Autumn- Winter ESB News Version 1 PDF v1

Sam Coyler from Manchester’s Plymouth Grove Primary School and Lilian Bingham from Bradford’s St Bede’s and St Joseph’s Catholic College are our latest ESB Ambassadors! Every year, ESB chooses exceptional speakers to become Ambassadors. By representing ESB, they have the opportunity to inspire other learners and to promote ESB and its values. This year, we are awarding our Ambassador accolade to both Lilian and Sam for their outstanding performance at our 2018 Young Speakers Showcase. Tina Renshaw says, “Both Sam and Lilian‘s performances at the 2018 Young Speakers of the Year Showcase captivated the audience from the very beginning. Lilian’s reading from ‘A Monster calls’ was delivered with such passion and Sam confidently connected with the audience through his articulate delivery on ‘Black Holes’”. Their first task as an ESB Ambassador is an exciting one. Both Sam and Lilian have been asked to create a brief video highlighting their passion and enthusiasm for speaking and listening. These videos will form part of the ‘evidence’ requested by The Oracy All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Inquiry, set up to investigate the current provision of oracy education in the UK. Says Lilian, “Public speaking skills occur in my everyday life, for example, I do lots of team sports which means that I need to be able to communicate with my team, both on and off the pitch. I also need to be able to give clear instructions and project my voice across the entire playing field. These are two skills which I have been able to become more confident in through ESB”. Lilian and Sam are both delighted to be honoured as Ambassadors.

Lilian Bingham and Sam Coyler

“The benefits of oracy in our curriculum is immense. Just a little implementation into every lesson can massively improve a child’s confidence and assertiveness”, added Sam. Returning to this year’s annual Young Speakers of the Year Showcase, they will be presented with their ESB Ambassador Award and Certificate and will give a short acceptance speech relating to their ESB experience. Who knows, Sam and Lilian may follow in the footsteps of previous recipients of the award including Sharon Daniel, 2014 winner of Channel 4’s Child Genius Competition, and Hrishi Venkatesh who appeared with Tina Renshaw on BBC Breakfast Television! Echoing Tina’s sentiments that, “There is nothing more valuable than giving young people a platform for a chance to be heard and for them to speak passionately about what interests them”, Hrishi spoke of the huge boost in confidence gained through ESB qualifications and how it helped him to overcome Autism. ESB is delighted to have both Sam and Lilian on board as our Ambassadors this year and we can’t wait to welcome them again at our 2019 Young Speakers of the Year Showcase!

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