Pupils from Colchester have been hailed national spelling champions after a nail-biting grand final.
Thomas Kirkham, Joe Tagliaferro, William Harrington-Clark and reserve Liam Spurgeon, all 12, helped Colchester Royal Grammar School storm to victory in The Times Spelling Bee Championship.
Their team the Purple Blazers beat more than 1200 UK schools to make it to the final 10 at London’s O2 arena.
There, the young spellers gained a record-breaking 103 points, spelling words such as pluperfect, necromancy and expostulate.
Louise Eady, teacher at Colchester Royal Grammar School said: “It was such great fun.
“All the teams were great sports and I’m very proud of my own team.
“They worked very hard and have been thoroughly committed.”
* FOR MORE ON THIS STORY SEE MONDAY'S GAZETTE
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