? Lighting up the night with Carol services
Petone resident Oliver Powell was 10 years-old he scored 100 percent
When Petone resident Oliver Powell was 10 years-old he scored 100 percent in the University of New South Wales ICAS spelling test. Two years later he has repeated the success. The tests are sat by over 1.7 million students from NZ, Australia and the Asia-Pacific regions, and Oliver earned the top New Zealand mark. He has been able to spell from a very early age and is already ambitions about writing. ?I would like to write novels ? I?d like to go to university to find out the different ways to write. ?Rather than just start to end stories, I?d like to know how to make stories in different ways ? I like complex stories,? says Oliver. For the Muritai School pupil there is apparently no hidden trick to spotting all the spelling and grammatical errors; they just ?don?t look right?. ?There is no trick; I just look at each work ... If I have seen the word before that would be enough. ?And if I?m in trouble I?ll look at which one makes the most sense or stands out,? he says. The exam involved editing and proof-reading as well as standard spelling tests. Currently enthralled by the book Chronicles of Ancient Darkness he likes to tackle stories of every genre. A Petone resident, he enjoys being located close to the beach and ?obviously? likes reading at any opportunity. The oldest boy in the family, he has a keen interest in history and knows his home on Buick Street was the European settlers first landing site. ?The Petone area was abandoned as the capital site because of flooding. ?I really like modern history, colonial history, like the Indians following freedom ? we are finishing a study on that at the moment.? Oliver will be presented with a medal at the NZ ICAS awards at Te Papa in December.
