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4 December 2018
Year 9 pupil Hannah McKee has been named one of the English Speaking Board (ESB) Young Speakers of the Year 2018 from a field of 30,000 candidates. The award recognises her outstanding oracy skills.
She was chosen as a finalist after impressing the adjudicator in her ESB examination with a presentation on Rowena Ravenclaw, a reading from ‘Black Beauty’ by Anna Sewell, and a recitation of ‘The Ballad of William Bloat’ by Raymond Calvert. Hannah filmed her prepared pieces for further consideration and was named one of the ESB’s twelve Young Speakers of the Year for 2018. This is all the more impressive as this was her first time taking an ESB qualification.
Hannah said, “I was quite shocked as I didn’t know they did Young Speaker of the Year, as no one from Bolton School has done it before!”
She was invited to receive her award at the Young Speaker of the Year Showcase, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront. At the event, Hannah gave her ESB presentation once again for the audience.
The whole of Year 8 at Bolton School Girls’ Division completes ESB qualifications each year by giving a presentation, reading from a book and reciting a poem that they have memorised. The Year 6 classes at the Junior Girls’ School also achieve ESB qualifications.
