Oracy at Bangabandhu

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.

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.

There are 4 key areas (strands) of oracy that we focus on.  Here is a summary of them. 

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

Adam in Y5, Hoca Ali Riza Class.