Author: Liam Morton

English Speaking Board witnesses first-hand the immeasurable impact that its assessments continue to have on learners at a recent ESB virtual Presentation Event.

As part of its 70/70 Campaign, ESB has enabled sixth form learners at Smethwick’s Holly Lodge School in the Midlands to access its Level 3 Certificate in Speech (Grade 8) speech assessments, ultimately providing them with oracy skills to last them a lifetime!

The outstanding achievements of the school’s learners were celebrated virtually with all learners being in attendance together with ESB’s Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw; ESB Assessor, Rhydian Morgan; Holly Lodge Assistant Headteacher, Kelly Dunn and ESB Teacher and Deputy Leader of Key Stage 5, Raj Khera.

The engaging event featured two learners reflecting on their ESB journey and included one learner’s recital of her original poem, ‘Field of Gold’.  There was also a congratulatory message from Tina, a review on the assessments by ESB’s Assessor, Rhydian, and an emotional thanks to ESB from Assistant Headteacher at Holly Lodge, Kelly Dunn.

Watch the highlights video below!

ESB Learner expresses his thoughts about his ESB journey:
“ESB is the one thing that I enjoy most about being in Sixth Form. Completing it in a group setting has enabled me to make many friendships and my confidence has drastically developed. The idea of speaking in front of people can be a source of anxiety and fear but also something that constantly excites me. I went straight into my presentation and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t like before when I had this sharp pain in my chest when I was asked to speak. It is now something I relish.
“It isn’t just my speaking skills that have improved – it has benefited me in many ways. My writing skills have improved and my essays are now far more in depth. I am also far more critical about the things I read…and on the topic of reading …. I now enjoy it!  I feel like the best way to end is by saying thank you to Miss Khera. She made speech as enjoyable as possible!”

The learners’ experiences and achievement moved the senior teachers at their school due to the maturity, skills and character these young people demonstrated.

Holly Lodge’s Assistant Headteacher, Kelly Dunn reflects on her pupils’ achievements after completing ESB:
“Myself and Miss Khera are very proud of all of you. It is so amazing to see the support that you’ve all given each other. You’ve all blown us away. Thanks again to ESB!”

ESB’s Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw says at the event:
“In preparing for and excelling at ESB, your school has created an experience for you which you will encounter throughout your studying and working lives. You’re going to become familiar with unfamiliar information and vocabulary; you’re going to present information succinctly and be able to select just the right words you need which puts across your message. You’re going to be able to impart a perspective that has value to you, recall prepared information and listen to others to better understand and support them by listening openly and sharing ideas. What a range of skills that you have gone on to develop to the highest standards! Never lose sight of the aspirations of your learning, for yourselves, for your communities, and your lives which you spoke of in your assessment.”

ESB’s Assessor, Rhydian adds:
“One of the most important things about ESB is the confidence it builds in developing your voice, being able to use that voice and confidence throughout your lives. All learners at Holly Lodge shone in their assessments. Well done everybody!”

ESB’s aim is to prepare today’s learner for tomorrow’s world through its assessments – particularly reaching out to those learners facing disadvantage. By improving the life chances of all learners to reach their maximum potential and by inspiring high-quality communication in people, ESB recognises the value of oracy as a vehicle for social mobility.

With many learners at the school facing disadvantage the proportion of disadvantaged pupils at Holly Lodge School is well above the national average as is the proportion of pupils from ethnic minority groups and those who speak English as an additional language.

Holly Lodge is just one of the schools that is using ESB to help its learners to possess the communication skills needed to achieve their aspirations, but ESB would like to help many more.

If you believe your learners or young people would benefit from an Oracy journey which includes ESB assessments, we would love to hear from you! Once you contact us you can also find out whether your centre is eligible for funding and support. Please email business@esbuk.org.

For further details about our 70/70 Campaign, please click here.

English Speaking Board (International) celebrates its 70^th Anniversary in 2023! To honour this special milestone, we are launching a significant outreach campaign that will make access to our suite of speech and language qualifications more available to groups and organisations which are seeking to close the disadvantage gap. We hope to support organisations where their learners face disadvantage due to socio economic factors, disability or migration status. We will support them financially to access our assessments, support and training.

English Speaking Board continues to prepare today’s learner for tomorrow’s world through its assessments – particularly reaching out to those learners facing disadvantage!

ESB is removing barriers to learning by supporting disadvantaged learners from schools within the Rainbow Education Multi-Academy Trust to access its assessments as part of its 70/70 Campaign!

Established to provide the best possible education to children across the Merseyside City Region, the Rainbow MAT consists of a group of innovative schools where their young people face disadvantage, and who all share a common mission similar to that of ESB, to ‘inspire children to grow up and have a positive impact on their world’.

ESB has already successfully enabled learners at one of the Trust’s schools, Heygreen Primary School, access to its qualifications.

With many learners facing disadvantage due to socio-economic factors, disability and migration status, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils at Heygreen Primary School is well above the national average as is the proportion of pupils from ethnic minority groups and those who speak English as an additional language. Learners identified as having Special Educational needs and/or learning disabilities is also higher than average.

