Autumn-Winter ESB News

ESB News

www.esbuk.org

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Message fromour Chief Executive

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ESB remembers Richard Ellis

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You spoke, we listened: Our newweb project is on the way

We’ve rebranded our Speech Portfolio

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Meet our newSenior Examiner for ESOL

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2018 Young Speakers of the Year winners announced

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An interviewwith Jenny Roden

Speech Pathways Pilot

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ESB visit Greece to attend the Europalso Conference

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ESB pair up with RECLAIM to help NorthWest youngsters

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ESB asks….

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COVER PHOTO The late Richard Ellis © Chris Flexen for The Church of Scotland

© 2018 English Speaking Board (International) Ltd.

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As we move into the 2018-19 academic year, I’m delighted to welcome you to this edition of ESB News. Following your well- deserved summer break, we wanted to get back in touch to tell you about our plans for the coming months. Firstly, it was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of our Honorary Treasurer, Trustee and dear friend, Richard Ellis. The contributions he brought to the organisation are countless. I feel I can speak on behalf of everyone who had the pleasure of working with Richard that his vision and kindness will never be forgotten. We were showered with thoughts and memories from our members and Trustees, which I shared with his family and friends at a memorial service in Edinburgh. We’ve been working hard over the past year to improve the way you book our assessments and to allow assessors to more easily process information. I am excited to announce that we are building a new online booking system aimed at making your life easier. Please go to p.7 to find out how we’ve listened to your suggestions to make booking with us as simple and fuss-free as possible. As we are draw nearer to our 2018 Young Speakers of the Year Showcase, we are delighted to introduce you to this year’s winners (p.11). I send out my

congratulations to the learners and their teachers for this impressive achievement, and we look forward to meeting them in November. We caught up with Jenny Roden, former Co-Chair of NATECLA, to discuss how the national organisation operates, and get the latest in the world of ESOL Skills for Life (p.11). I am proud to announce the launch of our Speech Pathways Pilot, which aims to provide you and your learners with more choice in our qualifications (p.15). One of the organisations piloting the pathways is RECLAIM, a youth leadership and social change group in Manchester which works with youngsters in the North West (p.17). Lastly, I am pleased to remind you that we have frozen our centre fees for 2018- 2019 at the same rate as last year’s. At ESB we really appreciate the loyalty of our centres, so this is our way of giving something back. We are always open to feedback, and would love to hear your opinion on what you would like to see in ESB News , so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Best wishes, Tina

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Despite being an ardent fan of technology for business, I am not of the generation that checks out everyone's in depth profile or history prior to meeting them. However if I had done so with Richard I would have seen that he had been CEO of ESB, Chair and member of the Board of Management, as well as Honorary Treasurer. For many years Richard played a significant role in the on-going success and impact of ESB. So what is the organisation to which he gave his passion and service? In the words of its founder Christabel Burniston, writing in 2003, the main purpose is to prove that every single being, of whatever age or ability is welcomed and heard as a complete individual, not being compared to any other. We do this in our Oracy work by assessing the learner’s personal research and transmission of their ideas through a talk, their grasp of the language of others to communicate meaning through recitation and reading of poetry, speeches

and books and their interaction with, interest in and listening to their peers. Our Assessors travel the world to do this work and the reach of ESB over its history has been far and varied. From our beginning in 1953, in Southport, Christabel was confident that those involved with this work would have a breadth of outlook; approaching their work imaginatively; would be tolerant about the varied background and speech differences of the learners and most of all would be alert to tuning into new trends. There is no wonder when you hear this description, that Richard found a home with ESB and we, in turn, found an outstanding contributor and leader. Many other colleagues share that view: Richard’s contribution to ESB, over so many years and in so many roles, was utterly incomparable. Right until his death he was an active and committed trustee, and I know I can speak for the whole trustee body in saying that we could not

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have wished for a more wonderful nor wise colleague – someone who had such association with the past but yet someone who always looked towards the future.

organisation and give it more of a profile; someone who would make the same kind of waves that our founder made 50 years ago.

