What is ESB and how does it help our Junior children? According to Jessica Cheung, ESB leader and Year 6 teacher, the programme was first introduced by Mrs Harrington-Wilcox, Head of the Junior School, and Mr O’Brien, then Head of Junior English (now Deputy Head of Pastoral in Junior School). They had identified speaking and listening as an areas for development and discovered that the ESB examinations provided an opportunity for children to take part in high-quality, accredited qualifications that will have a lasting impact on their future success.

She explained, “Public speaking skills and the ability to communicate with the utmost confidence are integral to the success of our students as aspiring future leaders. ESB was initially introduced in Years 3 and 4 before becoming embedded to complement our curriculum from Year 3 to Year 6. As our relationship with ESB grows, we have seen the award and our approach evolve, with our students consistently achieving outstanding results. The programme progresses from reciting poetry and reading aloud to presenting an area of interest from their school curriculum and building persuasive arguments. Children carry out their research to participate in a formal debate with their peers in Year 6 at the end of their time in Junior School.

As the first school in Asia to offer the ESB award, we have been able to grow the programme and continually raise our standards in speaking and listening. Jessica said, “New members of staff and parents often comment on how beautifully our children express themselves. We believe that our commitment to the progression of our speaking and listening, alongside the ESB examinations, are significant factors in achieving this.