by Lily Rice

Last month I got to do something that I’ve been excited to do ever since joining the Trustee board of Speech Bubbles just over a year ago - See the programme in action!

This has been near the top of my to do list since I joined the board as a first time Trustee in April 2022 (at the very top was getting to grips with being a trustee to a small charity!). This is because I felt that it would be key to understanding the transformative nature of the work that Speech Bubbles does.

Speech Bubbles’ work is incredibly important work as a significant proportion of children in KS1 have a communication need so I was incredibly eager to see it in person.

I visited Cherry Orchard Primary School in Greenwich. I arrived and was greeted by the lovely school staff and was immediately transported back in time as I looked at the colourful displays and tiny furniture. It was a great reminder of the fun and creativity that primary schools foster for their students. I then met the Speech Bubbles practitioner who would be leading the sessions I was observing. Shermaine was warm and clearly very passionate about the programme.

As the first of the two sessions got underway, I could see how excited and confident some students were and others were a little more quiet. Speech Bubbles sessions, have a real focus on listening and respecting each other and I was able to see how important this was as some participants got a little too excited by the story and struggled to make time for others. This message was delivered in a gentle, fun, and encouraging tone that allowed all the children to keep playing and being creative without judgement.

This is of course built into the design of the programme and the environment created was no doubt a testament to the skill of Shermaine. It was lovely to see how invested all children were in the story they were acting out together and how much they were all able to take from the session.

Seeing a second session allowed me to not only meet more of Cherry Orchard’s lovely pupils but to see how to structure of a speech bubbles session supports each group to create magic together with children in the room who have completely different temperaments and levels of confidence. I saw initially quite kids come alive and do really creative things with their acting. Throughout the sessions children got be actors and audience to each other, fostering the communication skills that Speech Bubbles aims to build.

After each session, one student stayed behind to create next weeks story with Shermaine, using a simple structure and some prompts I was struck by how quickly each student created a story and how excited they were to play author!

I joined the Speech Bubble’s board of trustees because the charities mission is incredibly important and I was impressed by how much work is put into evaluating the impact of the programme. Getting to see that impact up close was wonderful. However, what really struck me was the joy, creativity, and fun that sessions allowed the children taking part in to experience and foster together. I certainly won’t be forgetting that anytime soon and I hope I can see more sessions soon.

I don’t think there is a school in the country that doesn’t have children who could benefit from Speech Bubbles and I hope that more schools take it up. All children deserve to be heard and Speech Bubbles is helping to make sure they are.

Seeing Speech Bubbles in Action!