No Pens Day Wednesday - The Communication Trust

Teachers’ Activity Pack 

Win £1,500 of 

resources by 

taking part 

No Pens Day 

Wednesday 

Your guide 

to running 


Wednesday

Welcome to your 

No Pens Day Wednesday 

activity pack 



28 September 

2011 

No Pens Day Wednesday is about encouraging schools to 

spend one day focusing on speaking and listening activities. 

Thank you for signing up and getting involved. 

Contents 

All about No Pens Day Wednesday______________ page 3 

How to make classroom talk more effective______ page 5 

Getting ready for the day______________________ page 9 

How to run your No Pens Day Wednesday_______ page 10 

Outcomes__________________________________ page 15 

Spread the word_____________________________ page 16 

Next steps __________________________________ page 18


All about No Pens Day Wednesday 



28 September 

2011 

No Pens Day Wednesday is a 

national speaking and listening 

event from the Hello campaign, 

encouraging schools to organise 

a day where learning and 

assessment takes place through 

speaking and listening activities, 

rather than writing. 

Ofsted are increasingly highlighting 

the importance of speaking and 

listening for good teaching and 

attainment and as a common 

denominator in the most 

successful schools... 

No Pens Day Wednesday 

is being organised by The 

Communication Trust as part of 

the Hello campaign, the national 

year of communication. The 

initiative is backed by Jean Gross, 

Communication Champion, and 

has strong support from curriculum 

experts including Sir Jim Rose, 

Andrew Pollard and Mick Waters. 

The aim of the day is to see a 

positive impact on all pupils and 

enable speaking and listening to 

be used as a vehicle for learning 

across the curriculum. 

Just a note... If Wednesday 28 

September doesn’t work for your 

school, you can run your No Pens 

Day Wednesday at another time 

that suits. 

‘A common feature of the most 

successful schools in the survey 

was the attention they gave to 

developing speaking and listening’ 

Ofsted Removing Barriers to 

Literacy, 2010 

3


What is the Hello campaign? 



28 September 

2011 

Hello is the 2011 national year of 

communication – a campaign to 

increase understanding of how 

important it is for all children and 

young people to develop good 

communication skills. 

It’s estimated that over a million 

children have some form of speech, 

language and communication 

need that requires them to have 

extra help to communicate. This 

can affect them severely and 

for life. 

Hello is helping to make children’s 

communication a priority in homes 

and schools across the country 

by providing information on 

typical communication 

development, how 

to spot if children 

are struggling and 

where to go for 

help and support. 

Visit www.hello.org.uk to find out 

more about the campaign and to 

sign up for regular updates. 

‘Where inspectors saw links 

between oral language, reading and 

writing in lessons with secondary 

school students, standards at GCSE 

English language were higher’ 

Excellence in English 

Ofsted May 2011 

4


How to make classroom talk more effective 



28 September 

2011 

Talk is at the heart of education 

- teachers use talk as the main 

tool of their trade. The amount 

and quality of talk that children 

experience in the early years is a 

good predictor of how well they’ll 

do in school. And we now know that 

teaching children and young people 

how to use talk to think together 

can improve their commitment to 

learning and to their educational 

attainment. 

No Pens Day Wednesday will enable 

teachers to give pupils opportunities 

throughout the day to develop their 

communication skills and use them 

to support their learning. 

We know from a range of research 

that pupils are more likely to get 

enthusiastically involved in their 

education, and learn best from it, 

when teachers support and enable 

effective use of speaking and 

listening to support learning. 

We have therefore suggested 

the following ten key principles 

for effective use of speaking and 

listening. 

>> 

‘Open and challenging questions 

extend pupils’ reasoning and vocabulary 

and help them to become enthusiastic 

and self-motivated learners, eager to 

contribute and share their ideas. At its very 

best, such teaching generates an infectious 

enthusiasm for learning’ 

Ofsted Annual report 2009/2010 

and yet... 

