Since last autumn, thousands of children have taken part in Voice Box – the joke-telling competition for schools in England, Scotland and Wales. Twenty-five made it through to the final at Speaker’s House, Westminster in London on Wednesday, 25 April 2018. Four of them were from Northumberland.
Two boys were from Ashington – 10-year-old Ben Pepper and Zach Robinson, age 11. Joining them were Mason Hope, age 10, from Morpeth and 16-year-old Jake Winson, from Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Ben, who attends NCEA Thomas Berwick Campus, delighted the packed audience of politicians, parents and children with his joke:
What do you call a tall man in Scotland with a burger for a hat?
A Big Mac!
Asked what he’d like to do when he grows up, Ben replied: “I’d like to be a police officer to catch criminals!”
Fellow competitor, Zach, who attends NCEA James Knott Campus, had the audience in stitches with his music-focussed joke:
Knock knock, who’s there?
Knock knock, who’s there?
Britney Spears…oops, I did it again!
When he was asked what he would like to do when gets older, Zach responded: “I’d like to be an architect because I think it would be an interesting job.”
Mason, a pupil of NCEA William Leech Campus, brought lots more laughter to the event with his joke:
Why was the laptop cold?
Because it didn’t close all its windows!
When he grows up Mason would like “to be a policeman to help people, or a detective to solve crime.”
Jake, who attends Berwick Academy, got the audience giggling too with his joke:
Two pieces of string walk into a bar and there’s a sign saying: ‘We don’t sell drinks to pieces of string’. The first piece of string goes up to the barman and asks for a pint. The barman replies: ‘We don’t sell drinks to pieces of string, get out.’ The piece of string goes back up to his friend and says: ‘They don’t sell drinks to us.’ The second piece of string goes up to the barman and asks for a drink. The barman asks: ‘Are you a piece of string?’ He replies: ‘No, I’m a frayed knot.
Asked what he would like for a career, Jake responded: “I’d like to be trained in engineering and run my own engineering business so I can work on my own projects.”
The annual Voice Box Competition, is organised by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and partnered by National Association of Head Teachers, and, supported by The Communication Trust. It aims to remind people that there are children in every classroom who need support to help them speak and understand what is being said to them.
More than 10% of children and young people have long term speech, language and communication needs which create barriers to communication or learning in everyday life. This includes 7.6% of children who start school with developmental language disorder – a condition where children have problems understanding or using spoken language, with no obvious reason for these difficulties – and 2.3% who have difficulties associated with another condition, such as autism or hearing impairment.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, who was also present at the final, added: “I’m very pleased to support Jake and Mason at Voice Box. The event has demonstrated how communication skills help children to have the best start in life. Public speaking is a part of my daily life and as such I fully appreciate the work teachers and speech and language therapists do to help children to communicate as well as possible.”