ESB was delighted to participate and showcase the impact of its externally assessed oracy qualifications at the Great Oracy Exhibition, hosted by Voice 21 in Manchester this week.

The event provided an opportunity for ESB to demonstrate its commitment to oracy education and connect with other like-minded educators in the field.

ESB’s Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw, says:

It was an honour for us to attend the Great Oracy Exhibition. We had a wonderful time discussing the impact of our externally assessed oracy qualifications and the significance of such qualifications in boosting learners’ potential and equipping them with lifelong skills.

The headline Sponsor ‘Poetry by Heart’  led a great opening session and we look forward to exploring ideas of how we can support each other’s work in the future.

Communication-rich experiences are key to helping children, young people and adults find their voice, developing confidence, self-esteem and self-respect. Human connection, individual agency, group work, and confidence are all central to the ESB assessment experience.

It was fantastic to engage with other educators and thought leaders in the Oracy field. Voice 21 has created an important and vital Oracy movement which lifts all of us up who work in the Oracy space. We spoke to over 100 teachers and look forward to continuing many of those conversations.

Also in attendance was Becky Bainbridge, a plenary panel member and CEO of one of ESB’s current centres, RECLAIM, a youth leadership and social change organisation based in Manchester.

Becky commented: “Arrived for my panel discussion at the Great Oracy Exhibition and absolutely thrilled to see our friends, ESB here!”

ESB and RECLAIM’s work together commenced in 2019, with its young learners completing ESB’s Speech Pathways qualification, ‘Speech to Inform’. Learn more about the impact of our oracy qualifications on RECLAIM’s young people here.

Tina adds: “Overall, the event was a huge success, and excellently planned. We look forward to participating in further similar events in the future to promote the cause of oracy.”

ESB offers a wide-ranging portfolio of confidence-building oracy qualifications from Early Years to KS5 and post 16 mapped to national curriculum standards.

Why ESB qualifications?

• A specialist awarding organisation with over 70 years of expertise in creating, assessing, and awarding qualifications for Oracy
• External assessment model with professional assessors
• Enables learners to gain 30 UCAS points at KS5
• Financial support available for schools in areas of disadvantage or with above average levels of pupil premium or those offering specialist SEND provision.

If you are interested in finding out more about ESB’s oracy qualifications and whether your organisation is eligible for financial support, please contact our Business Development Team at business@esbuk.org. We would love to hear from you.