Autumn- Winter 2020 Version 1

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Autumn/Winter 2020 www.esbuk.org

Contents

Message from our Chief Executive

Emma Hardy MP meets ESB’s Chief Executive and Trustees

International News

ESOL Skills for Life Online Learning Resources

In Memory of Joan Blackham

ESB Learner gets creative!

Qualification News: ESB Level 1 Award in Speech (Grade 2)

ESB Testimonials

12-13

Say hello to our new Trustees!

ESOL Skills for Life learners (above)

Message from our Chief Executive

CEO

Tina Renshaw, Chief Executive

Delivering assessments for our centres

I am delighted to welcome you to this Autumn/ Winter edition of ESB News. We wanted to get back in touch with you to let you know that English Speaking Board (International) Ltd. remains fully committed to supporting centres and learners during these unprecedented times and we are working hard to continue providing our personal contact and straightforward processes which we know you appreciate. We are delighted to report that we are fully operational during these times to take new bookings and support you with any queries you may have. With the recent introduction of Ofqual ’ s Extended Extraordinary Regulatory Framework(EERF), allowing Awarding Organisations to adapt assessments, if necessary, for learners to access and achieve qualifications, assessment bookings can be made with confidence that they will be able to take place. Responding to the current lockdown in England and our face to face assessments At times like these, we understand that community is more important than ever and out of respect, we are not sending any of our assessors to centres. Following the Prime Minister ’ s recent announcement of a month-long lockdown in England, from 2 nd November until 2 nd December, ESB International assessments will now take place remotely, using the video- conferencing facility that centres habitually use and one that your learners are used to. We have already offered this adaptation in the summer, and the learners, assessors and teachers found it to be valid, reliable and a very positive experience. The assessor conducts and assesses the learners ’ assessment in real-time and the

assessment has the same content and procedure as face to face assessments.

Detailed information about each qualification, how we are adapting it, and what centres and learners need to do to prepare for this current lockdown, when assessments cannot be held in person with the assessor coming to the centre, are set out in the guidance documents below.

ESB Centre Guidance for ESOL Skills for Life Assessments from 2 nd November

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ESB Centre Guidance for Speech Assessments from 2 nd November

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Any questions centre staff may have about these guidance documents or delivering adapted assessments, please email product@esbuk.org. We are ready when this current lockdown finishes in England to offer face to face assessments again or if there are local restrictions in place, to continue to offer adapted assessments. So again, you can be confident of continuing to prepare your learners for their assessments in the Spring and Summer terms. We do hope you enjoy reading this abridged edition and keep up to date about the work we are doing. We are always keen to hear your feedback and your opinion on the content of what you would like to see in future ESB news ’ editions is very much welcomed. On behalf of all the team, we look forward to supporting your learners to achieve during all of the challenges that we face and take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support. We very much looking forward to working with you in 2020 and 2021.

Au-

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Emma Hardy MP meets ESB ’ s Chief Executive and Trustees

Speech

As a member of The Oracy Network, ESB is proud to be part of the Oracy All-Party parliamentary inquiry Speak for Change , led by Chair, Emma Hardy MP, which is paving the way to improve oracy education in schools. Following on from submitting ESB ’ s written evidence to the Oracy APPG, Tina Renshaw was delighted to take the opportunity to meet with the Chair to showcase the benefits of ESB ’ s unique assessment methodology as part of the larger debate on Oracy. Joining the meeting were two Trustees of ESB, bringing their perspectives as educational practitioners of providing oracy assessments in disadvantaged areas of the UK. They were Avril Newman, Headteacher of London ’ s Sir William Borough Primary School, a state primary school serving the local communities of Tower Hamlets and Julia Ward, Managing Director of the South West ’ s Articulacy.

Our learners do, not because they thought they have done it wrong, but because they loved it! So, we believe it is a unique contribution in improving learners ’ oracy skills.