...‘recent research shows that 

the average length of a pupil’s 

contribution to a class discussion 

is just four words’ 

National Literacy Trust, 2011 

5


10 key principles of effective talk 



28 September 

2011 

1. Allow pupils time to think 

about information given, refine 

what they want to say, express 

their thoughts and reveal their 

misunderstandings 

Use the 10 second 

rule – wait around 10 

seconds after asking a 

question before prompting 

pupils for an answer 

2. Give opportunities for pupils 

to talk to a partner or in a 

group, to encourage pupils to test 

understanding, put new knowledge 

into their own words and/or to 

clarify thoughts before they’re 

asked to produce a piece of writing 

3. Support vocabulary 

development by using strategies 

to explicitly teach the meaning and 

use of key words for learning (words 

like compare, analyse and define) 

and for subject specific vocabulary 

4. Model ways of using language 

so that children learn by example, 

use language that enables 

collaborative working, discussion, 

rational argument and negotiation. 

For example “I see your point, 

though let’s try this way too and we 

can decide which works best” 

5. Encourage thinking by asking 

open questions to explore pupils’ 

ideas, supporting pupils to elaborate 

and justify their views, for example 

“How did you know that?” 

6. Listen as well as talk by 

holding back demonstrations or 

explanations until the ideas of 

some students have been heard, 

by allowing pupils’ comments to 

shift the direction of a discussion 

(and even, perhaps, of a lesson!) 

7. Set the context by using whole 

class discussions to help pupils 

see where their study of a topic is 

coming from and where it’s going, 

for example, using a learning 

journey model 

8. Support independent learning 

by asking pupils to think ‘how am 

I going to remember this?’ Give 

them opportunities to practise with 

a partner 

9. Use ground rules of dialogue 

for class or group discussions to 

support thinking and learning. 

A typical set of such ground rules 

might include: 

• Discuss things together 

• Ask everyone for their opinion 

• Ask for reasons why 

• Listen to people 

• Be prepared to change your mind 

• Think before you speak 

• Respect other people’s ideas – 

don’t just use your own 

• Share all the ideas and 

information you have 

• Make sure the group agrees after 

talking 

10. Encourage children and 

young people to say when 

they’ve not understood – 

acknowledge the importance of 

making mistakes and of seeking 

clarification when unsure 

6




28 September 

2011 

Following through with the ten 

principles overleaf may not be 

easy, so do prepare yourself for 

challenges along the way. As any 

teacher will testify, if you try asking 

open questions, or waiting for 

extended answers with a class who 

have had only a very traditional 

experience of classroom talk, you’ll 

probably only hear (at best) a 

suspicious silence. It all depends on 

the teacher establishing the right 

classroom climate for talk, and that 

takes time. 

Some teachers are naturally 

brilliant at doing this. Their 

students come to appreciate 

the educational value of talk 

themselves, and will not feel 

embarrassed to express tentative 

ideas or reasonable disagreements. 

Teachers need to be good models 

for children and young people on 

how to use talk for thinking. 

Research has shown that when 

children are helped to understand 

talk as a problem-solving and 

learning tool, and given guidance 

in developing skills in using it, the 

quality of their talk and group work 

improves and so do the individual 

learning outcomes. 

For children whose out-of-school 

lives give them little exposure to 

reasoned discussion, this can be a 

life-changing experience. 

‘Teaching pupils speaking 

and listening for learning has not 

just been of benefit to the standards 

of literacy but for the whole 

curriculum.’ Jan Baynham, Literacy 

Adviser, South Wales 

7


Win up to £1,500 of resources 



28 September 

2011 

Schools taking part in No Pens 

Day Wednesday could win up to 

£1,500 of resources to help embed 

speaking and listening activities. 

3 prizes of £500 are available and 

all participating schools will be 

eligible to win one or more of the 

following categories: 

1. Best lesson 

Then, in 500 words or less, tell us 

all about what you did and include 

any pictures, podcasts, film, links 

or anything else you feel shows 

off what you achieved on the day. 

You’ll need to send a separate 

e-mail for each category you’re 

entering and all participating 

schools can enter in all categories. 

Entrants can win more than one of 

the prizes on offer. 

Each prize will be £500 towards the 

cost of developing speaking and 

listening activities for your school. 

This could be in the form of ICT 

equipment, topic boxes, story bags, 

staff training or even consultancy 

from a speech and language 

expert. The Communication Trust 

will work with the winning school 

or schools to create prize packages 

that meet their needs. 

