Oracy                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Subject Leader: Miss A Pritchard

Intent 

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

We follow the ‘Voice 21’ project (a charity which aims to improve the teaching of oracy in schools). 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 improve their levels of oracy so that all pupils are able 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 can enhance every type of learning. 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 relevant for their age. We strive to develop spoken language skills through the taught curriculum, the hidden curriculum, playtimes and lunchtimes, extra-curricular activities and the whole ethos of the school. 

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. We place a high priority on supporting the development of good speaking and listening skills amongst our pupils. 

Our oracy curriculum enables children to: 

• speak with confidence, clarity and fluency; 

• recognise the value of listening; 

• be confident in the value of their own opinions and to be able to express them to others; 

• adapt their use of language for a range of different purposes and audiences, including using Standard English; 

• sustain a logical argument and respond to others appropriately; 

• concentrate, interpret and respond appropriately to a wide range of listening experiences; 

• 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 formal presentations. 

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).