Oracy

We believe spoken language to be fundamental to the achievement of our pupils. We ensure we are teaching oracy skills across the curriculum and provide our children with a range of oracy opportunities and a variety of audiences. 

We incorporate the ‘Voice 21’ project (a charity which aims to improve the teaching of oracy in schools) into our school curriculum. This project ensures that teachers and leaders are equipped with the skills to develop oracy for teaching and learning, to plan for talk across the curriculum and to elevate speaking beyond the classroom. Our curriculum planning builds a culture of oracy within our school to support and develop our pupils’ confidence, spoken language and written outcomes across and beyond the school curriculum. 

Our aim is to enable the children to communicate effectively and confidently in front of any type of audience. These skills are being encouraged in every area of our curriculum as good communication skills are essential life skills and will enhance your child’s future opportunities. The children are encouraged to explore ideas through talk; challenge each other’s opinions and develop their own reasoned arguments, as well as talking in full sentences with a clear and confident voice. 

Many of our pupils start early school life without the oracy skills needed for their age. We develop these skills through the taught curriculum, the school ethos of inclusion, playtimes and lunchtimes, extra-curricular activities and enrichment opportunities. 

Respectful and productive relationships between all who form part of the school community are crucial aspects of this ethos. As a staff, we therefore foster good communication amongst ourselves and with our pupils, their parents and carers, and with the wider community. 

Our Oracy curriculum enables children to: 

• recognise the value of listening; 
• speak with confidence, clarity and fluency;
• adapt their use of language for a range of different purposes and audiences, including using Standard English;
• concentrate, interpret and respond appropriately to a wide range of listening experiences; 
• be confident in the value of their own opinions and to be able to express them to others;
• be open-minded, to value the contribution of others and to take account of their views; 
• appreciate the diversity of languages, dialects and accents in the school and value the experience and contributions of children with a wide variety of linguistic backgrounds; 
• share their learning in an engaging, informative way through class contributions, learning presentations, assemblies and celebration performances. 

The Four Strands of the Oracy Framework: This framework of skills will be taught, practised and assessed in all areas of the curriculum, using age-appropriate objectives (see Oracy Progression document).