All entries must be received by 

Friday 21 October 2011 and the 

winners will be notified by Friday 

2 December 2011. The names of 

winning schools will be promoted 

on the No Pens Day Wednesday 

pages of the Hello website, where 

you can find full terms and 

conditions of entry. 

2. Best activity 

3. Best way of recording 

learning 

To enter the competition, 

email competition@ 

thecommunicationtrust.org.uk 

and include the name of the prize 

category you’re entering in the 

subject header. 

8


Getting ready for the day 



28 September 

2011 

Here’s some information to help 

you prepare for No Pens Day 

Wednesday or Monday, Tuesday, 

Thursday or Friday if another day 

suits you better! 

Staff meeting 

You may find it useful to have 

a brief staff meeting with your 

colleagues to share information 

about No Pens Day Wednesday 

and to provide an opportunity for 

staff to discuss what they see as 

the language and communication 

issues for pupils in your school. 

We’ve provided some slides to 

support this discussion, which can 

be used in its entirety or adapted for 

your own use. 

Download the content for the staff 

meeting at www.hello.org.uk/nopens-day-wednesday 

Lesson plans and activity 

templates 

No Pens Day Wednesday lesson 

plans and activity templates 

have been created by specialist 

teachers and speech and language 

therapists and quality assured by 

practising mainstream teachers. 

Lesson plans – these were 

developed by taking example plans 

for September from one school’s 

planning as a starting point. As all 

schools will be covering different 

topics and have different ways of 

planning, the lesson plans provide 

an example for schools to adapt. 

Plans are available for Key Stage 1 

and 2 curriculum, across the year 

groups. For secondary schools, 

lesson plans are available for year 

7 across all subject areas; this 

is not to limit your No Pens Day 

Wednesday to year 7 only, but 

to provide an example across all 

subject areas, which you can use 

and adapt for different year groups. 

Lesson plans are divided into 

primary and secondary and are 

available as a separate download to 

this pack for you to use on the day. 

Activity templates – in addition to 

lesson plans, we’ve provided activity 

templates, which are more generic 

and can be adapted to any lesson. 

There are a range of activities with 

information about each, including 

how it can be implemented, 

highlighting any resources / links 

that might be useful to support that 

activity. These activities can be used 

within any element of a lesson - as a 

starter activity, main activity, plenary 

or as methods of recording learning. 

Download the plans and templates 

at www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday 

9


How to run your No Pens Day Wednesday 



28 September 

2011 

Three weeks before your No Pens Day Wednesday: 

Confirm who’ll lead on plans 

for the day 

Book in a staff meeting to 

inform other teachers about 

the No Pens Day Wednesday 

Download the activity 

pack and other supporting 

documents at www.hello.org. 

uk/no-pens-day-wednesday 

(Primary Lesson Plans and 

Templates if you work in a 

Primary School, Secondary 

Lesson Plans and Templates 

if you work in a Secondary 

School) 

Familiarise yourself with the 

documents and consider 

whether you want to use 

or adapt the lesson plans 

provided or plan your own 

lessons using the ideas on the 

templates 

Decide on who’ll run the 

assembly for pupils 

Consider entering our 

competition for: 

• The best lesson 

• The best activity 

• The best way of recording 

learning, for example best 

posters, podcasts, slideshows 

etc. 

Consider whether you’ll have 

competitions / presentations in 

school for best activities, ways 

of recording etc 

Plan in your local media 

activity to promote what 

you’re doing – No Pens Day 

Wednesday press templates 

are available and you can find 

media advice in the Hello Bring 

the Noise toolkit available from 

www.hello.org.uk/resources 

Decide if you want to invite 

press along on the day, and if 

so which part of the day will be 

best for you to accommodate 

press and photographers 

Check if you have permissions 

from parents for children 

and young people to be 

photographed. If not, plan 

this in 

Identify your ‘spokesperson’ 

for No Pens Day Wednesday. 

