Additional resources for Talk about Talk Secondary
In this document you will find:
- A template letter explaining the programme to selected students’ parents (including a reply slip)
- A template emailable flier inviting local employers to attend the Talk about Talk training workshop
- Suggested text for an email to accompany the flier
- A template certificate summarising students’ achievements during the programme
Dear Parent / name
School is trying out a new educational programme called Talk about Talk Secondary which has been developed by I CAN, the leading charity for children and young people’s speech, language and communication. I7 other schools across the country have also been chosen to take part in this pilot which lasts for 2 years from Sept 15 until March 17.
I CAN’s specialist Communication Advisors (teachers and Speech and Language Therapists) will train our school’s staff to use the programme with a group of our students currently in Yr10. We would like your son/ daughter name to be included in this group.
The programme provides training to students to develop their communication skills. This will enable them to present a short course to local employers about communication and communication difficulties and also, what can be done in a practical way to help young people entering employment or doing work experience. The students will run the short course alongside our school’s trained staff.
The student group will attend a series of sessions to build up their communication skills and understanding of what the short course involves. This will be carefully managed by our school so it does not interfere with the students’ GCSE work. Almost everything at school involves spoken language; it is the way most learning happens so a focus on developing these skills will help students do well in a range of subjects. As well as this, ‘good communication skills’ usually top the list of characteristics which employers look for in employees so we think this experience will be an excellent addition to all the students’ CVs.
(continued)
Talk about Talk Secondary begins date with a session to introduce the programme to the selected student group. As the students progress towards presenting the training course for local employers (which lasts 2 hours), they will first deliver a short edited version (lasting 30 minutes) to school staff and parents. This will be arranged during the spring term and we will invite you to attend.
More information about I CAN and this programme is available on the organisation’s website ( > what we do > secondary programmes > Talk about Talk Secondary) or by talking to a member of staff at the School.
If you agree that this is a great opportunity and would like your son daughter to be included, please sign and return the reply slip to School Reception as quickly as possible, thanks.
Best wishes
Staff name
I have considered whether my son / daughter whose name is ...... should take part in Talk about Talk Secondary. Pleasetick a box below
Yes, I would like them to be involvedNo, I don’t want them to be involved
My name is ...... (please print)
Signed: ...... Date ......
For the attention of: staff name
Talk about Talk: a free 2 hour workshop to help your organisation improve young employees’ communication skills
Background: lots of young people have difficulties with aspects of spoken communication which can disadvantage them at school and in the workplace.
Difficulties can be hard to identify...so young people don’t always get the support they need to make progress. This can lead to underachievement and unemployment.
How does this training help?Talk about Talk is delivered by our school staff and students together. It will help your staff to:
- be more aware of the skills involved in communication
- find out about some of the difficulties that young people can have with communication and how these can affect their performance in the workplace
- learn some practical ways to support young people with these difficulties to do the job you need
If you’d like to take advantage of this offer, contact your details for information about how to arrange free Talk about Talk training for up to 20 members of staff at your workplaceor at our school.
Talk about Talk trainingwas designed together with young people with communication difficulties. It enables them to develop presentation skills and self advocacy skills.
Adults who have attended workshops say: “key for me was how communication difficulties can manifest themselves in a variety of ways – I’ll use the learning on a daily basis’
Evaluation by I CAN foundup to 98% of participants agreed that they would apply the knowledge gained in the training to their work environment.
I CAN is the children and young people’s communication charity. They are experts in helping young people develop the speech, language and communication skills they need to thrive in a 21st century world.
Suggested text for covering email
As a valued local employer and supporter of our school, we thought you’d be interested in the free training opportunity described on the attached flier.
Our school is involved in a pilot of Talk about Talk Secondary, an intervention developed by the children and young people’s charity I CAN. We hope that involvement in the programme will help both our students’ communication skills and the links between our school and your organisation.
The training content is delivered in an interactive, entertaining way and others who have attended rate the workshop highly. With a focus throughout on effective communication it offers plenty of practical advice and opportunities to reflect on your current practice.
We very much hope you will take part in this exciting project and look forward to booking members of your staff onto our workshop scheduled for.....
For more details, or to arrange attendance at the training workshop, please contact ....etc.
We recommend that this message is sent from the Head Teacher’s office
School logo
Name of school
Presents this certificate to:
Name of student
In recognition of their valued participation in the
Talk about Talk Secondary programme
Completed on Date
During the programme, name of student took part in a series of lessons developing their understanding of communication skills in the workplace and their ability to present a training workshop alongside school staff and peers.
Name of student performed the following roles when presenting the Talk about Talk workshop to an audience at school and to local employers:
Introducing and explaining the workshop
Explaining the Communication Chain
Organising resources for training exercises
Leading/supporting the Role Card exercise
Leading/supporting the Case Studies exercise
Giving a summary of 4 types of communication difficulty
Leading/supporting the League Table of Communication Difficulties exercise
Leading/supporting the Communication Breakdown Film exercise
Leading/supporting the Supporting Communication Difficulties in the Workplace exercise
Leading/supporting the Quiz exercise
In addition, name of student worked well within a team to set up the training venue, talk to individual members of the audience, introduce themselves as part of the team, join audience discussion groups and make sure the workshop was delivered in an entertaining and professional way.
Signed:date: