Login

Spoken Language - Oracy

‘The ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language.’ Voice 21.
Our vision for developing Oracy is driven by the UN Convention that addresses the principle of participation; Article 12 the right to be heard. Article 12 says that 'every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously'.
Children of all ages have the right to be heard, they have a right to express themselves and above all they have a right to be understood. We want to ensure that every child has a voice and we support them as they develop into resilient, enthralled members of evolving world. 
 
We are a Let's think in English School and through the Voice 21 Oracy programme we have embedded Oracy into the curriculum to enable our pupils to develop excellent speaking and listening skills.

Oracy is a tool for equity in education, 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. The ability to speak eloquently, articulate ideas and thoughts, collaborate with peers and have the confidence to express your views (Article 12) are all vital life skills that support success in learning and life in general.

At the centre of strong Oracy is a dialogic classroom culture. Our classrooms are rich in talk: from effective questioning, peer discussions to teachers skilfully using talk to develop and encourage critical thinking. There is a clear understanding in school of how talk aids learning and higher order metacognition. Oracy is weaved into every subject area throughout the curriculum from EYFS to Year 6.

We use the Oracy Framework created by Voice 21 and teach children important life skills, reflected in 4 key oracy strands:

  1. Physical: Voice, Body Language
  2.  Linguistic: Rhetorical techniques, Language, Vocabulary
  3.  Cognitive: Content, Structure, Clarifying & Summarising, Self-Regulation, Reasoning
  4.  Social & Emotional: Working with others, Listening & Responding, Confidence, Audience Awareness

Our oracy curriculum will enables children to:

  • speak with confidence, clarity and eloquence;
  • recognise the importance of listening in conjunction with speaking,
  • be confident in the value of their own opinions and to be able to express and justify them to others;
  • adapt their use of language for a range of different purposes and audiences,
  • sustain a logical argument, question, reason and respond to others appropriately;
  • concentrate, interpret and respond appropriately to a wide range of immersive experiences;
  • be open-minded, to respect the contribution of others and to take account of their views;
  • celebrate the diversity of languages, dialects and accents in the school and appreciate the experience and value the contributions of children with a wide variety of linguistic abilities;
  • share their learning in an engaging, informative way through presentations, recitals, drama, poetry and debate.
We hope that children will become confident, effective and empowered communicators and be able to use these skills in all areas of the curriculum whilst at Mawnan and beyond. Equity and inclusion are at the heart of our oracy intention and all children are given the support and opportunities they need to thrive.  Language is modelled and scaffolded by adults, we focus on all aspects of the language systems and pre-teaching forms part of our intervention programme. 
 
Oracy Progression Map EYFS – Yr. 6