English Speaking Board (International) Ltd

Category: Speech

  • Government minister visits Foxes Academy

    Penny Mordaunt visits Foxes Academy

    Penny Mordaunt, Minister for Disabled People, Work and Health recently visited Foxes Academy in Minehead for an event at the Academy’s very own Foxes Hotel.

    After a dinner prepared by the learners, seven of them gave a presentation on their passion for working, and put forward their ideas on how to decrease the learning disability employment gap.

    Said Penny:

    Foxes Academy is a real asset to the Taunton area, helping empower local disabled people in the workplace. As a leader in our Disability Confident scheme, they are also showing employers across the country how they can make the most of the huge pool of untapped talent that disabled people offer.

    The unique Foxes Hotel, which provides educational and vocational training for young people with disabilities, equips learners with the practical skills needed for future employment. As part of their Functional Skills programme, learners at Foxes Academy achieve nationally recognised qualifications with ESB.

    ESB examiner, Jane Cross, who attended the event, said:

    Foxes Academy is an amazing place and ESB qualifications are certainly an integral and very important part of their Functional Skills programme. They provide learners with essential communication skills to use in a work environment.

  • Celebrating success! Young Speaker of the Year 2016

    2016: ESB Young Speaker of the Year Award

    English Speaking Board International) Ltd. held its second Young Speaker of the Year awards on Saturday November 12. Winners travelled to The Old Palace in Worcester to attend the celebration and receive their prizes.

    The five winners were selected from 14,000 youngsters who took ESB speech examinations in 2015/16.

    The 2016 winners of English Speaking Board’s Young Speaker of the Year were:

    Gwendoline Hall – Red Maids’ School, Bristol

    Matthew Grayson – Wakefield Independent School, West Yorkshire

    Eleanor Latham – Blessed Trinity RC Collage, Burnley

    Katie Tarrant – Rainham Mark Grammar School, Kent

    Harriet Lang – Moreton Hall School, Shropshire

    Each student performed for an audience of family and friends during the celebration, impressing everyone with their skills and abilities, and their maturity and confidence.

    ESB’s Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw, says:

    Our mission at English Speaking Board is to extend communication skills, to offer opportunities to excel and to inspire confidence. We do this in a learner centred way with our students choosing their own topics, poems and books. It is wonderful to hear of their success and then share their passions at Young Speaker of the Year.

    Harriet Lang from Moreton Hall, said:

    I’ve loved Shakespeare since I was 11 years old and I’m hoping to study English at Oxford. The ACLA (Advanced Certificate in Language Arts) allowed me to choose the topic closest to my heart, which gave me the freedom to explore Shakespeare even further. I relished the opportunity.

    Matthew Grayson from Wakefield Independent School, focused his talk on his love of food. He said:

    Back in May when I did my ESB assessment, the number one place I wanted to visit to experience its food was Copenhagen. This year, my parents took me for my thirteenth birthday so I was able to give an update during my speech at the ceremony.

    The Young Speakers of the Year were joined on the day by the winner and runners up of our successful Sixty Second Shakespeare Competition. The national competition, held to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary, displayed the talents of pupils from across the country. They joined the Young Speakers in presenting their winning sonnets to family and friends.

  • ESB Level 3 qualifications carry UCAS tariff points

    English Speaking Board (International) Ltd.’s Advanced Grade Qualifications in Speech (Grades 6 – 8) are accepted by the UK Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and will carry the following UCAS Tariff points for university and HE entry from 2017:

     

    Grade 6

    Pass 8

    Merit 10

    Distinction 12

    Grade 8

    Pass 24

    Merit 27

    Distinction 30

    These Tariff points will be used for applications submitted for the 2017 admissions cycle onwards (i.e. for students making applications from September 2016 for full-time courses starting from September 2017).

    ESB’s Level 3 qualifications are Certificate in Graded Examination in Speech: ESB Level 3 Certificate in Speech (Grade 6), Certificate in Graded Examination in Speech: Language Arts (Grade 8) and ESB Level 3 Certificate in Speech (Grade 8).

    For more information please refer to the UCAS website.

  • ESB announces partnership with The Noisy Classroom

    ESB is proud to announce its partnership with The Noisy Classroom, a website and training organisation dedicated to supporting speaking and listening across the curriculum.

    The director, Debbie Newman, is a qualified English teacher, a former President of the Cambridge Union Society, a world champion debate coach and a former assessor for the English Speaking Board.

    She has gathered together a band of associate trainers whose experience includes working at the English-Speaking Union, the National Theatre and the City Lit.

    These trainers run workshops for students and CPD events for teachers in debating, public speaking and drama. The organisation works with Linklaters to run debating in Hackney primary schools and with the PiXL club to run a national secondary debate programme called “Up for Debate”. The website is full of free to access videos and resources for the classroom.

    Debbie explained the ethos:

    The Noisy Classroom is passionate about helping children to become articulate and confident adults.

    All of our lives we will be judged based on our ability with the spoken word. Whether it is going for a school, university or job interview, delivering a pitch or a presentation, arguing in court or working in telesales, our speaking powers can help us achieve our goals.

    The organisation places particular emphasis on debating; she explained:

    Debating is Oracy Plus. That is because as well as teaching the skills of public speaking, it also develops critical thinking. These skills in turn improve essay writing and examination performance.

    She added:

    That is why The Noisy Classroom is delighted that the English Speaking Board has added debating to its suite of excellent qualifications in oral communication.