Oracy – Highwood Primary School

Intent

Oracy is the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language. At Highwood Primary School, we believe that spoken language is the foundation of learning, thinking and social connection. We aim for our pupils to be confident, articulate and reflective speakers and listeners who are able communicate effectively.

Oracy is at the forefront of learning from Early Years right through to Year 6 where we ensure that pupils can:

· Develop the physicality required to express themselves using body language, facial expressions and voice control and the ability listen with intent and show an awareness of the speaker.

· Use increasingly ambitious vocabulary and grammatical structures to communicate effectively.

· Think critically and communicate effectively by exercising judgement about relevant content.

· Listen actively by managing interactions with others, listen and respond appropriately with confidence to communicate their needs and wishes.

Our oracy curriculum supports pupils’ academic success, emotional wellbeing and future readiness, enabling every child to find and use their voice.

Implementation

Oracy is explicitly taught, modelled and practised daily across the school, guided by our Oracy Progression Map.

Teaching and Learning

· Oracy skills are broken down across four strands: Physicality, Language, Cognition and Social & Emotional.

· Teachers explicitly model high-quality talk and listening.

· Sentence stems, vocabulary banks and discussion protocols scaffold pupil talk across the curriculum.

· Ambitious, key vocabulary is shared and revisited, displayed and used in the classroom on a regular basis.

· Pupils are taught how to:

o Take turns and listen attentively.

o Build, challenge and extend ideas.

o Adapt talk for audience and purpose.

o Use evidence and reasoning in discussion.

Classroom Practice

· Structured partner, group and whole-class discussions are embedded across the curriculum

· Opportunities for presentational talk increase in frequency and complexity through the school as showcased through opportunities to perform their final piece of work in English.

· Role play, hot-seating, debate, storytelling, performances and leadership opportunities are planned intentionally.

· Practical and group work activities are often planned to encourage talk across the curriculum.

· Modelling and oral rehearsal ides before writing using sentence stems.

· Children attend weekly assemblies, one run by the head teacher and the other to celebrate learning that week.

· School trips tied in with a theme, to further embed learning, vocabulary and language.

Curriculum Integration

· Oracy underpins reading, writing and wider curriculum learning.

· Pupils speak for real purposes, including:

o Performances and assemblies (e.g. EYFS Nativity, KS1 & KS2 Christmas performance, class sharing assembly’s, slam poetry competitions, school council, science ambassadors, Year 6 Leavers performance)

o Debates and elections

o Leadership roles and mentoring younger pupils (e.g. School council representations, eco committee, science ambassadors)

Impact

As a result of our oracy curriculum, pupils at Highwood Primary School:

· Speak with confidence, clarity and increasing fluency.

· Use ambitious vocabulary and precise language.

· Listen attentively and respond thoughtfully to others

· Explain ideas clearly, justify opinions and engage in purposeful discussion

· Adapt their speech to suit different audiences and contexts

· Demonstrate empathy, respect and collaboration in group work

By the end of Year 6, pupils can:

· Construct and deliver sustained, structured talk

· Respond spontaneously to questions using evidence

· Enter secondary school as confident communicators and active learners