“ To really understand the value of ESB ’ s assessment methodology, you need to see it; to hear about the confidence that assessments bring, the enjoyment of actually participating in the assessment and the validation to so many learners that they have achieved! ” Sir William Burrough Primary School ’ s “ You Can Do It ” programme keeps pupils ’ levels of confidence and resilience high, something ESB strongly supports. Its classrooms are consistently alive with energy, passion and inspiration. The school has been completing ESB assessments for many years as it recognises the improvement in its pupils ’ self-confidence and communication skills. Says Avril: “ ESB assessments have been a great gift to our school. They give our pupils a structure and purpose and help them to find their voice. “ The speeches that my learners complete as part of their ESB assessment are very close to the heart and the culture of the community that I serve. They have the most enchanting experience with an ESB assessor and they then feel a sense of achievement when they receive a certificate at the end of it. Do not underestimate the joy of that golden ticket that those children take home, that they can share and display, that their families in overcrowded, intergenerational, non- English speaking homes have enormous pride in. ”

ESB Learners at Sir William Borough Primary School

Tina says: “ We offer our learners fantastic confidence building experiences to demonstrate the skills that they ’ ve developed in speaking and listening or oracy, and we do this through assessment. For many learners to have an adult (our assessor) listen to them, to what they have to say and to how they listen to their peers, to acknowledge and reward their work and effort is a singular and affirming experience.

“ ESB is an exciting opportunity and there ’ s not many times when learners come out of an assessment and say, ‘ Can I do that again please? ’

Do not underestimate the joy of that golden ticket that those children take home, that they can share and display, that their families in overcrowded, intergenerational, non-English speaking homes have enormous pride in. ”

Avril Newman

As one of ESB ’ s centres, Articulacy specialises in offering workshops,

particularly as a vehicle for social mobility that build confidence and raise self-esteem through spoken English. By incorporating ESB into their workshops, learners are awarded with an accredited qualification at the end of their training, giving them a sense of achievement and evidence of their progression. Julia says: “ Our students thoroughly enjoy completing ESB assessments and are proud to gain a qualification that provides them with valuable skills that will last them a lifetime! The team behind Articulacy share a similar ethos to ESB and believe that ESB assessments help equip people with great oracy skills allowing them to communicate, both professionally and personally, with confidence. ” Tina adds: “ ESB is proud to be part of the Oracy APPG ’ s inquiry championing the value of good speaking and listening skills and the need for oracy to be reflected in educational policy making and curriculum development. It ’ s fantastic to see that oracy is starting to be recognised as a priority in education! Emma Hardy has invited me to be part of one of the next APPG panels and so we will have more opportunities to advocate the place of our unique assessments as being a valid pathway of promoting oracy in our schools. ”

Watch the video below demonstrating the positive experience that ESB assessments bring from start to finish at Avril ’ s school.

Our assessment methodology aims are to build confidence, focus on the interactivity of communication and the personal development it creates. ESB ’ s assessments give agency to the learners; it is for them to choose their subjects upon which to prepare and be assessed. We externally assess 12-14,000 learners a year, counting amongst our centres award winning special education providers, schools in opportunity areas and the third sector with charities. Our focus is not one of performance but communication – speaking, listening, preparing the learner to take their place in society as a worker and citizen. For social mobility, we as citizens should be equipped to inform, instruct, draw out from others, explain, question, interpret, listen, disagree and advise.

Welcome to our ESOL International Family

ESOL

International

Since welcoming two new exclusively licensed centres to our ESOL International family; Bulgaria and North Macedonia earlier in the year, ESB has held webinars for over 60 teachers introducing them to ESB International and our assessments. Led by our superb ESB international representative Fabiana Pica and hosted by our in-country colleagues Charlie Zdravchev in Bulgaria and Vesna Milevska in North Macedonia, teachers have been given techniques for excellent classroom activities to enhance candidates ’ speaking skills. Our ESOL International qualifications raise employability and CEF progression and learners enjoy completing our made-to- order high quality assessments.

Tina Renshaw, says:

“ Despite these difficult times, ESB International continues to support all our centres, as well as welcoming new international ones. Focusing on the future, we are currently piloting online ESOL international assessments. This work, with international e-assessment developers, will broaden the opportunities for learners accessing our assessments. Congratulations to all our colleagues leading ESB International ’ s implementation in Bulgaria and North Macedonia. ”

Online Learning Resources: Entry Level Writing

ESOL Skills for Life

We fully understand that making the transition from classroom learning to working remotely can be challenging. Our priority is to support our learners as they develop their language skills and integrate into their communities, by empowering them with the skills to boost progression and employability through our learner-focused ESOL Skills for Life qualifications. Anthea Wilson, Product Development Manager

ESB International is delighted to release a range of online resources for its ESOL Skills for Life learners to help them to prepare for their Writing assessment.

