Oracy Curriculum Statement

Intent

At Taylor Road, many children begin school with below-average communication skills. Therefore, our aim in Oracy is to develop children’s speaking and listening skills through all areas of the curriculum and daily school life. We are committed to teaching children the communication skills that are necessary for them to be able to successfully engage with and flourish in the wider world.  Our vision is that all children are effective, articulate communicators in a range of different situations, for a variety of different audiences.

By the time children leave school, they will be able to:

• express issues, ideas, and opinions clearly and confidently
• speak clearly, using formal language, varying expression, tone and volume.
• listen carefully, to understand a speaker’s conclusion or opinion.
• respond to others with questions and comments.
• contribute purposefully to group discussions.
• show agreement or disagreement, giving reasons respectfully.
• use wide and interesting vocabulary, appropriate to the topic being discussed or the audience that is listening.

Implementation

When teaching Oracy at Taylor Road, teachers will address the four key strands of the Oracy Skills Framework:

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-thinking about what we say, structuring and organizing the talk, staying focused whilst speaking and when listening to others, asking appropriate questions and explaining opinions using reasons.

Social and Emotional aspects-working with others, listening and responding, increasing confidence, accounting for the level of understanding of the audience.

Listening ladders

Teachers use Listening Ladders, which are based on the Oracy Skills Framework to support children’s development of listening skills. These skills are progressive within and between year groups. The ladders are also used as an assessment tool so that teachers can prioritise the skills that require further development. The development of skills are celebrated and children are awarded certificates during Achievement Assemblies.

Teachers will plan for talk opportunities across the curriculum and beyond the classroom. Pupils will have a range of planned oracy experiences which include drama and role play opportunities, presentation of learning, talk partners/group work, asking and responding to questions, listening to stories and visiting speakers, sharing experiences and ideas, explaining their reasoning and experimenting with words and vocabulary. Children will be encouraged to speak in full sentences using sentence stems and key words as support. To further structure and enhance talk, teachers may use ‘talk counters,’ specific role cards and rules for talk. Opportunities for children to develop their oracy skills outside of the curriculum will include ‘Eco Warrior’ meetings, other pupil voice activities, playtimes, lunchtimes, school productions, whole school/year group festival assemblies, extra-curricular activities such as after- school clubs and sports and dance festivals.

To ensure that Oracy becomes fully embedded across the school, each year group has an ‘Oracy Champion.’ These adults will offer support, advice and guidance and will actively seek oracy opportunities within and beyond the curriculum. They will also assist with the collaborative planning and monitoring of Oracy.

Impact

Monitoring through ‘classroom drop-ins’ and lesson observations shows that all classrooms use the listening ladders effectively to help children develop their listening skills. Conversations with the children reveal that they are aware of the skills that are currently being addressed. Monitoring also shows that teachers are providing opportunities for exploratory and presentational talk and are beginning to use a range of grouping styles such as the ‘Traverse’ and ‘Snowballing’ techniques.

Pupil voice across the curriculum highlights that children are confident speakers who enjoy sharing their views and opinions about teaching and learning at Taylor Road.