As one of the oldest surviving members of the Board, I remember Richard's 'arrival' amongst us. He was immediately a man whose talents were exactly what ESB needed at the time and he gave of his time and energy most generously …... Taking the helm as Chair he was always warmly encouraging and forward-looking. He was always full of ideas and suggestions to develop ESB's work and will be remembered with gratitude and affection. Richard also embodied Christabel’s sense of how our assessors and I would say, all of us involved with ESB, should carry out our work: “Patience in attention, sympathy in recognition, generosity in criticism, the sensitivity to discern the presence of gifts in others and the skills to bring them to light. On behalf of The Society of Teachers of Speech & Drama I offer our sincere sympathy. Richard together with Christabel spoke about ESB at one of our AGM days. He was definitely looking towards the future and planning lively involvement with various bodies in order to promote the work of ESB. I know he will be sadly missed, and remember him with gratitude for his assistance when I was an ESB assessor. Ann Jones shares with us: When Richard was appointed Chair of the ESB Committee of Management I quickly became aware of his sincere commitment to ESB, its founder and the way forward. It was Richard who proposed the appointment of a 'full time director', someone who would front the

It was Richard also nearly 10 years ago who as Chair invited me to take of the role of Honorary Vice President. I felt truly honoured as I have been involved with ESB from my school days, I felt privileged to be selected. Our Honorary President Jocelyn Bell, when I told her of Richard's passing spoke fondly of his contribution. (Jocelyn is in advanced old age now but felt keenly that) ‘all she could do was to send her best wishes and thoughts to Richard's family' Such is Richard's impact (and I use the verb in the continuing sense) that I am honoured to announce the creation of the Richard Ellis Award for outstanding dedication to ESB. This will be presented for the first time at our preeminent event in November, which rewards and awards our Young Speakers of the Year and to which I hope his family will attend. So, if I had googled him, with his years of connection to and leadership of ESB, might this new CEO back in May 2016, have worried about his willingness to see the future, would I have anticipated meeting a man firm in his view of what ESB should be, looking backwards rather than forwards? I think I can hear your voices telling me just the opposite, as his friends and colleagues have shared. And that of course was the man I met and who gave me his full throated support and guidance. I think that quality of being part of the history of an organisation and being open, excited about the future, generous and willing to take the journey with this new CEO's vision is something that I knew was rare and precious.

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Richard at the Grand Canyon in 1965

In my career thus far I have been blessed with a valued group of mentors and influencers and Richard was one such person. Christabel was clear that ESB grew from a belief in the value of personal relationships, a belief that these relationships could only truly develop through communication and speech. I was so very sad and shocked to hear of Richard’s death. I don’t have to tell you about his enormous contribution to ESB - the last time I spoke to him he was full of enthusiasm after a very successful visit to the House of Commons - and his loss will be immeasurable. Christabel Burniston’s core vision formed the basis of his own devotion to the organisation and it’s going to be well-nigh impossible to find a replacement of his calibre. shared with us: I first met Richard at an ESB Conference in Glasgow, more than thirty years ago and still remember the most entertaining and professional evening of poetry and prose he presented with Betty Boyd. I’m not going to attempt to list the many roles Richard played in the life of ESB, suffice to say he was totally dedicated to the philosophy of ESB, and the importance of oral

communication in the life of every individual. He was a most loyal supporter of the work of Christabel Burniston and worked tirelessly to ensure that work should grow and develop. Richard understood the working of Business and of Education and brought his expertise from both worlds to every situation, with care, consideration and respect. He could find the key points in any argument and was always ready to consider out how things could be “taken forward.” That is perhaps one of my special memories of Richard, not just his ability to listen but to develop ideas and to ask: “…now, how do we take this forward.” He remembered people and details and, in true ESB spirit, took an interest in the interests of others. I shall never forget him and feel privileged to have worked with him. He shall be greatly missed. Plainly even if I had "Googled' Richard Ellis, the picture found, would have paled into insignificance compared to the man who contributed so significantly to the ongoing success of ESB and whom I had the privilege to serve as CEO: "He was a man. Take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again." William Shakespeare "Hamlet", Act 1 Scene 2

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Your feedback is highly valuable to us, and we make it our mission to listen to all your suggestions to ensure the ESB experience is as positive and smooth-running as it can be.

“There are too many steps in the booking process”

We’ve simplified and streamlined our site down to what you actually need.

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Our new booking system is specially designed to be intuitive, but prompts and tips will pop up to support you throughout the process.

“It’s complicated and not user- friendly”

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“Entering candidate names takes too long

You will now be able to upload all your candidates in one file, across multiple sessions. You can move candidates across into sessions using a simple ‘drag and drop’ motion.

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“I need to get booking details for my candidates but I don’t have the log in details”

Multiple users from each centre can be provided with their own log-in details to access the online system.

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“I have to call the office to change my booking”

On the new system you can now make changes to your bookings.