To access these resources, all you need to do is log in to your ‘ My ESB ’ hub and click on the ‘ Online Resources ’ tab on the left-hand side.

From there, you are free to share the URL with your learners as these resources will offer assessment preparation that your learners can do from home. These resources cover a range of tasks that are included in the Entry Level Writing Mode, including:

ESB International has released pilot versions of online resources for the following qualifications:

 ESB Entry Level Award in ESOL Skills for Life (Writing) (Entry 1) ESB Entry Level Award in ESOL Skills for Life (Writing) (Entry 2) ESB Entry Level Award in ESOL Skills for Life (Writing) (Entry 3) Pilot versions of resources for the following qualifications are in development and will be released shortly: ESB Level 1 Award in ESOL Skills for Life (Writing) ESB Level 2 Award in ESOL Skills for Life (Writing)  These online resources have been designed as self-tuition and self-assessment tools for your learners to improve their English language writing skills in carefully levelled exercises that have been designed and tested by ESB experts.   

spelling

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form filling punctuation

planning

sequencing

These resources are still in the pilot stage, and we are planning further improvements to be released as soon as possible.

In Memory

Tributes to Joan Blackham It is with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of a much loved ESB member and supporter, Joan Blackham.

Away from ESB, Joan was an experienced character actress working in film, television and theatre alongside household names like John Thaw, Patricia Hodge, Jemma Redgrave and Kenneth Williams. She starred in the original West End production of Calendar Girls and as Eleanor Roosevelt in the film Battle for Sevastopol. She also featured in the hit movie Bridget Jones ’ s Diary, as well as many, many popular TV series.

When she wasn ’ t on stage or in front of the camera, Joan ’ s other great love was being an ESB as- sessor. She specialised in assessing learners with Special Educational Needs and was recognised as a true professional.

One of English Speaking Board ’ s longest-standing assessors, Joan specialised in assessing learners with Special Educational Needs and was recognised as a true professional. As recently as last March, her brilliant affinity with learners was very much in evidence when she assessed at a long-standing ESB centre, Foxes Academy, which aims to equip young adults with learning difficulties to find sustainable employment and to live independently.

Remembering Joan with fondness, ESB ’ s Chief Executive Tina Renshaw says, “ Thank you, Joan, for all your work for ESB, we honour your memory and your contribution to our ESB learners and family. ”

Jocelyn Bell Funeral Donations

Our thanks go to all contributors who gave such generous donations to the Christabel Burniston Fund in memory of Jocelyn Bell. These donations were a perfect gift in her memory.

ESB Learner gets creative!

Speech

Harnessing the power of creativity during these challenging times, Iain Wilson, ESB learner and Belfast Metropolitan College student enjoys picking up his brushes to paint wildlife.

Following his successful completion of ESB ’ s Entry Level Award in Communicating with Art, Iain is now working towards our Entry Level Award in Oral Interview Skills enabling him to develop confident communication skills with a view to realising his dream of working full time in Belfast ’ s Ulster Museum, where he currently is on work experience.

llustrated is his fine painting of a Snowy Owl, inspired by the wonderful taxidermy section at the museum.

Belfast Metropolitan College is Northern Ireland ’ s largest college, with over 37,000 enrolments. Out of its 400 students enrolled in full and part time programmes at Belfast Metropolitan ’ s Centre for Supported Learning, 270 students are enrolled on ESB qualifications.

ESB Learner, Iain Wilson

“ Our learners really enjoy preparing for their ESB assessments! They offer an attainable and realistic training opportunity and enhance oracy skills for work and life, employability and independent living. ”

Ian Patterson, ESB Trustee and Course Coordinator of Adult SEND Provision at Belfast Metropolitan College

Please click here to find out more about our Speech qualifications which, together with the development of confident communication, boost progression and employability.

