The champion of Noam Primary’s first spelling bee admitted she was “shaking like a leaf” during the challenge.

Years 4, 5 and 6 at the school in Burnt Oak, North-West London were asked to learn 90 key national curriculum words for the contest, which was designed to encourage their spelling.

More advanced vocabulary and a round of “unseen” words awaited the dozen finalists.

To help the contestants, the school Zoomed in champion speller Simone Kaplan from the USA, who was runner-up in the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee last year.

Ayelet Joseph, from year 6, eventually triumphed. “I was terrified,” she said. “I was shaking like a leaf, but in the end, I won.”

Miri Kett, from year 5 who was runner-up with year 4’s Tamara Mirvis, said, “It was so exciting, but also scary, I really enjoyed it.”