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From October through to December we will be busy carrying out testing of the site, to make sure it’s as user-friendly as we designed it to be. If you would like to have a go at being a User Experience Tester for us, we would love to hear from you. You will be asked to carry out a ‘scenario’ on the site, followed by a short online survey. As a thank you we are offering free assessments for two candidates from your centre to anyone who volunteers. We’re pleased to announce that our new and improved booking system will be switched on in January 2019. Leading up to the launch, please keep an eye out for our mini ‘how-to’ guides to walk you through the new system - these will be available for you at any time. If you would like to participate in our user experience testing, please get in touch by emailing Deborah Bassett on deborah.bassett@esbuk.org .

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As you know, we have rebranded our portfolio of Graded Examinations in Speech qualifications this academic year. As part of the rebranding project, some of our qualifications have been simplified. In particular, we have removed ‘Junior’ and ‘Senior’ labels from the titles. The changes we made to the affected qualifications aim to make them more relevant and straightforward for teachers, learners and parents. To see the full list of affected qualifications with their new titles, please visit our website . Q: When will the rebranded qualification titles come into effect and be available to book? A: The rebranded qualification titles are available to book from the 1st September 2018. Q: Will new qualification specifications for rebranded qualifications be released? A: Yes. Our new qualification specifications for rebranded qualifications are available for download on our website. Q: Are there any changes to the learning outcomes of rebranded qualifications? A: No. The learning outcomes of rebranded qualifications remain exactly the same. As part of continuous improvement, we are making some very minor amendments to the grading criteria for additional clarity.

A: No. The assessment sections of rebranded qualifications remain exactly the same. Q: Can my learners still do a presentation- focused or a drama-focused option at Grade 5? A: Yes, my learners still have the option of doing a presentation-focused or drama- focused qualification at Grade 5. Q: Are they any changes to the timings of the assessment? A: No. There are no changes to the timings of the assessment. Q: Do I need to prepare my learners differently for the assessment of a rebranded qualification? A: No. You should prepare learners for the assessment as you have done previously. There is no need to change your teaching for any rebranded qualification. Q: After September 2018, how will I select the correct qualification at the point of booking? A: ESB have amended the booking system to ensure the re-branded qualifications are made available. You may need to keep a list of rebranded qualification names for your reference. Q: Will my learner reports and certificates look any different for assessments taking place after 1st September 2018? A: Yes, learners will have a rebranded named qualification on each report and certificate issued by ESB after the 1st September 2018.

Q: Are there any changes to the external assessment of the rebranded qualifications?

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We are delighted to welcome Nicola Rose to the team as our new Senior Examiner for Language. Nicola joins us with over two year’s experience as an assessor for both our ESOL Skills for Life and Speech qualifications. Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw says, ‘ As well as being able to demonstrate the ethos of ESB, Nicola brings with her a wealth of experience gained with other awarding organisations.

In her first month, Nicola was invited to the ESB offices to meet Tina and the rest of the team. Says Nicola, ‘ESB is held in high regard in the ESOL profession and I am proud to represent the awarding organisation as a Senior Examiner’. We haven’t lost Heather Harewood’s skills, our former ESOL Skills for Life Senior Examiner now manages our Product Development Team.

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We are delighted to announce the winners of our 2018 Young Speakers of the Year Showcase. The successful learners have been invited to attend the ceremony alongside their teachers, assessors and families to perform their winning poem, reading or presentation.

Christine Faithful Abbey Gate College, Chester

Our Burniston Bell award is awarded to a teacher who has shown outstanding commitment to ESB in their centre. They are nominated by our assessors.

Ethan Campbell Elmhurst School for Boys, London

Karris Chappell Bruton School for Girls, Bruton

Our Spirit of ESB award category recognises and encourages the potential of all learners, in line with the views of our Founder, Christabel Burniston, who believed that communication skills inspire confidence in every individual. Our Spirit of ESB winners will be revealed in the coming weeks. They are nominated by their teachers.

Lilian Bingham St Bede’s & St Joseph’s Catholic College, Bradford

Simran Sajan Moreton Hall, Oswestry

Sebastian Clarke Broomfield House School, Surrey

The 2018 Young Speakers of the Year Showcase is being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Liverpool’s iconic Waterfront on Saturday, 17th November.

