ESB News Winter Edition 2022

79% of secondary state school teachers (almost 4 in 5) think that developing their students ’ confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills would make the students more employable. Teacher Tapp polling for Oracy Network, March 2020

Villiers Park Educational Trust

Villiers Park has registered 100 learners to take part in ESB assessments and is a national social justice charity committed to equality in educational outcomes, delivering evidence-led programmes that develop personal and employability skills and raise academic outcomes for disadvantaged young people aged 14-19. Rae Tooth, Chief Executive of Villiers Park, comments on the partnership. She says, “We’re delighted to be working with ESB. Thanks to the partnership, over 100 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds will be better placed

Students learning at Villiers Park

to sit the Level 3 qualification and earn UCAS points. The partnership will see ESB provide free training for Villiers Park’s coaching team who will then be able to work with young people to prepare them for the qualification. “Good communication skills are vital for future life chances, be it taking part in college or university discussions, job interviews or voicing thoughts and opinions. Through our partnership with ESB we will be able to equip more young people with these vital skills, helping them to build their self-confidence and self-esteem, and achieve their future goals.”

ESB’s Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw, adds, "It was evident from my first conversation with the Chief Executive, Rae Tooth, that Villiers Park as a national social justice charity raising academic outcomes for disadvantaged young people aged 14-19 would be a great organisation to support as part of our 70/70 campaign. I so look forward to working with the team to help further develop the Oracy work in their programmes and allow their young people to build great confidence and achieve excellent outcomes with ESB."

Villiers Park Chief Executive, Rae Tooth

St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy and Villiers Park are just two of the centres that are using ESB to help their learners to develop essential life skills, but ESB would like to help many more through its 70/70 Campaign. If you are a school, a community group, a charity (similar to Villiers Park), a Youth or Adult Society and you share ESB’s commitment to closing the disadvantage gap, we would love to hear from you! Please email business@esbuk.org or click here. Together, we can help individuals to develop the essential life skills to last them a lifetime.

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