Talk to Talk

Amanda Perry FRSA has a passion for people.  She brought her professional skills to bear on an issue she identified locally. Amanda identified a selection of Northampton residents who struggled with Englishwho were not yet ready for standard ESOL training.  Her aim is to work with communities where English is an additional language and support them to learn in innovative ways.  Utilising the Fellowship connection with Northampton University, Amanda worked up a project proposal and gained RSA Catalyst support.  She has used this for her first pilot.

To ensure the project's success, Amanda enlisted the support of University of Northampton students to take part in a pilot project at Kings Heath Primary Academy, to help support children who have English as a second language. 

The students worked with 16 children, aged between three and eight years old, in their classrooms to help enhance, develop and build their confidence in spoken English. The project also allowed the University students to gain real hands-on experience of teaching, while developing their own employability skills within a school environment.

The joint project (funded by the University's Centre for Employability and Engagement and the RSA) was made possible by an RSA Catalyst grant. The project's completion was celebrated with an event held at the school on Thursday 30 April, where the children and their parents were presented with certificates by the University students to recognise their hard work.

Amanda is now evaluating the impact of this pilot and discussing how she takes it forward with other schools and wider communities in the local area with the continued support of Northampton University.

Northampton University report on the pilot

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