Oracy

‘In school, oracy is a powerful tool for learning; by teaching children to become more effective speakers and listeners we empower them to better understand themselves, each other and the world around them. It is also a route to social mobility, empowering all children, not just some, to find their voice to succeed in school and life.’ (Voice 21)

We aim for all our children at Town Field Primary to be ‘Confident Communicators’ in order to:

Engage with others ideas

Reason together

Listen to understand

Change people’s minds

Tell compelling stories

Develop arguments

Express yourself

Speak up for what you believe in

Within the Early Years it is important to prioritise the development of communication and language:

• Language provides the foundation of thinking and learning and should be prioritised.
• High quality adult-child interactions are important and sometimes described as talking with children rather than just talking to children.
• Adults have a vital role to play in modelling effective language and communication.
• Use a wide range of approaches including shared reading, storytelling, and explicitly extending children’s vocabulary. (EEF – Preparing for literacy)

The National Curriculum sets out 12 statutory requirements within spoken language from years 1 to 6:

Pupils should be taught to:

• listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers
• ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge
• use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary
• articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
• give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings
• maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments
• use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
• speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of Standard English
• participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates
• gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s)
• consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others
• select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.