Our oracy curriculum
Our Oracy Vision
At Bangabandhu we expect and nurture children to speak eloquently, articulate ideas & thoughts and influence through talking, collaborate with peers, and have confidence to express views.
We want all of our children to be effective communicators, who are able to find their voice and are not afraid to use it. Spoken communication (oracy) skills are taught throughout our curriculum and our classrooms are talk-rich environments.
Our aim is for all our children to enrich their thinking and communication skills, boost their self-esteem and improve their academic attainment. We want our children to become eloquent speakers and develop the ability to justify answers, arguments and opinions and to be able to apply this to their thinking and learning, thus enhancing their understanding of not only subject content but also of each other and themselves.
Children from Key Stages 1 and 2 will be take part in planned oracy lessons throughout the year. Our oracy focuses on developing the children's ability to learn through the essential skills of speaking and listening.
Each term we have an exciting oracy outcome which allows children the opportunity to use the skills they have practised during oracy lessons, use them for an end outcome and to assess the children’s progress.
The Autumn outcome will focus on news broadcasts, where children will have time each lesson to watch, analyse and then practise their own news reports.
In spring, children will explore assigned poetry using the poetry archive to rehearse tone, expression, body gestures as part of performing a poem.
In the summer term, children will focus on questions and take part in debates.
Termly Whole School Oracy Outcomes
Autumn: A filmed news broadcast | Spring: A poetry slam | Summer: A debate |
How is Oracy taught at Bangabandhu?
All children are expected to talk in all lessons and teachers provide resources and scaffolds to help them do this. We learn through talking in all subjects and become better at reading, writing, maths and all other subjects because we regularly discuss our learning. Children are helped with talking sentence stems as well as the talking roles - instigator, clarifier, prober, challenger, builder and summariser. We talk in pairs, trios and small groups throughout the day, and learn to become as skillful at listening as we are at talking.
Oracy skills are taught explicitly in targeted fortnightly oracy lessons and children are encouraged to use the techniques in all other subjects to develop their confidence, understanding and communication skills.
Oracy at Bangabandhu is organised into four Big Ideas, the four strands of oracy:
- Voice and Body Language: what we show through our physical skill
- Vocabulary and Language: what we express through the use of linguistic skill
- Thinking and Understanding: applying discussion and learning to develop our thinking further
- Teamwork and Confidence: how we work together by considering and respecting our feelings and those of others
Discussion Guidelines and Hand Gestures
Discussion Guidelines
Discussions guidelines are ground rules for talk, ensuring talk is structured and purposeful.
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Oracy Hand Gestures
At Bangabandhu, we use the hand gestures, ABC to represent Agreement, Building on an idea and Challenging an idea.
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The Impact of Oracy
With Oracy at the forefront of our thinking, children are able to express themselves in a variety of contexts and can share their ideas; listen to those of others; build on ideas; challenge others respectfully and are willing to change their viewpoint. Progression through Oracy allows children to become independent learners that strive to achieve the best of their ability in everything they do.
The impact of teaching Oracy:
- Increases pupil confidence in all areas of the curriculum
- Improves academic outcomes
- Fosters wellbeing
- Gives the essential skills for children to thrive in life beyond school.
- Promotes social equity
We aim for our pupils to have proficient oracy skills to be able to use language to communicate confidently, fluently and articulately. With this aspect of cultural capital, our children will be able to positively contribute to their society both now and in the future.
What Do Our Children Say?
It has helped me become confident and speak in front of people.. Body language is important – helps us to make a point. I worked on facial expressions and self assurance but I still need to work on clear pronunciation and speech fluency. Ameera in Y5, Claude Monet Class
I enjoy how we get to express our views on different topics. We share what’s the same or different to someone else's view. I have improved my speaking skills and now I contribute more in class discussions. Sabiha in Y6, Salma Arastu Class
We have learned to use varied tones and use emotion when speaking and focused on using different pace of speech. Lily-Rose In Y6, Andy Warhol Class
I’ve learnt it’s important not to speak over the speaker. I enjoy working in groups of threes (trios) and I have worked on using the sentence starters to help me when I’m speaking. Suzhan in Y4, Donatello Class
I can take my time to think things through, take turns and to actively listen. I feel shy at times but slowly building confidence. Ayanah in Y4, Henri Rousseau Class
I have learnt to use eye contact and speak clearly. I will work on listening to others. Maisha in Y1, Diana Al Hadid Class
I enjoy the fact that I get to share my thoughts and I learn a lot from other people’s opinions . It has helped me be more mature, listen and focus on what I say. I have improved on not stuttering so much which I sometimes do when I speak at home, school or outside. Adam in Y5, Hoca Ali Riza Class. |
Voice 21
Voice 21 is the national charity that supports schools to build speaking and listening into the curriculum, teaching and learning and wider school life. Click here to visit their website ...
Tower Hamlets Oracy Hub
The Tower Hamlets Oracy Hub is a collaboration between teachers and schools to raise the profile and improve the quality of oracy education across the borough. Click here to visit their website ...