Oracy

Our Vision for Oracy

At Jervoise School, we believe that oracy is a fundamental skill that underpins academic success, supports social and emotional development, and prepares our pupils for the challenges of the future.  We want our children to be effective communicators who can express their ideas confidently and engage meaningfully in discussions and debates.

We are working with Voice 21 to support us to create a whole school culture of talk across the curriculum and strengthening classroom practice – ensuring all teachers are confident in using oracy as a core pedagogy and drawing upon evidence-based practical classroom activities.

Our school Oracy Champions are Mrs Carter, Miss Giudici and Mrs Reehal.

What is Oracy?

 

Jervoise School – Oracy Curriculum Intent

At Jervoise School, we believe that oracy is a fundamental life skill and the foundation of learning, confidence and success. Our oracy curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils develop the ability to express themselves clearly, confidently and coherently, in a wide range of contexts, for different purposes and audiences, both within the classroom and beyond.
Guided by our school mission — to enable all pupils to achieve the highest standards of educational outcomes regardless of circumstance or background — we are committed to providing an inclusive, ambitious and progressive oracy curriculum. We believe that every child deserves to have their voice heard, valued and respected.
Our oracy curriculum supports pupils to develop progressively across four interconnected strands:
  • Physical – developing clear articulation, voice projection, body language, gesture, eye contact and presentation skills.
  • Cognitive – building thinking skills, vocabulary, reasoning, questioning, summarising and structured talk to deepen understanding and learning.
  • Social and Emotional – fostering confidence, resilience, collaboration, empathy, respectful listening and the ability to engage in meaningful dialogue.
  • Linguistic – enriching vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar and language choices to communicate effectively and appropriately.

Through carefully planned opportunities for discussion, debate, performance, storytelling, presentation and collaborative learning, pupils are supported to speak fluently, listen attentively and respond thoughtfully. They learn to adapt their language and communication style to suit different audiences, purposes and contexts, preparing them for future learning, employment and active participation in society.

 

Our progressive Oracy Curriculum

At Jervoise, oracy is part of our daily practice and is embedded throughout the curriculum. In addition to this, every class has an Oracy on a Page document, which outlines a specific oracy task for each half term.
These curriculum documents have been created collaboratively with class teachers and are based on a progressive oracy framework. This ensures that pupils develop their speaking and listening skills systematically as they move through the school.
Each half term, pupils complete an oracy task linked to a different curriculum subject. Every task has a clear purpose and audience and is designed to develop a specific strand of the year group’s progressive oracy framework.
Examples of oracy opportunities include:
  • Presenting learning to parents and carers
  • Showcasing work to an audience
  • Creating commentaries and voice-overs
  • Speaking to visitors and answering their questions
  • Participating in discussions, debates and presentations
Through these meaningful experiences, pupils develop the confidence, vocabulary and communication skills needed to express themselves clearly and effectively in a range of contexts.

Reception Oracy on a Page Document

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Year 1 Oracy on a Page Document

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Year 2 Oracy on a Page Document

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Year 3 Oracy on a Page Document

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Year 4 Oracy on a Page Document

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Year 5 Oracy on a Page Document

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Year 6 Oracy on a Page Document

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Oracy Framework

In order to teach effective oracy skills across the curriculum, we will be using the oracy framework to understand the physical, linguistic, cognitive, and social and emotional skills that enable successful discussion, inspiring speech and effective communication. Key oracy skills are taught throughout the whole curriculum.

Talk Guidelines

All classes have key-stage appropriate talk guidelines. These are displayed in the classroom and consistently referred to whenever a pupil is engaging in any activity requiring speaking and listening skills.

 

Sentence Stems

Our pupils are encouraged to speak in full, coherent sentences when sharing their ideas and using spoken language. In all lessons, pupils have key sentence stems which they are encouraged to use to help them articulate their ideas.

 

Talk Tactics

At Jervoise, we use Talk Tactics to develop pupils’ oracy skills and support them in speaking confidently using full sentences. Effective communication is a key part of learning, helping children to share ideas, explain their thinking, ask questions and engage in meaningful discussions. 

Our Talk Tactics have been carefully broken down for each year group, creating a progressive pathway that builds upon previous learning. This ensures that children develop their speaking and listening skills step by step as they move through the school. By regularly practising these strategies, pupils become more confident communicators who can express themselves clearly, listen actively to others and participate successfully in a range of learning situations. 

Through Talk Tactics, we aim to equip every child with the language and communication skills they need to succeed both in school and beyond.

Reception Talk Tactics

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Year 1 Talk Tactics

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Year 2 Talk Tactics

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Year 3 Talk Tactics

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Year 4 Talk Tactics

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Year 5 Talk Tactics

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Year 6 Talk Tactics

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What can you do at home?

Talk to your children whenever you can!  Help your children to develop their vocabulary by suggesting better words they might have used in your conversations – in a friendly and constructive way!

Oracy activities to try out!

  • How many? Ask a question about a specific quality and see how many your child can think of! For example: How many animals can you name that hatch from eggs? How many vehicles with four wheels can you name? How many things can you name that are cone shaped?
  • I’m thinking of… Start by saying “I’m thinking of something…” and name a feature of the object or thing, for example, “I’m thinking of something that is blue.” The other players are welcome to make a guess or ask a question until they can work out the correct answer. Encourage them to use challenging, specific vocabulary too!
  • What’s better? Ask for their preferences between two things – ask them if they can explain why they prefer one to the other! For example: What’s better, apple or banana? What’s better, cheese or chocolate? What’s better, the beach or the city? What’s better, space or the ocean?
  • Odd one out: begin by naming three things and ask children to choose which is the odd one out and explain why. You can make this as simple or as challenging as you’d like. For example, with “train, bus, hair” it’s easy to identify the odd one out. With “platypus, cobra, horse” this may be more challenging. You could make this a phonics challenge with similar sounds, using words like “chop, chicken, ship” or even a maths challenge with numbers, like “21, 63, 78”.
  • Talk Tuesday is a weekly Oracy task shared on Class Dojo. Children can complete the activity at home with their parents or carers to help develop their speaking and listening skills.