English Speaking Board (International) celebrates its 70th 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.