This is the person who’ll be 

quoted in the press releases 

and who’d speak on the day 

to any media 

Plan in reflection after the day 

/ lessons learned / next steps 

10




28 September 

2011 

Two weeks before your No Pens Day Wednesday: 

One week before your No Pens Day Wednesday: 

Ensure all teachers have 

discussed with their pupils the 

plans to participate in No Pens 

Day Wednesday, including 

seeking their views on taking 

part and asking their ideas on 

how the day should be run 

Ensure all staff are aware of 

the day 

Identify ‘a budding 

photographer’ in your school 

or community who can take 

pictures of your No Pens Day 

Wednesday activity 

Send a letter to parents – use 

the template provided on 

page 16; you may decide to 

invite parents into the school 

assembly or to see what’s 

happening in the classrooms 

or the ways in which pupils 

have recorded their work 

Share with other local contacts 

your plans for No Pens Day 

Wednesday and send out 

your No Pens Day Wednesday 

photo-call to your local 

newspaper and radio 

Prepare your own certificates 

for the day (if using) 

Plan the lessons you’ll run 

using the examples provided, 

ensure any additional 

resources you need are 

prepared 

Call / email your local 

newspaper and radio to follow 

up on your photo-call notice 

and see if they’re interested in 

covering your day. Be prepared 

to send your information over 

again 

Put information in your 

newsletter for parents and 

in the news section of your 

website 

Consider ideas and options for 

recording learning, suggestions 

are available on www. 

hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday 

Plan where and when you’ll 

gather pupil views on the day; 

see our suggestions on how to 

do this on page 15 

11




28 September 

2011 

On the day: After the day : 

Begin with the assembly 

explaining to pupils what will 

happen on the day; you can 

download this from www. 

hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday 

Use the materials provided 

to run a day of lessons with 

a focus on speaking and 

listening 

If the press are coming, have 

one person, who leads on 

liaising with local media, speak 

to them about what they 

need. For example, they may 

want to set up a specific photo 

with staff and children or talk 

to a child / teacher / parent 

about their views on the day 

Note the impact on pupils’ 

engagement and learning 

Ask pupils’ views during the 

day; discuss the benefits of 

not using pens, alternative 

activities used and places 

where it would be useful to 

write things down 

Plan a follow up assembly 

/ sharing pupils’ work – you 

might chose to do this on 

another day / invite parents 

etc 

Present results / certificates at 

end of week in an assembly or 

relevant alternative 

Use a staff meeting to 

reflect on the best and most 

challenging elements of the 

day; see our suggestions on 

how to do this on page 15 

Share pupils’ views 

Decide on what you’ll continue 

with 

Send a press release with a 

couple of the best pictures 

(if you have them) to your 

local media and any other 

important contacts. It would 

be really helpful if you could 

also send it to us at media@ 


as it will help us keep track of 

the media activity 

Share your story / experiences 

/ anecdotes with Hello by 

uploading your story onto the 

website at www.hello.org.uk/ 

yourstories 

Visit the Hello website at 

www.hello.org.uk for further 

suggestions on how to support 

speaking and listening in 

schools 

12


No Pens Day Wednesday Assembly 



28 September 

2011 

It’s obviously important that pupils 

understand what to expect from 

No Pens Day Wednesday and know 

why the school has decided to take 

part. We’ve included two options 

for assemblies so you can choose 

which you feel is best suited to 

your pupils and the way in which 

you carry out your assemblies. 

This example gives role play 

activities and the second option 

provides a simple Powerpoint 

with optional role play activities, 

one aimed at primary and one 

at secondary pupils, available at 

www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday 

Introduction 

Each pupil is given a pen as they 

enter the room before sitting down. 

Assembly leader 

Check if anyone knows what’s 

going to be different about the 

day i.e. No Pens Day Wednesday 

= no pens will be used. If no-one 

answers, explain pens won’t be 

used all day in the school and 

get pupils to get rid of their pen 

somehow e.g. pass a bin / bag 

along each row for pupils to put 

their pens into. 

So what will happen instead? 

Ask what pupils think they’ll do in 

lessons today (instead of writing) 

to help their learning and express 

their thoughts and ideas. 

Role-play 1 (assembly leader 

and teacher) 

• Have a silent written conversation 

for two or three turns 

• Ask the pupils if this is how we 

usually talk to each other? 