Charlie Cook Hartismere School, Suffolk

Sam Colyer Plymouth Grove Primary School, Manchester

Charlotte Scurr Carleton House Prep School, Liverpool

Rosie Spence Bricklehurst Manor School, East Sussex

Alice Beveridge Westholme School, Blackburn

Hannah McKee Bolton School, Bolton

Sophie Norman Epsom College, Surrey

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ESB: Tell us a little bit about yourself—what first attracted you to ESOL? JR: I didn’t discover ESOL until I returned to London from several years EFL teaching in Spain and Greece. I was at Pitman’s School of English when another teacher told me about an EFL/ESOL conversion course she was going to attend at Morley College. I went along to the course and it opened a whole new dimension for me. After that I got my first ESOL teaching job, in Paddington, at a time when the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA), provided plenty of funding for ESOL staffing and resources. It was even (politely) suggested that I do a specialised teaching diploma in ESOL as my EFL one was considered insufficient to teach ESOL properly. Subsequently, I set up the ESOL service in Sutton College, in South London, which I ran for many years. Throughout that time I saw ESOL grow as a field, but government money was always fluctuating, which added constraints for the learners and made it difficult to plan. That’s why, when I became co-chair of NATECLA, I decided

to take a lead in the campaign to develop a national strategy for ESOL in England, so that learners and practitioners would have some stability and wouldn’t be dependent on the whims of policymakers. ESB: Can you explain how NATECLA operates? How does it support ESOL teachers? JR: NATECLA was in a very good position to be able to lead on the call for a strategy. It is a charity, and completely independent, funded by membership and sponsorship of its CPD events. In addition, it has an excellent reputation, built over 40 years, and is trusted by policymakers, who frequently consult us. NATECLA is very democratic. Each branch sends a representative to the management council, which meets three times a year. This way, all members can

get their voices heard. Everyone participates according to their own

preference. I’ve been privileged to spend several years as editor of Language Issues, and then of NATECLA News, before I became Co-Chair.

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A lot of people come to our regional CPD events, and our recent national conference in July attracted a record 200+ delegates. Over half of these had never been to a NATECLA conference before and quite a number were not members. But an organisation like ours is only as strong as its membership, so I would urge people to join us if they want to help to support ESOL. One of the last things I did as co-chair was to establish a lower membership rate for voluntary organisations. We have a webpage of links and resources and are working with voluntary ESOL on a code of practice for the sector. ESB: You have been very involved in campaigning within NATECLA for an ESOL Strategy for England. Can you tell us why the strategy is so important, and what would be the benefits for learners? JR: I would say that the campaign has brought together stakeholders and Business Development Adviser, Jackie Johnson (left) and Product Developer, Suzanne McKittrick at the 2018 NATECLA Conference

policymakers and focused attention on ESOL. We ran two successful events at Westminster in 2016 and 2017, and we were extremely fortunate that the campaign coincided with the publication of the Casey report and the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) report on social integration, which highlighted how intrinsic knowledge of English language was to being able to integrate in society. Both of these reports contributed to the publication, in March 2018, of the integrated strategies green paper which had, as a major component, the proposal for an ESOL strategy for England. Now that the consultation has ended, we have formed a monitoring group to make sure that the strategy is formulated through

consultation with all stakeholders, especially learners, and that it has measurable outcomes that can be reviewed periodically.

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ESB: You contribute to the writing of our ESOL International papers, how do you ensure standards are met across all exam papers? JR: I have spent my career writing materials for learners who are at a particular level, so I am experienced at that. ESB publishes lists of grammar, functions and lexis for each level and occasionally, I check on whether a word would be acceptable for a certain level in one of several lists that are available. I think another aspect is that there is one author per paper, which allows for an even spread of language elements across the paper and avoids duplication. What is crucial, however, is the work done, firstly, by the Senior Examiner, who moderates each paper and discusses amendments with me and then by the scrutiny panel, who have the final say about what goes in. So there are several stages to ensure that the examinations are as standardised as possible. ESB: What are your hopes for the future of ESOL? JR: Last year I was invited to open the inaugural conference of the new Scottish branch of NATECLA. It was attended by around 50 practitioners – managers, teachers and volunteers. All knew where they stood in relation to ESOL, what was expected of them, what training and support was available and what were the rights of the learners, thanks to the Scottish ESOL Strategy ‘ Welcoming our

learners’ . It was liberating to meet practitioners who had never known life without a strategy. This is what I hope for the future of ESOL in England. In addition, of course, I hope that there would be enough funding for a wide range of courses, especially those linked to vocational qualifications, and for all learners to be able to afford and access the kind of course they need in order to progress into FE or employment.

To find out more about NATECLA, please visit their website .

