Spelling success: Kerikeri 7-year-old tops NZ in ICAS international test

Beau Mounter, 7, has topped the country in the annual ICAS spelling competition. Photo / Supplied

Ingredient. Significance. Restaurant. Refrigerator. Bought.

Those words would challenge some adult spellers but to Beau Mounter they're child's play.

Getting them right — plus a host of other tricky words — earned the 7-year-old at Kerikeri Primary School the highest score of any Year 3 pupil in New Zealand in the annual ICAS Spelling Bee assessment.

Beau's achievement was recognised late last month with a medal that would normally be presented in person by the competition's Australia-based organisers, but due to the Covid pandemic a virtual ceremony will be held early in the new year instead.

Kerikeri Primary pupil Beau Mounter with his ICAS spelling competition trophy. Photo / Supplied

Beau's teachers describe him as an avid speller whose Christmas request is a spelling app to continue building his vocabulary and spelling ability.

Proud mum Kate Mounter said Beau was still considering his future career path but being a marine biologist, designer or engineer all appealed to him.

It may be that spelling is in his blood — his great-grandfather, Robert Dunn, was a Whangārei-based journalist who started working at the Northern Advocate at the age of 15. He eventually became editor and retired in the 1960s.

ICAS (International Competitions and Assessments for Schools) competitions are carried out online in 20 countries and cover a range of subjects for pupils in Year 3 and up. They are designed to recognise and reward academic excellence.