MP Bob Seely is encouraging primary schools to get involved with ‘Voice Box’ - an annual joke-telling competition to build school children’s communication skills. Secondary school students are also invited to take part in a digital media competition called ‘Bank, Camera, Action’.
Primary schools are invited to bring laughter into their classrooms this autumn by holding joke-telling contests between October and November for a chance to go through to a grand final in London, next year.
The competition - which has been designed by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists runs in partnership with the National Association of Head Teachers - intends to support children to build their communication skills and confidence.
The pupil with the ultimate winning joke will receive an iPad mini, while two runners-up will each receive gift tokens with shortlisted jokes going through to a national final in Westminster next year.
For secondary schools, students are invited – as part of The Bank of England’s digital media competition - to make a film centred around the topic ‘Climate Change: never too small to make a big difference’. Schools must register for the competition by 30 September and film entries must be submitted by 2 December.
Schools can submit films from a phone, tablet or camera and should be between one and three minutes. There will be prizes for both schools and individual team members. The winning films will be made available online.
Students are encouraged to be as creative as they like using dance, music, poetry, rap, animation, graphics, cartoons, interviews and news items to make their film stand out.
Bob said: “I encourage all Island schools to take part in these competitions to give our young people a chance to shine in a national spotlight.
“These types of competitions are designed to raise aspirations in our young people, and we should encourage that. Good luck to all entrants.”
A toolkit with useful resources, ideas and a nomination form for primary schools is available to download via www.rcslt.org/giving-voice
Secondary school students can see the winning films from last year’s Bank of England competition on the website at www.bankcameraaction.com