Oracy
At Bierton CE Combined School, we believe spoken language to be fundamental to the achievement of our pupils. We understand that communication and language are the roots underpinning success in reading and writing and that good communication skills can enhance every type of learning.
Intent
We know language development is an area of key importance to our pupils. We use this as our driving force to improve children’s spoken language and vocabulary which has a positive impact on all wider subjects. We strive to develop their spoken language skills across all areas of the curriculum. We aim to give children their own voice as we believe this is vital for their future success. We strive for all children to be confident to express their own opinion and ideas in a respectful and supportive environment. We see Oracy as part of the schools pedagogy, not a standalone lesson or subject and we expect it to be threaded through the daily school life.
Impact
The national curriculum for English reflects the importance of spoken language in pupils’ development across the whole curriculum – cognitively, socially and linguistically. Spoken language underpins the development of reading and writing. Although we feel Oracy is much greater than the national curriculum gives weighting for. Teachers maximise Oracy opportunities in every lessons, by using: discussion, groupings, performance, talk tactics and many other strategies. As Oracy is part of the daily life in school children know what to do, the culture of respect within our dialogic classrooms and are fully involved.
Implementation
We have found that when children explore learning through various oracy strategies and are exposed to new vocabulary they better retain this knowledge. This leads to learning becoming memorable and engrained. Meaning when children are presenting or writing, the language they use are of a higher level with a deeper understanding.
Oracy Progression
Please click the image below to view the progression of oracy throughout our school.
Ways to support your child in developing their oracy
- Engage in discussion and conversation with your child as often as possible – start with something they are interested in!
- Encourage your child to ask questions in full sentences – model the correct way of saying something and encourage your child to copy you
- Engage in imaginary play with your child – they might want you to be a princess or a monster living in a cave but as they are explaining the game and the characters to you they are developing their Oracy skills
- Give instructions in clear steps – start with 1 step at a time and as their understanding develops, make instructions more complex so they have to listen really carefully
- Talk about a film or programme you have watched together or ask your child to explain a game they have played on their games console
- Play board games together (great practice for taking turns) and discuss the rules – are there any that you would change? Why? How would it make the game better? Is it still fair?
- When you are walking or driving or on the bus, describe what you can see and encourage your child to do the same.Please click the image below to view the progression of oracy throughout our school.