Summer ESB News

Entering the Houses of Parliament is a bit like passing through airport security. You have to negotiate the same sort of body scanners you come across at Terminal 1! We didn’t board a plane, but we did end up ‘flying high’ after taking part in Emma Hardy MP’s ‘Speaking up for Speaking’ – an event celebrating oracy and exploring the link with social mobility. groundbreaking event alongside other leaders in communication. Former ESB learners, Hrishi Venkatesh and Khurram Ishfaq were chosen to represent ESB at Westminster on this auspicious occasion, and if they did feel nervous, they hid it well. Hrishi, who is diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, first came across ESB when he was seven-years-old, taking numerous ESB assessments at his local state school, and achieving several Distinctions. Now 19, Hrishi is reading ESB Chief Executive Tina Renshaw and I were delighted to co-organise this

Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Hull. Khurram came to ESB a little later. His school, St Thomas More Catholic Academy in Stoke, is one of the schools supported by the Stoke LEA/ESB alliance. As Head Boy, Khurram recently delivered a speech on social mobility in Stoke to parents and teachers, and ESB invited him to share his talk again at Westminster. In our committee room it was standing room only, as organisations such as The English Speaking Union, Voice 21, LKMco and Reclaim joined with Emma, and specially invited guests, to celebrate the communication skills of our young people. We were delighted to be joined by our Chair, Pippa Quarrell and Honorary Treasurer, Richard Ellis. Also invited was Executive Head, Anthony David (pictured right), who spoke about how his pupils benefit from ESB qualifications.

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