At Greatham, oracy is at the heart of our curriculum. It is vital that children learn to communicate effectively early in their school career and are supported to develop this skill throughout their time at school.
Oracy refers to the ability to communicate effectively through speech. It involves using language to express thoughts, ideas, and feelings, and to interact with others in a way that is clear, coherent, and appropriate.
We use the Oracy framework to provide explicit, planned opportunities for oracy throughout the curriculum and focus on the key areas:
Promoting oracy in Early Years
All children are assessed on entry using the WellComm Language assessment tool. This assesses children’s language against their chronological age and as a result of this, interventions are put in place immediately where language skills are not in line with chronological age.
Children in Nursery take part in Early Talk Boost sessions prior to accessing phase 1 phonics to develop language, listening and attention skills.
In Early Years, staff work with all children to promote turn-taking, ensuring conversations have a back and forth element with at least three exchanges. Correct grammar usage is modelled to the children by all staff.
Tier two and three topic- or area-specific vocabulary is clearly displayed so that teachers and support staff can use this vocabulary in their verbal exchanges with children and as part of Drawing Club teaching input and support.
Cadence is promoted through songs, including number songs, and learning rhymes. Verbal retelling of stories to consolidate the order of events is used by the children as a pre-cursor to writing.
Children have structured verbal exchanges through partner work in English and Phonics and maths lessons.
Every day children have a snack and chat session where they share news or are encouraged to chat with adults and peers.
Every child has a ‘Me, My Family, My World’ book to share significant events in their lives and the lives of people around them. They will stand up at the front of the class and share their special news. The book acts as a prompt.
Promoting Oracy in KS1 and KS2
All maths lessons have a verbal interaction element as part of UFOs, where children are selected to explain their reasoning to the class.
There is an element of shared/partner discussion to every lesson.
English lessons focus on group and shared discussion around texts the class are exploring. Children nominate a group member to feed back findings or contribute individually. Children are provided with low-stakes opportunities to contribute through careful questioning, e.g., ‘Do you agree?’ ‘Do you think this character is kind?’ with further questioning if a child is feeling confident.
The English curriculum provides opportunities to debate issues, e.g. ‘Were horses treated fairly in WWI?’ in a structured, supported environment so children become skilled in turn-taking.
Guided reading is carried out in small groups, which gives all children in the group the time and opportunity to verbally contribute. Teachers prompt contributions from all group members, asking each child to predict, clarify and summarise.
In foundation subjects, children work together in groups to research and carry out investigations, verbally feeding back their findings to the class. Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary is clearly displayed in all classrooms and is referred to and used by staff and children throughout their learning.
Correct spoken and written grammar is modelled to the children in every lesson and around school, in the dining hall and on the playground.
Opportunities to extend oracy throughout school