Skills for life

Ten Feet Tall provides a range of audience and feedback opportunities to support our students in developing their love of speaking and performing.

An examination is one useful tool to provide a  focussed opportunity for students to learn skills, rehearse and perform.  Choosing the right examination board is important so that students have a positive experience.

Our Mission

Ten Feet Tall coaches children to speak and perform with confidence so they flourish in their future.

To achieve this, we must offer students a range of speaking and performing skills that enable them to build their 'toolkit'  to use at school, university and in their future career.

Ten Feet Tall almost exclusively offers Speech New Zealand examinations because their  syllabus offers a broader set of skills to be developed and their service is flexible and a quality experience for our students.

Trinity College London is an international exam board.   In the last few years, Trinity College’s Speech and Drama examinations have become very narrow in the skill set they examine.  These exams are a good option for students who are purely focused in drama or acting.

For our senior students attending overseas universities we add an additional Trinity College exam at Grade 8 so that they have this on their CV.

Trinity College’s Public Speaking syllabus has few skills by comparison compared to Speech NZ.  This programme is not an option for Ten Feet Tall, until Grade 8.  

Ten Feet Tall is committed to offering a curriculum that develops a breadth of skills in our students with examinations that support their individual development. 

Many Speech and Drama companies offer Trinity College examinations because parents perceive it is ‘better’ because it is international.  Sadly what is not communicated to parents - is that their student are examined in far fewer skills. 

In reality, for Speech and Drama companies: Trinity College is a much easier exam for teachers to offer - as students prepare the same types of pieces each year and there is little public speaking.

Ten Feet Tall offers Speech NZ Examinations:

Year 1-3 Oral Communication assessments

Year 4-13 Speech NZ Flexi Speaking + Performing examinations

Year 7-13 Public Speaking & Communication examinations or Speech and Drama examinations

Year 7+ Communication in Leadership examinations

ESOL examinations

Comparison of Examination Boards Skills Grades 1,4,6

Speech and Drama Comparison Exam Boards

Speech NZ/ Trinity College Service

The purpose of any examination is for the student to show an examiner all the skills they have gained over the year.  To do this well, students need to be relaxed.  Speech New Zealand is very good at enabling students to relax and help students to do well.  Their examiners are highly trained and they are able to take students individually and in pairs/groups which is much less threatening for younger students.  

Speech NZ examination reports are detailed for students and parents - they arrive within a a few days of being examined.  And, at the end of the examinations Ten Feet Tall as a company receives a report outlining what we did well and what our teachers need to improve.  

From the beginning of the pandemic Speech NZ was flexible and ensured students could sit exams face to face or if needed online.  They now offer flexible online exams at the end of each month.

Most Important

Our goal for our students is not what is easiest to teach, it's not what 'looks good' - our goal must be that our students leave our classes with a breadth of speaking and performing skills they can use.  Students who develop more skills and an understanding of how to use them in different situations and with different audiences will certainly flourish.