• Explain or reiterate that one main 

way of learning and expressing 

our thoughts and ideas is through 

talking to each other (depending 

on whether a pupil has already 

come up with this suggestion or 

not) 


and pupil 1) 

• Pick a pupil to have a 

conversation with 

• Ask them to tell you about 

something that they could talk 

about for a long time e.g. about 

their family, what t hey did 

yesterday at school (pick a child 

who you’re aware would cope 

with this) 

• As they’re doing this, show poor 

listening skills such as looking 

away, fidgeting, turning your 

back to them, yawning, and 

interrupting them 

• Open it up to the pupils to give 

feedback and ask if they think 

you were communicating and 

listening well 

(Pupils may say ‘drawing’. 

Acknowledge that this is one other 

way of expressing thoughts but 

this still involves a pen/pencil which 

they’ll not have today). 

• How much do they think you 

learned about what the pupil 

was telling you? 

13




28 September 

2011 


and pupil 2) 

• Do the same as role-play two, 

and correct your listening 

behaviour in light of the feedback 

and discussion about your poor 

listening skills, for example face 

the pupil, look interested, nod 

etc. This time however show poor 

talking skills such as responding 

to what they say on a non-related 

topic and speaking really fast and 

then too quietly and don’t let 

them have a turn 

• Again, open it up to the pupils 

to give feedback and highlight 

that you may have been showing 

good listening behaviours but 

you weren’t showing good talking 

behaviours 

• What do they think would be the 

impact on what you learned from 

the pupil? 


to pupil 3) 

• Then do one more role-play 

with another child and have a 

conversation, showing good 

listening and speaking 

• Check if that was OK with the 

pupils and why 

• Ask if they think you would have 

learned more this way? 

How did it feel? 

Ask the three pupils involved how 

they felt when you were having 

a conversation with them to 

highlight the impact it can have 

when a person doesn’t listen, take 

turns or speak clearly. 

Summary 

Recap the skills you had to put into 

practice to make your conversation 

work well and for you to listen and 

learn and remember what your 

partner was telling you. Explain 

that writing is an important skill 

but that speaking and listening are 

also really important, for helping 

you think things through, to learn 

about other people as well as 

for making friends and working 

together. No Pens Day Wednesday 

is a chance to listen and speak to 

each other and put these skills into 

practice. 

Adapt for different ages 

Adapt the assembly to make 

it more age-appropriate – for 

example, when having the 

conversation role-plays, start 

looking at a mobile phone to 

indicate poor listening skills. 

Discuss how the internet and 

mobile phones are an important 

part of learning but mean we 

forget to interact, look at each 

other and listen to what other 

people are saying. 

14


Outcomes 



28 September 

2011 

One of the most important parts 

of the day is the reflection it will 

prompt, from both pupils and 

teachers, about what worked for 

them and what didn’t. 

For pupils, we suggest 

opportunities are built into the day 

to ask their views about different 

lessons and activities. 

You could use the questions 

here for discussion of the day, to 

evaluate practice and to enter our 

competition for best activities, 

lesson plans and learning on 

No Pens Day Wednesday. 

Pupil Voice 

1. Which were the best 

activities during No Pens 

Day and why? You could use 

examples and traffic lights/ 

smiley faces to encourage 

pupils to judge which were 

best. 

2. Which were the best 

lessons...and why? 

3. Were there times when 

you wanted to write things 

down? If so when would that 

have been useful? 

4. What do you think of this 

way of learning? Would you 

like your teachers to do more 

activities like this or less? 

Thumbs up or thumbs down? 

For teaching staff, we suggest 

some time is given after the day 

to work through the following 

questions, both to evaluate 

and support positive practice 

and to determine next steps for 

supporting speaking and listening 

in school. 

Reflections on the day 

1. What were the most challenging 

elements of the day? 

2. What worked well – what 

activities, principles, lessons? 

3. What were pupils’ views on the 

day? 

4. What was the impact on 

learning? 

5. Did the day give you any new 

insights into particular pupils? 

6. Any surprises? 

Choose elements of the day you’ll 

use again, for example 

1. Try one new activity from the 

activity templates per half term 

until it’s embedded in your 

teaching 

2. Support colleagues to do the 

same 

3. Include discussion on ‘speaking 

and listening’ across the 

curriculum in staff meetings to 

maintain momentum 

15


Spread the word 



28 September 

2011 

You may wish to share with parents 

that your school is participating in 

No Pens Day Wednesday. 

