Oracy

Oracy 

Vision

Excellence achieved through care, creativity and challenge.

Intent

We want all pupils to be successful in life by achieving their potential. From Nursery all the way through to Year 6, we aim to give pupils the tools and skills they need to positively thrive in society. We want our pupils to have high aspirations and to know that they are able to take a path in life of their choosing.

One way in which we promote this is by explicitly modelling and teaching speaking and listening skills and giving pupils plenty of opportunities to practise speaking for a variety of different purposes and audiences. Voice 21, a charity which supports schools to build speaking and listening skills into the curriculum, explains that when they leave school, “children with poor verbal communication skills are less likely to find employment and more likely to suffer from mental health difficulties” (Voice 21, 2024), thereby potentially exacerbating the inequalities already existing in society. They also found that “students receiving free school meals are twice as likely to be below the expected language standard at age 11” (Voice 21, 2024). In our context, which currently has 40% of pupils as Pupil Premium, the need for high-quality teaching of oracy (speaking and listening skills) is evidently essential for giving our pupils the best chance to succeed in life.

Implementation  

At King’s Hedges, we have developed a consistent and high-quality approach to teaching oracy skills by implementing our Communications Project, which began in the academic year 2023-24. The project is designed to give each year group, from Nursery through to Year 6, a clear focus for developing and promoting age-appropriate speaking and listening skills. For example, in Nursery, pupils learn songs linked to their curriculum and perform these to parents and carers at the end of term. Another example is that in Year 5, pupils led Friday assemblies for the entire summer term, sharing with the rest of the school an inspirational figure. Pupil voice gathered after the term of year-group specific projects was overwhelmingly positive, with all pupils saying they felt proud of their achievements and that they would like the opportunity to continue practising their oracy skills in the future.

The Communications Project is continuing in this academic year (2024-25) with all year groups using their theme learning as a stimulus for their projects. Our tagline for the projects – Prepare, Practise, Present – ensures that practise is at the heart of the process and means pupils are able to receive feedback from peers and adults before their final presentations.

Impact

By the time pupils leave King’s Hedges, they will feel confident speaking for a range of different purposes and audiences. They will be able to identify key speaking and listening skills and execute these effectively to achieve a given purpose. Pupils will have transferable skills that will help to support them in secondary school and beyond.

If you would like to do any further reading about oracy, please visit Voice 21’s website using this link: https://voice21.org/why-oracy-matters/