Speaking and listening are fundamental to learning and permeate the whole curriculum – cognitively, socially and linguistically. We want our children to develop effective communication skills for the here and now and also in readiness for later life. 

Our aim is to enable our children to improve their levels of Oracy so that they are able to express themselves clearly and are able to communicate effectively and confidently for a range of audiences.  These skills are being encouraged in every area of our curriculum. A key part of Oracy is for children to think carefully about the language they’re using, and tailor it to their subject, purpose and audience.

A range of purposeful opportunities are used to encourage learning through talk and learning to talk, including:

• Setting ground rules for speaking and listening in class, such as putting your hand up before speaking, waiting to be chosen, and not interrupting each other.
• Presentations on a specified subject, or a subject of their own choosing. These could be individual presentations or in pairs or small groups, in front of their class or the whole school.
• Discussions as a pair, small group or whole class, for example about religious beliefs, story plots, or predicting the outcomes of experiments.
• Hot seating: a drama technique where one child sits in the ‘hot seat,’ and the other children ask them questions to answer in character.
• Exploring a text through performance – not just re-enacting what actually happens in the book, but also acting out what characters might do or say in a particular situation.
• Giving oral book reviews to the rest of the class, and then taking questions.
• Debates, with one group of pupils for and another against a certain topic or question, such as, ‘Is it right to bully a bully?’
• Putting on assemblies e.g. Harvest, attended by the rest of the school and often parents.
• School council meetings, where council members collect questions and concerns from other pupils and present them to their fellow councillors and teachers.
• Group work, where communication and listening to each other are essential.
• Role play, where children pretend to be someone else or pretend to be in a specific situation that they are not actually in at the time.