ESB’s assessments are part of the growing range of school-wide activities that the Trust provides which help to support the broader development of their learners’ English Language skills and which help to improve their outcomes.

Research from Sutton Trust in February 2019, for the APPG for Social Mobility, found that from the age of five, the UK’s most disadvantaged children can be 19 months behind their more affluent peers in vocabulary development, and this deficit can have life-long consequences. By not developing our children’s language and communication skills from the earliest opportunity, we are limiting our workforce and the economy.

With the above in mind, improving the life chances of all children to reach their maximum potential and inspiring high-quality communication in people is something ESB and the Rainbow MAT recognise, with both parties being engaged in the value of oracy as a vehicle for social mobility.

ESB’s Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw and ESB’s Communications Team visited the school during the preparation of the learners’ assessments to gain a clearer insight into their ESB experience. Watch the video below capturing highlights from our visit:

Class teacher, Andrea Beed expressed her thoughts on teaching ESB and the subsequent positive impact it has had on her pupils. “As a teacher, it’s my goal to help all learners reach their potential and effective communication skills are important in every aspect of life. ESB has given my pupils that focus and something to work towards.”

Adds Nicola Rutter, Head Teacher of Heygreen Primary School, “Last year, we launched our partnership with ESB with a small group of learners from Y6. This was through the running of a small lunchtime group that we called ‘Star Speakers’. This group was run by our oracy lead, Andrea Beed. As a result of this group’s participation in the Speech assessment, we identified that the impact on their speaking skills, self-esteem and independent learning was significant and, as a result, we are now furthering our partnership with ESB with our Y4 and Y5 classes. Y4 will take part in the Group Speaking assessment and Y5 will be assessed, individually, in the Speech assessment. The children and staff are extremely excited to incorporate the ESB assessments into our KS2 Spoken Language curriculum. We really believe in the value of this partnership, as it is supporting our pupils in developing a range of skills; helping to prepare them for the next stage of their education. “

Says Tina, “I am delighted to join forces with the Trust, enabling more disadvantaged learners to get their voices heard. Here at ESB, the learner is not a performer of studied pieces, but a person taking their place in society as a worker, a citizen. We do not only assess what the young person knows or says, but what they have become. We are passionate about closing the disadvantage gap.”

Read about what some of the learners at Heygreen had to say about their ESB experience!

‘’I used to be very shy, but when I started ESB it helped me get up in front of people and talk about things that I’ve never been able to talk about”.

“The more you speak, the more confident you feel”.

“We have enjoyed ESB a lot because it has helped boost our confidence!”

The Rainbow MAT is one of our groups that is using ESB to further its cause, but ESB would like to help many more.

If you are interested in finding out whether your centre is eligible for funding and wish to know the options available to you, please email business@esbuk.org.

If you believe your learners or young people would benefit from ESB assessments, we would love to hear from you!

For further details about our 70/70 Campaign, please click here.

ESB learners’ achievements were honoured at a recent Awards ceremony!

New City College in East London held its annual Student Achievement Awards Ceremony in recognition of the success of its high achieving students.

Five awe-inspiring learners were each presented with awards, including Adult ESOL Student of the Year, Young ESOL Student of the Year and the Ray Wilkinson Award for Outstanding contribution to the Community after completing ESB’s ESOL Skills for Life assessments. ESB’s Product Development Manager, Anthea Wilson, was delighted to be in attendance to witness the event.

Also joining the celebrations was special guest, former New City College student, Charles Babalola, who was responsible for presenting the awards. Having received the Alan Bates Award for graduating actors, Charles is best known for the films The Legend of Tarzan, Mary Magdalene, and the latest, Gretel & Hanzel. 

Receiving accolades were the following ESB learners:

Adult ESOL Student of the Year Award: Nielti Gebre
Young ESOL Student of the Year Award: Yousif Burhan
Ray Wilkinson Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community: Francia Rafalason, Francois Rafalason and Luis Main

Says Anthea, “I was honoured to celebrate the achievements of these exceptional ESB ESOL learners. It was fantastic to see so many inspiring young people being recognised for overcoming challenges through their hard work and resilience. Congratulations to all learners!”

ESB’s Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw, adds, “We feel very privileged to celebrate the achievements of these students. ESOL Skills for Life are qualifications designed for those who live study or work in the UK and we recognise the incredible obstacles some student have to overcome to become successful. They should be very proud of themselves!”

ESB’s ESOL assessments facilitate language development to help learners obtain the vital skills that support engagement in daily life activities, develop further learning and independence, and gain or progress to meaningful and sustainable employment. Its assessments enable learners to become competent in core language skills; reading, writing and speaking and listening. 

For further information about our ESOL Skills for Life assessments, please click here. Alternatively, if you still have unanswered questions or you would like to become an ESB centre, please contact our Business Development Team. We’d love to hear from you.

Let the ESB experience enrich your learners’ lives and give them the opportunity to shine!