Beaming, with his recently earned certificate, the young Warialda speller excelled in his debut spelling bee, placing third in his year at the 2016 Premier's Spelling Bee Regional Final in Armidale on September 14.

The nine-year-old year 4 Warialda Public School student got through to the sixth round before he missed his word.

“I spelled bill, shamrock, I got out on the word porpoise in round six,” Christian said, adding it was a tricky word with that ‘i’ in it. He had mixed emotions about the event.

“I was both really; I was really happy that I came third, it was my first spelling bee, and I was a bit down because I only just got one letter wrong, and I was so close.”

He has been spelling for several years, and for school spell-offs, he prepares by going through lists of words, committing them to memory, learning some definitions.

“Tricky words like decathlon, and triathlon and telephoto and all that stuff, I’ve learnt what those mean,” he said.

Christian’s mother Kayla Whalan said her son worked very hard to prepare for the event. 

“He was quite nervous, but he just talked himself around I think and calmed his own nerves, and our whole family was there supporting him, and I think that helped him a little bit,” she said.

Christian had some advice for novices. “For the really good spellers, just practice hard, and keep confident,” he said. Don’t worry.”