In September, every Year 7 French student was given the challenge of learning 50 words in French which they then had to spell aloud using the French alphabet.

It started as a class competition and the girls who won the class competition were given another 50 words to learn before the year competition. By the time I had reached the year competition, I had to memorise and spell 100 different words. The challenge was to spell as many words as possible in a minute.

In preparation for the regional final, we had to learn 150 words in French. We had to take part in numerous rounds and practice sessions in school and at home and at times, it was hard to juggle practising for the French Spelling Bee alongside homework but it all worked out in the end.

On Monday 25 March, Zoe and I took part in the London regional final of the French Spelling Bee together with 103 other competitors who were competing in French, German and Spanish. I was really pleased to have made it this far as the competition had started in September with 7525 students. We did really well but sadly, we did not manage to get through to the next round.

Although we didn't get through to the national final, it was so encouraging because our teachers motivated us to do our best and they reassured us that the outcome didn’t matter; they would have still been proud of us anyway. Most importantly, we proved to ourselves that we could do it and all in all, it was great fun to do something so unique and special – I even found myself spelling English words using the French alphabet in the build-up to the competition!

I hope to inspire future Year 7s to have a go at the French Spelling Bee. You never know, might get even further than we did. 3...2...1 Allez!