GCSE English Speaking Exam

(Original post by bleeblahbleh)
You can begin by listing numbers and then say "these are the number of mental health cases of teens in the duration of lockdown" and then go on to start your speech. You don't want to have a flurry of statistics, so keep them to a minimal. You can include studies and surveys etc, but you want your speech to be more emotive so try and just sprinkle the facts in so it doesn't seem like you're reading an article. I would say as your audience are teens, maybe use direct language, as it will defo be a relatable moment. Also prepare for questions, have notes ready to refer to with prompts or small facts so you don't feel overwhelmed. Most questions come about the end of the speech as that's the memorable bit, so that would be a good bit to prepare for. Don't forget to breathe, take it slow, no one is actually judging you no matter how much you think that - everyone is too busy obsessing over their own performance, I promise! Don't feel like you have to fake a persona, be yourself and be comfortable to own that, it's makes you seem authentic and confident. Read your script over so that you have it slightly memorised, you don't want to be reading off of paper the whole time or else you get marked down, but at the same time, don't feel like you have to completely memorise it, you can still look down at your paper from time to time. Make eye contact with the audience, but if that's too much, make eye contact with your teacher and friends, but if that's again too much, just glance around, you don't have to hold contact but just having a quick overview around still makes you seem like you're interacting with the audience. Look at the back of the classroom, that also makes you look like you're holding contact. Don't have a compact body language, make yourself open, good posture, arms to the side, walk around a bit, no lowered head. And just enjoy it, don't think of it as an exam bc it really doesn't feel like one in the moment. It feels like a regular class activity and everyone is really chill. Everyone in my class got distinction with a few merits. I can't remember if there was a grade above distinction but I don't think there is? Either way, everyone gets good grades bc the teacher wants to award you grades not take them away. I hope you take something helpful away from this and I wish you all the luck for your performance, you'll smash it!!

(Original post by mlouise_)
thank you! ill definitely keep this all in mind

(Original post by Bobsayshey)
would love to read about this actually if you wouldnt mind showing us

(Original post by mlouise_)
I will reply to this on here once it is finished

(Original post by Bobsayshey)
will be waiting

(Original post by mlouise_)
So I ended up changing the topic to Educating on Mental Health in Schools and this is what I wrote:
Mental health is a prevalent issue in today’s society, especially within the younger generations. There are many different mental health disorders and many different factors that can impact a young person’s mental health. Due to the amount of mental health disorders that there are and the amount of people that suffer from them, there should be more funding for the mental health services in England and also schools should have to educate the younger generations on mental health disorders and how to get support. This would benefit the younger generations as mental health disorders are becoming more common.

It should be made compulsory for schools to have at least half an hour a week where we are educated on mental health. Currently, in most schools, mental health is a topic that is rarely spoken about. We get half an hour maximum on it every few months but it isn’t enough. There are many mental health disorders and they all affect those who struggle with them in different ways so half an hour every few months is not making an impact. Also, when we do get the time spent talking about mental health, there are very often students who make a joke out of it. This makes it even harder for those who need the support to ask for it as they feel as though they will be laughed at then be pushed aside or called an attention seeker.

I believe that being educated on mental health is very important as this will help destigmatize mental health. However, it is important that when mental health is spoken about, the purpose is to destigmatize not normalise. Destigmatizing mental health would mean that the negative associations around mental health would be removed, aming it an easier topic to talk about and encouraging those who struggle to reach out for support. However, normalising mental health would mean to bring it to a normal or standard condition. It’s important that this doesn’t happen because this may lead to those who struggle with their mental health believing what they are going through is normal which may prevent them from asking for help.

Most people believe that mental health should be taught in schools providing that it is taught with the purpose to destigmatize mental health rather than normalise it. One main reason for this is suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for young people aged 10 to 24. If schools educated young people on mental health, they could help young people to understand mental health. This could help prevent young people getting to the position where they try to end their own life as a permanent solution for a temporary problem.

Another reason why people believe schools should educate young people on mental health is because half of mental health illnesses start to develop by the age of 14. If schools educate young people on mental health, young people will be able to start noticing that they may be developing a mental health disorder much earlier on preventing them getting to a point where they don’t know how to cope and believe the only way out is suicide.

It is very important that when educating on mental health, it is taught in the correct way with the purpose to destigmatize not normalise. When specific mental health disorders are spoken about, it is critical that they are taught correctly and make sure that all the information is correct especially when it comes to the lesser known mental health disorders.

Overall, it is really important that mental health should be added to the curriculum because there are many positive impacts it can make. Young people are all affected by mental health whether they themselves suffer with a mental health disorder or it is a loved one so mental health education would benefit them.



Let me know what you think

(Original post by Bobsayshey)
This really good 😊😊the only thing i would honestly change is adding a catching beginning/ introduction and then something at the end to leave the audience remember that could be like rhetoricalal question of a phrase or quote, but honestly you did really well.

(Original post by Bobsayshey)
This really good 😊😊the only thing i would honestly change is adding a catching beginning/ introduction and then something at the end to leave the audience remember that could be like rhetoricalal question of a phrase or quote, but honestly you did really well.

(Original post by mlouise_)
Just saw this on old notifications. I ended up getting a distinction for this.

(Original post by Bobsayshey)
ahhh so proud of you!!

(Original post by mlouise_)
So i have my english speaking exam in about 2 weeks and I was told about it today. I'm not the most confident speaker so i am already stressing out about it. I am thinking about doing mine on mental health in teens and how lockdown has affected them, as this is a topic i am very passionate about but I am struggling on how to write what I want to say and all that so any tips would be very much appreciated