Oracy

“If you can speak, you can influence. If you can influence, you can change lives.”
“Reading and writing float on a sea of talk”
James Britton

At The Free School Norwich, we recognise the importance of oracy in developing children’s communication skills, confidence, and critical thinking. We strive to ensure that every child has a voice, enabling them to express themselves and communicate effectively. Our goal is to empower students to succeed through strong communication skills by teaching them how to talk and listen effectively.

Definition of Oracy: Oracy refers to the development and use of spoken language skills, including listening, speaking, and responding, to communicate effectively in a variety of contexts. https://youtu.be/QYmr9pVtryo

Intent:

Our goal is for all pupils to become confident speakers, agile communicators, and effective listeners. We believe that developing oracy throughout primary education equips students with essential life skills, enabling them to communicate, debate, and present confidently in diverse situations. We want pupils to use their voices confidently in various contexts, adapt their language for different purposes and audiences, and understand the importance of listening. We strive to have them apply their oracy skills across the curriculum and in their wider lives.By valuing their conversations and opinions, we instill confidence in our children as orators and foster respect for others’ views. As adults, we model effective speaking and listening through our daily interactions.

Our aims:

• Develop pupils’ speaking and listening skills across all subjects.
• Promote active listening and respectful communication.
• Build pupils’ confidence in expressing their ideas and opinions.
• Equip pupils with a wide vocabulary for spoken language.
• Prepare pupils to participate effectively in discussions, debates, and presentations.
• Ensure oracy is embedded throughout the curriculum and school culture.

Implementation

At The Free School Norwich, we share a unified understanding of how talk supports learning and children’s social development. Our Oracy curriculum is guided by the Oracy Framework created by Voice 21.

Oracy skills are explicitly taught and integrated into all subjects. We provide opportunities for speaking and listening in various contexts, including class discussions, group work, presentations, and debates. Teachers incorporate diverse speaking and listening activities into lessons, such as role-plays, debates, interviews, and presentations. Pupils are encouraged to use clear, confident language and to listen actively to their peers.

Impact

In a nurturing and supportive environment, children evolve into adept communicators and attentive listeners. They articulate their thoughts with clarity and assurance while listening with empathy and respect. Both children and staff acknowledge that effective speaking and listening are crucial for conveying character, addressing misunderstandings, and enriching relationships.

Support

– Talk to your children whenever you can! It’s true that in busy households it’s becoming more and more difficult for families to spend quality time talking in a reflective way about what everyone’s been doing. Mealtimes can often be the best time for families to get together like this or even a journey in the car.

– Help your children to develop their vocabulary by suggesting better words they might have used in your conversations, in a constructive and friendly way!

– Encourage your children to take part in activities that involve presenting to an audience, such as parents, grandparents or for an outside club.

– Discuss topical subjects of concern to them. These will obviously differ as your child gets older but you will be surprised what is going through their minds.

– Sing nursery rhymes, songs, read poetry, play games, tongue-twisters and Scrabble to name but a few.

– Encourage them to take part in social activities to broaden their experience of using talk, for example, drama groups, making and performing music with others, and taking part in voluntary or community work.