Intent

At Merrylands Primary School and Nursery we are working hard to provide a high-quality oracy curriculum for all children.  We are committed to building and embedding a culture of oracy throughout our school community as we recognise just how important the ability to communicate effectively is.  We want to empower all children to find their voice and feel valued.  We want them to feel confident to communicate, debate and present in a wide range of environments.  We want them to feel able to question concepts and challenge each other in a respectful manner and to use their extensive vocabulary to elaborate on their ideas whilst listening to and appreciating each other’s voices in all areas.

Oracy is described as learning through talk whilst learning to talk.  It is a powerful tool to support learning by enabling children to articulate their thoughts effectively and develop a greater understanding of themselves and the world around them. 

The National Curriculum highlights the importance of speaking and listening in English, and we absolutely acknowledge that oracy is key in helping our children to progress in reading and writing.  Oracy also underpins all areas of school life, from the classroom, to assemblies, the dinner hall and at home.  Consistency is key in ensuring that all children aspire to be effective communicators in school and beyond. 

Implementation

At Merrylands Primary School we are working with Voice 21 to develop our children’s oracy skills.  We use ‘The Oracy Framework’ that was developed by Cambridge University and Voice 21 to guide our journey.  The framework is divided into 4 strands:

1. Physical
2. Cognitive
3. Linguistic
4. Social and Emotional

This framework enables staff and pupils to understand what makes for good spoken communication.  The four strands enable successful discussion, inspiring speech and effective communication.

Impact

Children will be able to express issues and ideas, speak clearly, listen carefully, contribute to discussion, respond to questions and comments and use a wide and interesting vocabulary.  When children explore learning through the varied oracy strategies, and are exposed to new vocabulary, they retain this knowledge.  This leads to children using higher level language with a deeper understanding when presenting or writing.

The framework is used by staff to give accurate feedback to children and to assess their progress.  Monitoring of oracy across the school enables us to measure the impact of the framework and its delivery and the outcomes of this monitoring are used to drive forward next steps within this curriculum area.