Oracy Curriculum Statement

Curriculum Intent

Communication is at the heart of the curriculum design at Humberstone. The school recognises that
talk plays a fundamental role in learning and as a result, oracy is threaded throughout all areas of the
curriculum. A commitment to teach children the communication skills that they will need to thrive
and succeed in the wider world is of utmost importance. All children have a right to be listened to and
heard. The pupils at Humberstone are taught that their voice is powerful and can be used as a catalyst
for change.

Many of our pupils start school with below average communication skills which is the rationale for
developing these language skills from an early age. Our vision is for all children, regardless of their
starting points, to be confident communicators who are comfortable to discuss, explain, reason and
debate. We aim for children to leave Humberstone with an expansive vocabulary that is embedded
and enables them to succeed academically and socially.

Implementation

Oracy progression maps have been designed for EYFS to Year six using the Oracy Framework. They
focus on children developing skills in the four strands of Oracy – Physical, Linguistic, Cognitive and
Social and Emotional. These skills ladders have been carefully sequenced to enable children to leave
the school with the oracy skills they need to succeed whilst providing them with opportunities to
speak for a range of purposes and to different audiences. Teachers use the skills ladders to outline
the oracy skills that need to be taught in a particular year group and as an assessment tool to identify
which strands of the oracy framework are to be a priority for their children. This data is then used to
monitor progress as well as take steps that address these gaps.

The school has developed a whole school culture of Oracy that involves talk based assemblies
(Community Circles) and Oracy based outcomes as part of the wider curriculum. For example, children
in Year Five took part in a debate to decide whether Richard III was a hero or a villain, children in Year
Three have worked with a local storyteller to develop their oracy skills in order for them to retell a
familiar story to an audience at a local library. At least one project has an oracy outcome each year
and rubrics are carefully written to ensure that the communication skills that are required for
particular projects are taught explicitly and used as an assessment tool by both teachers and children.
Monitoring ensures that throughout their time at school, the curriculum provides pupils with the
opportunity to talk for a range of purposes as well as to different audiences.
1Our dialogic teaching approach to teaching and learning harnesses the power of talk to stimulate
interest, develop thinking and enables children to engage in meaningful conversations both with their
peers as well as their teachers and outside experts. High standards of English are modelled by the
teachers and children are expected to follow suit.

Overviews for English, Maths and interdisciplinary projects outline the subject specific vocabulary (Tier
Three) that will need to be taught explicitly. Community Circles encourage children to share their
opinions and views about current issues in the world whilst engaging in different types of talk.

Impact

Conversations with the children at Humberstone, demonstrate that they are confident
communicators who can articulate their views with their peers as well as to a wider audience. This is
further evidenced through the monitoring of Community Circles. Many children are engaged and
enthusiastic to share their ideas on current issues in the world.

Monitoring shows that classrooms are rich in talk and provide children with opportunities to take part
in both exploratory and presentational talk. Sentence stems are used in every lesson to scaffold talk
and encourage children to articulate their ideas clearly. Each class has their own set of Talk Guidelines
that have been established with the children to ensure discussions are productive and in turn drive
deeper thinking. Monitoring shows that these are referred to often and children are aware of why
these guidelines are important.

Monitoring of the skills ladders indicate that throughout their time at school, children have developed
their skills in the four strands of oracy throughout their time at Humberstone. As well as developing
their Oracy skills, the tracking of projects demonstrates that children have had opportunities and
experiences to apply the skills they have acquired to talk for a range of purposes as well as to a wider
audience. The high quality oracy outcomes children produce through projects demonstrate that
children show an awareness of their audience and purpose and are confident to use ambitious,
academic language which they can apply in their writing as evidenced from work scrutinies. Children
understand the importance of language and have a wide and rich vocabulary which they can apply
appropriately for a range of puppooses.