ESB News - Autumn-Winter 2021 v7

Reaching Learners Facing Disadvantage

70/70 Campaign

English Speaking Board (International) celebrates its 70 th Anniversary in 2023

Launched to mark ESB’s achievements over the past 70 years and to mirror the innovation of our founder, Christabel Burniston, ESB’s 70/70 Campaign aims to find and financially support by 2023, 70 organisations where their young people or community members face disadvantage due to socio economic factors, disability or migration status and would be supported in their aspirations if they could achieve an ESB qualification.

ESB will support them financially to access its assessments, support and training.

ESB Learners from Heygreen Primary School

ESB continues to prepare today’s learner for tomorrow’s world through its assessments – particularly reaching out to those learners facing disadvantage!

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.

It 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!

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.

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 disad- vantage, 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

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