Oracy at South Gosforth First School

We want every child at South Gosforth First School to find their voice. Oracy develops pupils' confidence, articulacy and capacity to learn. A proportion of our pupils start early school life without the oracy skills relevant for their age. We strive to develop spoken language skills through the taught curriculum, playtimes and lunchtimes, extra-curricular activities and through the whole ethos of our school. Respectful and productive relationships between all who form part of the school community are crucial aspects of this ethos. As a staff, we therefore foster good communication amongst ourselves and with our pupils, their parents and carers, and with the wider community. We place a high priority on supporting the development of good speaking and listening skills amongst our pupils.

Providing a high-quality oracy education empowers students, regardless of their background, to find their voice for success in school and in life. Effective communication skills are needed for students to succeed in later life and achieve their aspirations. Our aim is to remove communication barriers and enable students to be confident and effective communicators at the end of primary school.

The deliberate, explicit and systematic teaching of oracy across school will support children to make progress in the four strands of oracy. Purposeful talk is used to drive forward learning, through talk in the classroom, which has been planned, designed, modelled, scaffolded and structured to enable all learners to develop the skills needed to talk effectively and with confidence.

At South Gosforth First School our aim for Oracy is to enable children to:

• Speak with confidence, clarity and eloquence.
• Recognise the importance of listening and learn to be an active listener.
• Be confident in the value of their own opinions and have the ability to express them.
• Adapt their use of language for a range of different purposes and audiences, including using Standard English.
• Have a wide range of vocabulary that they can use for different purposes.
• Sustain a logical argument, question, reason and respond to others appropriately.
• Be open-minded, to respect the contribution of others and to take account of their views.
• Share their learning in an engaging, informative way through presentations, showcases of learning, drama, poetry and debate (linking to our assessment questions across the curriculum).

Please see below some of our key documents linked to the teaching of Oracy skills here at South Gosforth First School, including our Oracy Policy and Oracy Skills Progression across all year groups