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Earlier this year, we asked over 160 centres about our portfolio of Speech qualifications. The results show that you would like greater choice for your learners and more opportunities for advancing their communication skills. We have taken your comments on board and redesigned the ESB Level 2 Certificate in Speech (Grade 4). This new and improved qualification now offers three exciting new ‘pathways’ for you to choose from. Speech to Inform – This new option will support learners who wish to explore an important Key Stage 3 curriculum topic in a wide range of subjects. It will give learners an opportunity to review a newspaper item and give a persuasive speech about a current affairs topic. Speech to Perform – This new option will support learners who are passionate about the arts, and who want to build

their confidence in performing. Learners will get a chance to write and perform their own self-composition. Speech for Employability – This new option will support learners who want to deepen their understanding of a particular career and prepare for themselves for the job market. This option will also provide learners with a mock job interview. We will be piloting this pathways-based qualification in a number of centres in the coming months before its launch in September 2019. We believe the development of these new pathways will open up new avenues for our learners, help them to thrive in both the classroom and the workplace. If you would like to find out more about our new pathways, please contact our Product Development Team .

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It’s that time of year again when representatives from ESB fly out to Athens to attend Europalso’s annual conference. Europalso are one of our key partners, who operate our ESOL International qualifications in Greece. Over 1,000 guests, mainly Europalso members who are foreign Language Centre owners and their staff, travel from all parts of the country to participate in the event. Political and educational representatives are also invited to attend. Educational publishers and businesses have the opportunity to display new publications and teaching resources in the exhibition hall. Europalso President George Zikopolous hosted the conference, and introduced a panel of keynote speakers, on which our Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw was asked to present. This year Tina fed back to attendees on the overall learner performance over the year, along with some tips for improvement. Says Tina, ‘It’s always a pleasure to catch up with George and his team who work so tirelessly to promote our ESOL International assessments in Greece.

The enthusiasm of the school owners is inspiring to witness, and there is also the opportunity to gain feedback, which is extremely valuable to us at ESB.’ Customer Experience Officer, Kirsty Grainger and Communications/HR Officer, Debbie Bassett joined Tina to represent ESB at the conference.

Tina Renshaw (left) and Kirsty Grainger (right) representing ESB at the Europalso Conference

Says Kirsty, ‘It was an incredible opportunity to see how Europalso operates, and to see how respected our qualifications are to passionate school owners from all over Greece’.

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ESB and RECLAIM, a youth leadership and social change

promoting the importance of oracy, where our Chief Executive Tina Renshaw was hugely impressed with the presentations made by two young people participating in the RECLAIM programme. Since this initial meeting, the relationship between ESB and RECLAIM has grown, resulting in the establishment of this new project. With the help of ESB’s new innovative Speech Pathways Pilot qualification launching in

organisation set up in Moss Side, Manchester in 2007 are working together on an exciting new project. The scheme will support young people in the North West by developing their skills and fulfilling their potential as they progress into adulthood. ESB witnessed first-hand the work of RECLAIM at a recent event in the Houses of Parliament aimed at

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September, will help over 100 young people currently registered on RECLAIM’s highly regarded leadership and alumni programmes. Designed to help learners develop their communication skills and confidence, ESB and RECLAIM are working closely to harness the talent, imagination, drive and ambition of youngsters in the North West. This sentiment is shared by Tina, who says, “the chance to work together with RECLAIM and their young people was an opportunity we were delighted to secure. RECLAIM share our goal of helping young people to succeed and maximise their potential.

We have been promoting this message for over

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years, so we are excited about the benefits this collaboration will bring to showcase the fantastic work of RECLAIM.” RECLAIM’s Alumni Lead, Katie Cosgrave says, “At RECLAIM we recognise the talent and potential of young people from working class communities, so what better way to endorse those skills than with an accredited ESB qualification?”

To find out more about RECLAIM please visit their website .

ESB delivering training on the Speech Pathways with RECLAIM

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Would you like to attend a conference in October 2019 to help you embed oracy into the curriculum? We understand how important the teacher’s role is in achieving success with ESB, and we want to assist our dedicated teachers by giving them the additional support they need in order to help learners get the most out of an ESB Speech qualification. Which topics would you like to brush- up on? Whether it’s a basic introduction to ESB or classroom activities and top tips, we’ve got you covered. The format of the conference

needs your input too. Whether you would like to hear from keynote speakers, participate in workshops or simply engage in a Q+A discussion with our ESB experts, we will design the conference to meet your requirements as teachers. Financial support will be available. To select your preferences on what you would like to see in our 2019 Oracy Conference, please complete the short online survey and have your say.

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ESB is currently seeking nominations for two new trustees to join our Director/Trustee team. Ideally we would love to recruit one Trustee who has had experience from within an ESB centre or as an assessor or marker. Our second Trustee could be from any field who has an understanding of running a small to medium enterprise and supports ESB’s vision. Please visit our website for our selection criteria and how you can apply.

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

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