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'LET's Stand' Public Speaking Programme for Children aged 5-18, Galway Ireland 🇮🇪

Encouraging, enabling and empowering young people to have their authentic voice heard

Students are supported to develop their Public Speaking skills by presenting 10 projects a year at their own pace in a safe, supportive environment. For all children’s lives as children, for connection and wellbeing, learning in school and out, life outcomes and employabililty, public speaking skill is a skill to mitigate disadvantage and positively impact social mobility.

Shortlisted
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Overview

HundrED shortlisted this innovation

HundrED has shortlisted this innovation to one of its innovation collections. The information on this page has been checked by HundrED.

Web presence

2015

Established

15K

Children

9

Countries
Target group
Students basic
Updated
January 2023
"'LET's stand’ empowers students to use their voice, in particular children who are not naturally outspoken" - Múinteoir Valerie (teacher and researcher).

About the innovation

Empowering young people to use their voice and be heard.

LET's Stand (L-Listen, E-Evaluate, T-Talk, S-Stand) is a Public Speaking Programme for Primary School children that I have designed which we are implementing in Eglish NS. From Junior Infants (5 years old) to 6thClass (13 years old), it engages all students actively in an individualised child-centred programme, developing their listening, evaluation and speaking skills in a structured way. Students are supported and encouraged to progress through and present the 10 projects a year at their own pace.A safe, supportive environment is created in which all students are enabled, encouraged and empowered to achieve their potential.

The following TEDx Talkby Siobhán Keenan Fitzgerald explains the motivation behind the creation of this programme.

Through regularly standing up in front of their peers and teacher and by actively listening to, observing and evaluating their class mates as they do the same, students’ confidence and competence in communication are positively progressed.

As part of the programme, teacher feedback has helped to inform the design of an appropriate Assessment rubric that can help teachers identify students' baseline in relation to Public Speaking so they might more easily identify the particular areas students may need more support with and explicit teaching on.

We are seeing very positive results within our own school in terms of improved listening skills and increased confidence and clearer communicative competence since we started to implement the programme across the school. Now, students from our Senior Room lead Assemblies. I have begun to share the Resources with other schools and have used a variety of methods including Social Media (Facebook and Twitter) to try to spead this idea so that more students might receive the training.

Approximately 200 schools in Ireland have piloted parts of the Programme and teachers from 65 Primary Schools and 10 Secondary Schools have invested in some of the programme booklets to date. I have designed an evening course for teachers on how Public Speaking can meet the Learning Outcomes of the New Primary Language Curriculum and I have 4 dates for delivery of this Evening Course in March and April this year.

You can find out more information on www.letsstand.eu.


Media

Check out the 'LET's Stand' podcast here https://open.spotify.com/show/3BsAft1HBqAMFnH4v2XopK - Speaking up about speaking out! Inspiring young people to share their unique stories and adults to facilitate young people to do so.
LET's Stand updated and now in 100s of schools across Ireland
Siobhán Fitzgerald speaking at the Functional Medicine Conference, Galway
'Meet Ireland's Most innovative schools
Neil Liam Mc Carthy acceptance speech
LET’s Stand Story - Empowering children with the skills of Public Speaking
https://youtu.be/WeZeQay3fm8
https://youtu.be/fT8lelOU8HM
LET's Stand 1st Class - How to.....
While Public Speaking immediately conjures up obvious connections to Oral Language and Language learning in the Curriculum, training children in the skills of Public Speaking involves many other skills and crosses into many other curriculum areas. Giving children the chance to stand up and express themselves regularly in front of their peers in a safe, supportive environment helps to build self confidence. To know, but more importantly, to experience that what you have to say is important and heard, builds self esteem. In addition, listening to and constructively and positively evaluating their peers or fellow students as they do the same systematically develops and improves listening skills and the quality of empathy. So, having the opportunity to speak on topics including: Me, my family, My Friends feeds into SPHE.Some of the skills and tools of Effective Communication and Public Speaking form part of the Drama Curriculum e.g. Facial expressions, hand gestures, eye contact, pause, body language, vocal variety.What better way for students to feed back their reflections on and interpretations of their own and others' Art and Music at their own level than orally.  Their choice, use and possibly, production of visual aids would also feed into Art appreciation.And PE? What about Sports' Speeches such as A Winning Captain's Speech, the Runner Up speech, a Pep Talk? What are children learning by having the opportunity to listen to, plan and perform these?Being empowered to speak about what they have learned, liked and understood in a History, Geography, Science and even Maths lessons deepens the learning and connects it to their own lives in a real and meaningful way.  This is what we constantly strive to do as educators.History itself is marked with countless examples of powerful orators who have made their mark on the world, for better or for worse with their Public Speaking skills.Training children in the skill of Public Speaking does not need to be confined to a Literacy lesson. It can be easily integrated, in a real, relevant and meaningful way to all other Curriculum areas.

Implementation steps

Beginning Public Speaking Training with children Step 1

https://youtu.be/fT8lelOU8HM

Step 1

Step 2 - Evaluation
Step 3 - Teaching Method involved in 'LET's Stand'
Step 4 - Speaking
Summary to support teachers
Dare to begin public speaking training with your students.
You will be amazed at the many benefits you will observe.
https://youtu.be/KrM6wGcMCAs

Spread of the innovation

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