Oracy at Corby Glen Community Primary School

'Oracy is the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language. In school, oracy is a powerful tool for learning; by teaching children to become effective speakers and listeners we empower them to better understand themselves, each other and the world around them.'       Voice21

The school is working with Voice21  to develop oracy in school.

Here at Corby Glen, our aim is to ensure all children are articulate and are able to voice their opinions, thoughts and feelings.

What is Oracy?

Through a high quality oracy education , children learn through talk and to talk. This is when they develop and deepen their subject knowledge and understand through talk in the classroom, which has been planned, designed, modelled, scaffolded and structured to enable them to learn the skills needed to talk effectively.

The deliberate, explicit and systematic teaching of oracy across the school and throughout the curriculum will support all our children to make progress in the four strands of oracy outlined in the Oracy Framework:

Why Teach Oracy?

Nationally - and in our school - an increasing number of children are entering primary education with speech and language difficulties and /or delays in spoken language development. Nationally, disadvantaged children's spoken language development is significantly lower than children from more advantaged backgrounds.

Research shows that these gaps grow as children move through school. Widening from just a few months at aged six, to five years' difference by the age of 14.

On leaving school, children with poor verbal communication skills are less likely to find employment and more likely to suffer from mental health difficulties.

What outcomes do we want for our children at Corby Glen?

We want to increase confidence in our children:

Empowering children with the belief that their voice has value, developing the ability to articulate thoughts so others will listen.

We want to improve academic outcomes for our children:

developing learners who can think critically, reason together and have the vocabulary to express their knowledge and understanding.

We want to foster positive well-being for our children:

Supporting children to build successful relationships, talk through issues, express feelings and resolve conflicts.

We want to equip our children to thrive in life beyond school:

Helping them to progress and engage in the school and wider community

We want to narrow the gap for our most disadvantaged children:

Enabling disadvantaged children to fulfill their potential

We want to promote social equity:

Leading to a fairer society where everyone, regrdless of background, finds their voice for success in school and in life

How is Oracy being developed at Corby Glen?

Miss Marshall - our English Leader - is working with Voice21 this year and we will be trying out strategies she has been learning in her training across the school. We will also be developing an oracy curriculum.

In Term 3, an Oracy Club will run to encourage choral speaking and performance poetry. There will be further opportunities for our children to partake in public speaking and debating throughout the year.