If so, you can download a template 

letter to let them know what’s 

happening from www.hello.org.uk/ 

no-pens-day-wednesday 

Alternatively, you may want to 

send out a newsletter to parents 

and other local contacts. 

Dear Parent/Carer, 

(YOUR SCHOOL NAME) is taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday, an initiative to help 

support children’s speech, language and communication development. 

No Pens Day Wednesday is being run by the Hello campaign as part of the national 

year of communication. Find out more at www.hello.org.uk 

So what is No Pens Day Wednesday? 

The aim of the day is to encourage and develop speaking and listening skills, which is 

a part of the national curriculum. 

For one day, pupils in the school will put down their pens and all lessons will focus 

on speaking and listening rather than writing. Teachers will assess what children in 

their class have learnt and listen to what pupils say about learning through speaking 

and listening. 

Why are we taking part? 

Reading and writing are very important and valuable skills but people are often not 

aware of how important speaking and listening skills are. Schools that include 

speaking and listening in a planned and structured way for children in their lessons 

see improvement in their standards. Ofsted inspectors (who check standards in all 

schools in the country) are noticing more and more that speaking and listening is a 

really important factor for good teaching and learning in successful schools. 

How will your child benefit? 

No Pens Day Wednesday gives your child a chance to practise their speaking and 

listening skills for a whole day. It also provides their teachers with new skills, 

confidence and ideas for how to include speaking and listening in their lesson plans. 

The day will allow all pupils in your child’s class to become involved in a whole school 

event, and to contribute to class activities, getting a chance to talk. The school will 

be able to continue what we learn from this day throughout the school year 

If you want to know more about this day, then speak to your child’s class teacher or 

form tutor. 

Yours sincerely, 

16




28 September 

2011 

Read all about it 

We hope you’ll join our efforts in 

getting media interest in your No Pens 

Day Wednesday. Here’s a template 

photo-call and press release you 

can download to send to local press 

from www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-daywednesday 

For more advice on local media work 

including how to talk to journalists, 

tips on emailing them and how to take 

great pictures – download the Hello 

Bring the Noise toolkit available from 

www.hello.org.uk/resources 

PHOTOCALL NOTICE 

For Immediate Release – (Insert date) 

NO PENS FOR (Insert school name) 

(insert number) children/young people (delete as applicable) from (insert name of 

school/college/group) in (insert town/city) are taking part in No Pens Day 

Wednesday – a day where all children in the school will put down their pens and all 

lessons will focus on speaking and listening, rather than writing. 

(insert name/job title) from (insert school/college/group) says: 'Please come along 

and join us as we take part in No Pens Day Wednesday in support of the Hello 

campaign. Reading and writing are very important skills but people are often not 

aware of the vital importance of speaking and listening skills. They underpin 

everything. We are looking forwards to spending a day highlighting them to our 

pupils (amend as needed), their parents and are the sure school staff will learn a 

great deal too.' 

2011 is a special year as it is the National Year of Communication known as the Hello 

campaign. Our ability to communicate is fundamental, yet in the UK today over 1 

million children and young people struggle with some form of speech, language and 

communication need. 

Speaking, listening and understanding skills are the bedrock skills needed for success 

at school. No Pens Day Wednesday encourages schools to place a strong emphasis 

on explicit and structured speaking and listening approaches. Evidence recognises 

these skills as key in supporting children’s thinking, learning and wellbeing. 

Hello exists to make children and young people’s communication development a 

priority during 2011 and beyond. The campaign is providing information on typical 

communication development, how to spot if children are struggling and where to go 

for help and support. 

Hello is run by The Communication Trust, a consortium of over 40 voluntary 

organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, in partnership 

with the Communication Champion, Jean Gross [www.hello.org.uk]. For more 

information, please contact (Insert Name) at (Insert name of school/college/group) 

on (Insert number and/or email address). 

