Oracy at Chesterton
What is oracy?
Oracy is the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language. In school, oracy is a vital tool for learning; by teaching students to become more effective speakers and listeners we empower them to better understand themselves, each other and the world around them.
Oracy is the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language. Oracy develops students' confidence, articulacy and capacity to learn.
Voice 21.
Oracy is…
- Engaging with others ideas
- Reasoning together
- Listening to understand
- Changing people’s minds
- Telling compelling stories
- Developing arguments
- Expressing yourself
- Speaking up for what you believe in
Respectful, trusting, supportive and productive relationships between all who form part of the school community are crucial aspects of our oracy ethos. We place a high priority on supporting the development of good speaking and listening skills amongst our pupils, beginning with our youngest children aged 2. Correct spoken language and development of vocabulary is fundamental to learning. Speaking and listening play a large part in a child’s progress in all curriculum areas and teachers plan to develop these skills in a wide variety of ways, often embedded within classroom routines. We aim to develop and encourage fluent speakers, with rich vocabulary, who are confident to express their, wants needs and opinions in a wide range of situations, as well as being kind, tolerant and respectful of others.
Oracy across the Curriculum
- Oracy supports learning – including developing creativity and critical thinking in pupils.
- Oracy is vital for social mobility – supporting children’s ability to fulfill their potential in later life.
- Oracy is good for social and emotional learning – helping children who may struggle to work with or play well with others.
- Oracy opens doors to opportunity – extracurricular activities bring a wide variety of benefits and opportunity.
- Oracy is empowering - giving children the skills to develop a ‘voice’ and speak out about things that matter to them.
(NACE – March 2018)
Our school will be working alongside Voice 21 to develop the teaching of Oracy across the school
A partnership with Voice 21 will help us in our desire to:
- Create momentum within Chesterton School to raise awareness of the value of oracy
- Build a whole School culture of talk, across the curriculum and beyond the classroom.
- Strengthen classroom practice – ensur alle teachers are confident in using oracy as a core pedagogy and drawing upon evidence-based practical classroom activities.
- Continuously improve our practice using the latest research and evidence on the impact of oracy