SECTION_MENU}
English - Oracy
James Britton
Talk is the sea upon which all else floats.
Subject Lead: Mrs R Munro
Oracy Vision
We want all of our children to have a voice. We recognise the importance of developing communication skills right from the moment our children join TC, which is why we have developed our own oracy scheme called TC Talk. The aim of TC talk is to develop our children's speaking and listening abilities to enable them to think, connect and communicate. Through kindness and respect we nurture a vocabulary rich environment, where all of Team TC can learn, flourish and grow to be independent communicators.What is Oracy?
Oracy is the ability to speak and listen effectively. It involves:
- Developing a rich vocabulary
- Speaking clearly and confidently
- Listening attentively and respectfully
- Building on other's ideas
- Explaining, thinking and reasoning
- Asking thoughtful questions
Our Approach
In TC Talk we are developing our oracy skills through thinking, connecting and communicating. We are doing this by:
Think - Reflect, question and better understand the world
Connect - Listen, share and build relationships with others
Communicate - Speak, express themselves and make a difference to others
We introduced TC Talk to the children at the
start of the year and within the classrooms we are now using oracy signs to help enable the oracy focus within each class. Sentence stems, are used in all classes and children are encouraged to use full sentences when answering questions.
From Year 3 - 6 we provide:
- Language-rich environments with purposeful talk opportunities
- Explicit vocabulary teaching to build understanding
- Structured talk routines such as talk partners and sentence stems
- High-quality adult modelling of speaking and listening
We want every child to leave our school as a confident, articulate communicator, ready for the next stage of learning and life.
Oracy across the school
Throughout the year, the children are given the opportunity to use their oracy skills during their class worships, discussion and debate in class, our open classroom events, Production Club and our Year 6 children use their oracy skills to tour perspective parents. Parents always comment on how eloquent and vocabulary rich our children are, so we are looking forward to our upcoming tours to see if our children have developed their spoken language even further.
Why Oracy Matters
Developing strong oracy skills helps our children to:
- Achieve better outcomes in reading, writing and across the wider curriculum
- Understand and retain new knowledge
- Build confidence and self-esteem
- Form positive relationships
- Prepare for future learning and life
By prioritising oracy, we are giving children the tools to find their voice and use it with confidence. Purposeful talk is planned, scaffolded and structured through the school day. This enables children to develop skills to talk effectively and respond appropriately.
When I grow up...
Here are some of the jobs you could aspire to do in the future an orator:
TV Presenter
Tour Guide
Lecturer
For more careers, visit Careers in English | First Careers