“If you can speak, you can influence. If you can influence, you can change lives.”

What is oracy?

Oracy skills sit between learning to talk and learning through talk. Proficient oracy skills also enable children to develop how to think.

At our school we value being able to express ourselves confidently, articulately and with passion. We believe it is an essential life skill weaving itself through every area of our curriculum and every stage of a child’s development. The children at our school are encouraged to explore ideas through talk; listen to each other; build on and challenge each other’s opinions and develop their own reasoned arguments, as well as talking in full sentences with a clear and confident voice to a variety of audiences.

We are delighted that oracy features heavily within the recent curriculum review, and it is being recognised nationally, as an essential skill – in line with reading, writing and numbers.

Aims

As a Voice 21 School, our aim is to enable our children to develop their skills in 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 and are a vital life skill.

The four key strands of the oracy framework are:

• Physical aspects – how we use our voice and body to communicate;
• Linguistic aspects – how we structure what we say and choose appropriate vocabulary;
• Cognitive aspects – staying focused whilst speaking and when listening to others, asking appropriate questions and explaining opinions using reasons;
• Social & emotional aspects – working with others, listening and responding, increasing confidence.

Impact

Oracy is embedded in our curriculum and this is having a very positive impact; children and staff will become much more aware of their spoken literacy and children will grow in confidence when speaking in front of big groups.

How can you help at home:

• Use our oracy-led ‘Tell Me About Sheets’ to support open questioning and encourage conversations.
• Encourage your child to give reasons for their choices;
• Encourage your child to explain something to you as accurately as possible (the rules for a game, how to make a sandwich, how to solve a calculation);
• Encourage your child to read out loud using a confident voice, thinking about tone of voice, and appropriate volume. 
• Encourage your child to speak in full sentences;

Please take a look at this video about The Importance of Oracy by the English-speaking Union.

If you would like more information on any aspect of oracy within our school, or would be interested in getting involved (as a guest speaker, for example), please do not hesitate to contact us.

If you want to find out more about Voice 21, please visit: www.voice21.org.uk