WHY WE TEACH ORACY
At Ravenscroft, Oracy is central to our school’s commitment to developing confident, articulate, and socially responsible learners. We believe that high-quality spoken communication enhances thinking, learning, and social interaction.
Through our interactions with each other, we aim to build a culture of oracy within our school to support and develop our pupils’ confidence, spoken language and written outcomes across and beyond the 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.
We aim to develop oracy sklls by providing opportunities for talk 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.
By placing oracy at the heart of our school, we aim to empower all pupils with the skills they need to succeed in their education and beyond.
HOW WE TEACH ORACY
At Ravenscroft we use Voice 21’s Oracy Framework which breaks down the teaching of speaking and listening into four strands:
Physical
Cognitive
Linguistic
Social and Emotional
We incorporate talk-rich activities into lessons, such as discussion, debate, storytelling, and presentations whilst developing dialogic teaching strategies where pupils actively engage in reasoning and questioning.
We aim to develop and encourage fluent speakers, who can confidently articulate their ideas in a wide range of situations. To do this, we promote high levels of oracy from a young age and our staff are continuously modelling and scaffolding this to our learners.
Oracy teaching:
- Plan and deliver lessons that embed oracy skills across all subjects.
- Provide opportunities for pupils to engage in structured talk activities such as debates, presentations, and discussions.
- Provide sentence stems and talk scaffolds to support structured talk.
- Encourage exploratory talk to build pupils’ confidence in articulating their ideas.
- Planned oracy experience such as; drama, talking partners, listening to stories, reading lessons, preparation for writing, visiting speakers, giving and receiving instructions, paired/collaborative work, problem solving in maths, presentation of learning.
- Provide opportunities to develop oracy in all subjects. For example:
- English: Drama, storytelling, role play, and performance poetry.
- Maths: Verbal reasoning and problem-solving discussions.
- Science: Explanation, prediction, and structured group discussions.
- Humanities: Debate, historical inquiry, and persuasive speech.
- PSHE: Expressing opinions, collaborative talk, and active listening.
- PE: Team communication, sports leadership, and reflection.
A whole school approach:
- Classrooms and communal spaces are talk-friendly, encouraging structured conversations.
- Assemblies, school council, and extra-curricular activities promote public speaking and active listening.
- Staff model high-quality oracy in all interactions.
- Opportunities for parental engagement in oracy development are provided through workshops and home activities.
- Links with the local community create opportunities for real-world speaking experiences.
WHAT YOUR CHILD WILL LEARN
Oracy skills will be assessed using the oracy framework and the progression statements from the Oracy Progression Map. Each year group has oracy objectives which build on and extend from the previous year ensuring progression as the children move through the school.
Through the teaching of oracy, children will be able to:
- Express themselves clearly, confidently, and effectively.
- Demonstrate confident use of vocabulary, reasoning, and critical thinking skills.
- Foster active listening and respectful discussion.
- Demonstrate academic progress across all subjects through structured talk.
- peak fluently, with confidence and clarity in front of an audience including talking in full sentences
- Explore ideas through talk and recognise the value of listening to what others say
- Adapt how they speak in different situations according to the audience, including using Standard English
- Value their own opinions and be able to express them to others
- Ask questions to find out more about a subject
- Respond appropriately to what others say, challenge each other’s opinions and develop their own reasoned arguments
- Appreciate the diversity of languages, dialects and accents in the school
- Consider the impact of their words on others when giving feedback
- Share their learning in an engaging, informative way through formal presentations
