spellers must face the judges and utter each letter clearly and with sufficient volume to be understood by the judges.

Spellers are responsible for their understanding of the pronunciation of the word; if the

pronouncer does not provide a clear pronunciation or provides an incorrect sentence, the judges or event organizers may step in and have the recorded word repeated; only in extreme cases will an alternate word be provided.

After beginning to spell a word, spellers may stop and start over, retracing the spelling from the beginning. However, in retracing, there can be no change of letters or their sequence from those first pronounced even if originally misspelled.

Winning or Losing

The oral spelling must be correct and complete for the speller to advance to the next round.

Upon incorrectly spelling a word, the speller shall be immediately eliminated and may exit the stage to join his or her family or school mates.

The competition continues until there are only two spellers remaining in the competition.

When only two Spellers remain in the competition and on the stage, the 1st place winner is declared when one of the two remaining contestants correctly spells the word that was spelled incorrectly by the previous speller and correctly spells one additional word immediately following the previous word.

Responsibilities of Event Officials

The First Uganda National Spelling Bee Company is responsible for the overall planning and organization of the pilot phase of the competition, which brings together students from throughout the districts of Uganda.

The Pronouncer and judges are in charge of the competition on the day of the event. Preparation starts in advance of the competition when guidelines, lists of words and sentences, and other relevant details are thoroughly reviewed, and two Lead Judges are selected.

During the competition, if a question arises among the officials, the Lead Judge and/or the Pronouncer may stop the competition, address the question in private by convening on-site, and when they reach a final decision, the Lead Judge articulates to the public both the question and the decision before continuing with the event.

Challenges or appeals to the judges' decisions by participants or members of the audience will not be considered.