Tina Renshaw (left) with ESB Learners at Belfast Met

Our updated and improved ESB Level 1 Award in Speech (Grade 2) is now available to book!

Qualification News

We are pleased to announce that our new Level 1 Speech Pathways qualification is now available to book!

From January 2021, learners will be able to take the updated and improved ESB Level 1 Award in Speech (Grade 2) pathways-based qualification. Below is a short description of each pathway option:

Speech to Connect

This option is the existing Grade 2 assessment, which includes the following sections: Personal Interest Talk, Speaking by Heart, Reading to Listeners and Open Exchange of Ideas.

In addition, the three new pathways are:

1. Speech to Inform

T his option is designed to strengthen learners understanding of an important Key Stage 2 -3 curriculum topic, as well as encouraging the development of interests in current national and local issues.

2. Speech to Perform

This option is designed to encourage learners to be creative. In particular, this pathway will give learners the opportunity to compose and perform their own self-composition.

3. Speech for Employability

This option is designed to introduce learners to the world of business and entrepreneurship. It provides learners with an opportunity to not only give a talk about a famous or successful businessperson, but also deliver a pitch for an existing or an invented product or service.

As part of the project, we will be making small amendments to the learning outcomes, assessment criteria and grading criteria of the Speech to Connect pathway in order to strengthen qualification validity. However, please note that the grade boundaries of the assessment will remain the same (e.g. Pass, Good Pass, Merit, Merit Plus and Distinction. You will still be able to choose the traditional route to obtain the ESB Level 1 Award in Speech (Grade 2) from January, 2021. This is the Speech to Connect pathway.

Please click on the links to download a sample Qualification Specification and associated Teacher Guides for the new Speech Pathways qualification. Sample Qualification Specification Speech to Inform Teacher Guide Speech to Perform Teacher Guide Speech for Employability Teacher Guide Speech to Connect Teacher Guide     

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us by email at: product@esbuk.org

Say hello to ou The support and strategic leadership of our Trustees/Directors is centra

Sami Mirza BA (Hons)

Sami is a dedicated and enthusiastic accredited Programme Manager with over 8 years ’ expertise leading various business transformation programmes and managing high profile senior projects across a variety of sectors. He is a registered MSP, Lean Six Sigma and PRINCE2 Practitioner and with his background of Banking and Financial Management has a great knowledge of managing complex budgets. He is currently the Chair of Governors at two secondary schools and takes pride in, and enjoys the responsibility that comes with representing the schools.

Stephen Norton BSc (Hons)

Stephen has an extensive career in banking, corporate trust and corporate services. As director of over 50 companies and an experienced mentor, he offers considerable corporate governance and strategic experience. An acknowledged leader, he is a former President of The Association Corporate Trustees and served as Chairman of Wimbledon Round Table and 41 Club and President of the 62 Association. He joined the Board in 2020 and brings his enthusiasm and personal integrity to ESB.

ur new Trustees al to ESB International and for fulfilling our charitable aims.

Trustees

Simren Priestley BA (Hons)

Simren has 12 years ’ experience working in corporate communications across the UK, European and Asian Markets. She has a personal interest in championing equal access to literacy and education and is eager to leverage her skill set to support in the advancement of education. She believes the values of ESB align with her own. She joined the Board in 2020 and currently volunteers on the Board of Governors at a local primary school and supports Compassion London.

Frances Richardson BSc (Hons) FCIM

Frances joined The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) 20 years ago, rising to Deputy Chief Executive. Her wide-ranging expertise in strategic development and planning of training resulted in the successful creation of the Ofqual recognised Awarding Organisation, RoSPA Qualifications. She has been the Artistic Director of the Lichfield Folk Festival since 2000 and became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in January 2018. She is passionate about the need to tailor approaches to disadvantaged sections of society.

English Speaking Board (International) Ltd.®

9 Hattersley Court, Burscough Road, Ormskirk L39 2AY

T. +44 1695 573 439 | E. customer@esbuk.org | www.esbuk.org | twitter.com/esbuk

Registered in England Company no. 01269980 Registered as a Charity no. 272565

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