English Speaking Board (International) Ltd

Category: Speech

  • Royal recognition for Merriel Halsall-Williams’ Cranmer Awards

    ESB Trustee and Vice President, Merriel Halsall-Williams brushed shoulders with royalty when the Prince of Wales visited Lambeth Palace to present the Prayer Book Society’s Cranmer Awards.
    prince of wales
    Prince of Wales with Cranmer Award Winners

    Merriel founded the annual competition for the Prayer Book Society in 1989 to introduce young people to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and to experience the magnitude of Thomas Cranmer’s words through reading aloud.

    His Royal Highness met the worthy winners to present their awards, after hearing them read their favourite passages from memory.  He has been a long-standing supporter of the competition, and says ‘I believe the Prayer Book is a glorious part of every English-speaker’s heritage.’

    Merriel, who organised the competition, was delighted to again welcome the Prince of Wales to the event and says,

    I’m so proud of the youngsters who showed passion and skill bringing Cranmer’s words beautifully to life, and I’m overjoyed that Prince Charles was able to witness the magic of the event.

    Merriel was recently awarded the prestigious Richard Ellis Award for her continuing outstanding dedication to the work of ESB.

    prince of wales
    His Royal Highness with Merriel Halsall-Williams

     

    To read more about Prince Charles’ appearance at the Cranmer Awards, please visit https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6730091/Prince-Wales-presents-awards-calls-demonstration-pride-heritage.html

    To find out more about the Prayer Book Society’s Cranmer Awards, go to https://www.pbs.org.uk/competitions-bursaries/the-cranmer-award

  • Czech learners find their voice in first ESB assessment

    prague school

    English Speaking Board (International)’s centres come in all shapes and sizes, from all over the world, but it’s not often we find ESB assessments taking place underneath a castle.

    Park Lane International School in Prague is unique as it stands tucked away beneath the walls of the city’s breathtaking castle, close to the historic Old Town.

    ESB Assessor, Julia Ward flew out to the Czech Republic to assess the learners, and was blown away by the talent and dedication shown by the youngsters in their presentations and poetry recitals.

    Says Julia,

    It was a delight to see the pupils carry out their ESB assessments with such confidence and skill, as well as hearing how much they enjoyed the experience afterwards!

    Siobhan Woodruff, English Teacher at the school says,

    Prior to the examination, the pupils were a bundle of nerves, but nobody would have believed that they were nervous when watching the actual presentations – they looked and sounded like supremely confident young adults.

    Please click here to see Park Lane International School’s website.

  • ESB is launching a new Speech pathways qualification

    English Speaking Board (International) Ltd. has improved the single unit ESB Level 2 Certificate in Speech (Grade 4) to give teachers and learners more options and flexibility to explore oracy in the classroom.
    speech pathways
    Speech Pathways

    Adding new pathway options will provide teachers with more options and the flexibility to explore oracy in the classroom in different contexts to suit the needs of their learners.

    ESB surveyed over 160 centres in relation to its portfolio of Speech qualifications. The results showed that schools would like greater choice for their learners and more opportunities for advancing their communication skills. ESB responded to this feedback by working on redesigning the ESB Level 2 Certificate in Speech (Grade 4).

    The updated and improved qualification will contain three exciting new units for teachers to choose from. Please click here to see these pathway options in full.

    The new options include using speech to inform an audience, for performance, or for employability. The addition of these pathways options were formulated to ensure ESB’s portfolio of Speech qualifications remain relevant and accessible to all learners. 

    ESB has begun piloting the pathways qualification in a number of centres to see how teachers and learners respond to the new options before its launch in September 2019.

    Effective communication is crucial for young people in achieving success in education, employment and life, and ESB strive to ensure every learner is given the opportunity to realise their potential through oracy.

  • “Character and resilience” as important as GCSEs for young people says Damian Hinds

    The Education Secretary addressed the Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership conference in London this morning to stress the importance of instilling confidence and character in every child.
    Damian Hinds, Secretary of State for Education

    Hinds declared that he wishes to “call time” on the phrase “public-school confidence”, arguing that such confidence should not be reserved for privately educated children only.

    Hinds went on to present his “five foundations to build character”: sport, creativity, performing, volunteering and membership and the world of work. He promises to increase schools’ access to these activities, ensuring that every child is given the opportunity to test themselves from a range of activities which all contribute to their overall character and resilience.

    With oracy skills playing a major role in all of Hinds’ “five foundations to build character” the initiative is warmly welcomed by English Speaking Board (International). ESB’s qualifications are specifically designed to boost pupils’ confidence through oracy.

    Says Tina Renshaw, Chief Executive,

    We strongly support the Education Secretary’s speech on “rethinking resilience” in schools. Our qualifications give young people the opportunity they need to realise their talent and self-worth, as well as giving them a structure of how to speak clearly and with confidence. We are excited to see character education spark interest in government decisions.

    Read about the projects ESB has carried out to raise achievement for learners in Stoke-on-Trent and in Plymouth and the South West.

    Find out more about Damian Hinds’ speech here https://www.tes.com/news/hinds-call-time-public-school-confidence.

    Follow our #RethinkingResilience conversation over on our Twitter page.