Students from Smithdon, Marshland and Terrington St Clement’s High School spoke up at Hunstanton workshop

Budding speakers from three West Norfolk secondary schools came together to hone their communication skills at a one-day workshop.

Hosted by Smithdon High School in Hunstanton as part of the Insight Discover Programme for high-achieving students, Talk the Talk: Talk About Communication was attended by 12 Year 8 students from the school, along with their counterparts from Marshland High School and St Clement’s High School.

Trainers from the educational charity Talk the Talk led a masterclass for the group, which was designed to develop speaking and listening skills, and culminated in the students delivering two-minute presentations to their peers on topics of their choice.

Laura Ruskin, a teacher at Smithdon who runs the Year 7 and 8 Insight Discover Programmes and Year 8 Scholars Programme, said: “This is the first time that Smithdon High School has participated in the Talk the Talk event; however, we have been part of the Insight Discover Programme, which has been delivered to select Year 7 and 8 Students, for a number of years.”

Talk the Talk was founded in 2013, and since then has delivered more than 7,000 workshops to around 170,000 secondary school students, providing some 31,000 hours of student training.

Miss Ruskin added: “These events are a fantastic opportunity, and we love being able to offer these experiences to our students who take part.

“They are aimed at helping to improve the oral and written skills of students, in addition to raising students’ future aspirations.

“This is really important, as it helps to build confidence in students.

“We also welcome being able to show off our school and create links with local schools in the area.”

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