PRESS RELEASE 

For Immediate Release – (Insert date) 

NO PENS FOR (Insert school name) 

On 28th Wednesday September (amend date if necessary), children/young people 

(delete as applicable) aged (insert ages) from (insert school/college/group) in (insert 

region) took part in No Pens Day Wednesday; a national speaking and listening 

event organised by The Communication Trust as part of the Hello campaign (National 

Year of Communication) to encourage schools to put down their pens and pick up 

their language. 

By taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday, (insert school/college/group) have 

successfully organised a day for (insert number) pupils where all lessons focused on 

speaking and listening rather than writing. 

(Insert name/job title) from (insert school/college/group) says: “We were delighted 

to take part in No Pens Day Wednesday in support of the Hello campaign. Reading 

and writing are very important skills but people are often not aware of the vital 

importance of speaking and listening skills. They underpin everything. Not only have 

the children/young people (delete as applicable) loved it, teachers and parents have 

also benefitted as well.” 

Jean Gross, the Government’s Communication Champion – who is backing No Pens 

Day Wednesday – says: "2011 is a special year as it is the National Year of 

Communication known as the Hello campaign. The ability to communicate is 

fundamental and we would like to thank (insert school name) for taking part in No 

Pens Day Wednesday. It is important that we recognise speaking, listening and 

understanding as bedrock skills for success at school. In the UK today, over 1 million 

children and young people struggle with some sort of speech, language and 

communication need." 

For information on Hello, please contact Laura Smith at The Communication Trust via 

lsmith@thecommunicationtrust.org.uk or 020 7843 2519. 

-Ends- 

Hello exists to make children and young people’s communication development a 

priority during 2011 and beyond. The campaign is providing information on typical 

communication development, how to spot if children are struggling and where to go 

for help and support. 

Hello is run by The Communication Trust, a consortium of over 40 voluntary 

organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, in partnership 

with Jean Gross, Communication Champion. Visit www.hello.org.uk to find out more 

and for free resources. 

-‐Ends-‐ 

17


Next steps 



28 September 

2011 

Tell us about your 

No Pens Day Wednesday! 

Thank you for taking part in No 

Pens Day Wednesday, we hope 

your pupils and colleagues enjoyed 

taking part and will plan lots more 

similar days. We’d love to hear how 

No Pens Day Wednesday worked in 

your school. 

Please send any comments to 

hello@thecommunicationtrust. 

org.uk. And don’t forget to enter 

our No Pens Day Wednesday 

competition. 

Make this a core part of 

learning in your school 

To help with permanently 

embedding speaking and listening 

activities into the curriculum, 

The Communication Trust is 

collating a range of good practice 

examples, which will be available 

from the end of September and 

further developed and extended 

throughout the academic year. 

We would value your thoughts, 

suggestions and contributions 

on this. Please email enquiries@ 


18

Order your free copy of Universally Speaking 

Universally Speaking is a series of 

booklets for anyone who works with 

children and young people. The booklets 

show where children should be with 

their communication skills at any given 

age. 

You can use the booklets to find out whether 

the children you work with are on the right 

track, what helps them learn to talk and listen 

and what to do if you have concerns about 

any of their communication abilities. 

Available for those who work with 5-11 year olds 

and 11-18 year olds, you can order your free 

copy from www.hello.org.uk/resources* 

* When ordering Universally Speaking 5-11 please quote reference number US1 

* When ordering Universally Speaking 11-18 please quote reference number US2 

Orders will be sent within 10 working days 

Universally Speaking was produced by The Communication Trust, for the Hello 

campaign (the national year of communication), with the support of Pearson 

Assessment.

Communicating effectively – 

are your students fit as a fiddle 

or simply fit to drop? 

Talk Gym helps young people work 

it out, then work out! 

Talk Gym is a unique and free resource from the BT Learning & Skills programme 

that enables young people to build their communication skills in readiness for life 

after school. 

Easy-to-follow online activities help young adults aged 14-19 to discover how 

others see them as communicators, and to discover which skills they need to 

develop to enjoy better friendships, improve family relationships, do better at 

school and get the kind of job they want. 

Want your communication skills to be fit for the future, then shape up at the 

Talk Gym now! 

www.bt.com/talkgym

No Pens Day Wednesday - The Communication Trust

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