Oracy

“Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

At St. Francis de Sales, our classrooms are rich in high quality talk, using oracy skills as drivers of change. Research shows that purposeful speaking and listening can develop pupils’ language, thinking and communication skills, creating strong foundations for learning. These skills can extend beyond the classroom and could help to address social disadvantage.

Research has also proven that a child’s ability to use spoken language has a direct effect on their overall level of educational attainment. This is why we do not treat ‘Oracy’ as a discrete subject at St. Francis de Sales – it is a part of our school’s cohesion strategy (Acquisition & Retention of Knowledge, Enriching Experiences, Independence, Oracy and Understanding).

Oracy is embedded across the entire SFDS curriculum as a fundamental part of teaching and learning. We are committed to preparing pupils to become responsible, independent citizens, who can: express themselves confidently and clearly, articulate ideas with precision, speak eloquently using Standard English, influence others through spoken language and listen with understanding and respect.

As Oracy is one of the ‘five common essentials’ at St. Francis de Sales, opportunities are planned for pupils to develop their oracy skills across every subject. Pupils are introduced to progressive skills for their year groups with personal ‘Oracy Skills’ booklets. Year group posters are displayed on the back of the booklets to outline the five key areas to be developed. These are: Spoken Language, Use of Voice, Body Language, Organisation and Listening and Responding. Each of these areas is represented by an image that pupils become familiar with. When appropriate, these images are displayed during lessons on presentations and task cards to signal that there is an ‘Oracy Opportunity’.

Two key aspects of Oracy are consistently reinforced at SFDS: Standard English and the avoidance of gap fillers. All members of staff are instructed to model accurate Standard English and to avoid using gap fillers e.g. ‘erm’ and ‘like’. Staff are supported where needed and are encouraged to correct pupils sensitively during spoken interactions. As a result, pupils have developed the confidence to identify errors and offer constructive feedback to their peers (and occasionally to staff!), making Oracy a shared and embedded practice across the school.

In addition to Oracy being one of our five essentials, here are some other examples of how we give it a high profile at St. Francis de Sales:

• Links with 'Debate Academy' and inter-school debate competitions
• Entering national debate competitions 
• 'SFDS Debate Week' and whole school SFDS debate competitions 
• Performance poetry topics and an 'SFDS Poetry Slam' 
• Video calls with outside agencies e.g. 'Read for Good Presents Michael Rosen'
• Subject leaders regularly seeking pupil voice from a range of pupils
• Our Play Pod providing unlimited opportunities for expressive play and talk
• Weekly House Team playground challenges 
• Our focus on children’s mental health and the strategies we have in place to encourage talk 
• ‘Global Scholars’ after-school club

Our cohesion strategy of including Oracy as one of the five essentials is contributing towards the impact of teaching and learning in every subject area at our school. It can clearly be seen across all year groups how our pupils grow in confidence when expressing themselves in a variety of contexts, leading to greater independence.

The impact of teaching and learning key oracy skills is measured and assessed via:

• Ongoing formative assessment across all lessons (in all subjects). Our teachers intervene at the point of learning to offer constructive guidance for pupils, allowing them to reflect immediately. 
• 'Knowledge Checkback' sessions featuring at the start of every lesson in every subject. High-quality questioning and responding takes place to ascertain the level of understanding in the classroom and to enable teachers to adapt their teaching as necessary. 
• The Oracy Lead keeping updated with the latest pedagogy and reviewing our school’s approach. This was aided by our Oracy Lead being a member of Voice 21’s ‘The Voice Liverpool Activate Programme’, which focused on developing expert Oracy practice in the classroom and beyond. 
• Dedicated Oracy lessons within the Writing curriculum (e.g. performance poetry lessons and 'SFDS Debate Week') providing clear opportunities for the ‘SFDS Oracy Progression Ladder’ to be put into practice. Teachers can monitor and assess whether pupils are implementing the recommended skills for their year group.
• Learning walks and observations (across the curriculum) enabling staff members to receive feedback with the aim of driving their practice forward. They may be directed towards in-house coaching or CPD. 
• Pupil voice being sought to gauge enjoyment, knowledge and understanding of Oracy to implement changes as necessary.

Our pupils are not the only ones to have been positively impacted upon by the SFDS approach to Oracy! Through sharing our excellent Oracy practice online, our pupils’ high standards have been recognised and celebrated by Oxford University, Voice 21 (a national Oracy charity) and the Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group. 

Impact Presentation 

This presentation shows the standards of Oracy at SFDS via our identified 'Golden Threads' of Performance Poetry, Debating and Oracy as one of the 'Five Essentials'. It also contains pupil and teacher voice feedback.