Isatou Cham Crowned Champion of Longman’s Inter-School Spelling Bee Competition

Longman Methodist School Contestants © Longman Methodist School

By Fatoumata Jaiteh

Longman Memorial Methodist Preparatory School crowned Isatou Cham as the overall winner of the 2025 Longman Preparatory Inter-School Spelling Bee, taking home a trophy and D2,000. The event took place on Thursday, 27th November 2025, at the school grounds along the Brikama Jalangbang highway. Chaired by Longman teacher Mr Sainey Amie Badjie, it brought together young spellers from lower basic schools across the region in a competition aimed at strengthening literacy and boosting confidence among early learners.

Organisers say, the Spelling Bee forms part of an academic development initiative for lower basic schools. They added that such competitions help children improve phonemic awareness, strengthen vocabulary, and build confidence in public speaking and academic performance. “When a child learns to identify sounds, construct words and understand word families, they are better able to form sentences and develop strong reading skills,” Mr Badjie noted.

The programme opened with a short drama performance by the Longman Drama Club, setting an energetic tone for the competition.

The final featured nine contestants from various participating schools, namely Longman LBS, Jamisa LBS, Kabafita LBS, Presentation of Mary, Deeper Life LBS, Marakissa, and MMPK Banjul LBS. The judging panel consisted of a pronouncer, a timekeeper and a chief judge, and each contestant was given a 30-second timeframe to spell a given word.

In the opening round, contestants selected numbers from a container, each corresponding to a specific word chosen by the judges. From rounds one to five, spellers worked from a word bank earlier provided to their schools. Several eliminations occurred during this stage, narrowing the field to four finalists.

The final round introduced a tougher challenge. Contestants were given new words outside their prepared lists – words they might have heard before, but not necessarily studied. According to organisers, this round was designed to test contestants’ ability to spell by listening, identifying sound patterns, and drawing on their understanding of word families.

At the end of the tense showdown, Isatou Cham of Longman emerged champion, taking home D2,000 in cash.  Abigail Gomez of MMPK Banjul took second and received D1,500, while Alagie Sowe finished third with a D1,000 prize.

The event, the first of its kind, organised by the school, followed a preliminary competition held on 13th November 2025 at the same venue. Schools that participated in the preliminaries included Longman Preparatory, Methodist LBS, Kabafita LBS, Presentation of Mary LBS, Marakisa LBS, Deeper Life LBS and MMPK Banjul LBS. Although all schools competed in the first round, organisers confirmed that Marakisa and Deeper Life did not advance to the finals, citing various constraints that prevented them from participating.

Speaking to Askanwi shortly after receiving her award, winner Isatou Cham expressed excitement and gratitude. “I was not even expecting this,” she said, smiling. She explained that although she studied for the competition, she maintained a balance with her regular schoolwork. “I just want to stable my mind,” she added. She encouraged her fellow contestants to “buckle up and try again” in future competitions.

Event chair and Longman teacher Sainey Amie Badjie emphasised that the school organised the competition to promote academic excellence and complement national education goals.

“Longman is known for excellence, and that’s what we want to promote among other schools,” he highlighted . “We believe every child must know how to read and write, but that begins with building words and understanding sounds. Through such initiatives, children gain confidence in spelling, blending and constructing words. Ultimately, they learn to read and write effectively.”

He added that the program supports the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education’s broader efforts to deliver quality education to Gambian children.