Case Study | Mary N Raptou School

How Topical Talk can build student confidence, global awareness and inspire curriculum change

Key learnings

Mary N Raptou School is an English-medium private school in Greece, with most students either speaking English as a first language or having grown up bilingual. In 2024, they took part in the Topical Talk Festival for the first time, supported by the British Council.

The school entered both younger and older student groups – and, despite being new to the programme, they placed 7th on the global leaderboard and were awarded the prestigious Alastair Burnet Award. This award goes to the class which has shown an outstanding commitment to the Festival and made exceptional contributions throughout.

For the teacher leading the Festival, the biggest impact came from the programme’s ability to spark genuine student interest. “Since using Topical Talk, they are talking about it a lot,” she explained. “That’s the first important step for us.” Students were not only engaging with the topics in class, but continuing discussions outside of lessons – going home to do extra research and coming back with questions and opinions they wanted to share. The content helped them make connections to the wider world – and motivated them to explore.

This excitement and relevance, the teacher felt, made her reflect on the topics in their existing English curriculum. “I think the topics made me think we need to modernise some of our curriculum,” she said. “Especially in the English language.” Topical Talk became a route into real-world conversation – not just teaching how to speak in English, but what to speak about.

Like many first-time Festival schools, confidence was a key area of growth. “Most of them, in the beginning, thought they couldn’t do it – that maybe they weren’t good enough,” the teacher told us. But through scaffolded activities like class debates, video rehearsals and peer feedback, the students gradually built up the confidence to speak publicly, post online and share their views with a global audience. “Later, their self-confidence grew. It helped them a lot.”

This global connection was central to the school’s success. Students were inspired by the fact that they were taking part in something bigger than just their own school. “Because it’s a worldwide festival, it’s motivating,” their teacher said. “They know it’s not only at school – it’s something that expands and connects them. They can agree or disagree with people in other countries. That global element was the best part for them.”

For students who were already comfortable speaking English, Topical Talk offered a chance to stretch themselves further – to prove what they knew and be proud of it. “They said: we know English, and we want to show the world we know English,” the teacher smiled.

It was the school’s first time taking part, and they didn’t know exactly what to expect. But by the end, the teacher told us, the students were “very enthusiastic about the whole world” – and already keen to take part again.