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Oracy is the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language. In school oracy is a powerful teaching tool for learning: by teaching children to become more effective speakers and listeners we empower them to better understand themselves, each other and the world around them.
At St Bart’s we:
- Set high expectations for oracy
- Value every voice
- Teach oracy explicitly
- Use oracy to elevate learning
- Appraise progress in oracy
At St Bart’s we ensure children receive at least one explicitly taught oracy lesson each week across a range of different subject areas. Our teachers ensure children have the opportunity to see what effective speaking looks like for a range of different purposes.
Research shows that there are multiple benefits from embedding high quality oracy education in our school. Developing effective speaking and listening skills in our children will:
- Increase confidence
- Improve academic outcomes
- Foster wellbeing
- Equip them to thrive in life beyond school
Voice 21
The school is part of the Voice 21 national network of schools. We work in partnership towards a shared vision to transform the learning and life chances of children through talk, so that they can use their voice for success in school and in life.
Curriculum - Oracy - Speeches
Class 14 have written speeches in the character of Winston Churchill persuading the British public to evacuate their children.
Curriculum - Oracy - Classification of Living Things
Class 14 have started their new science topic of classification of living things. Today they used their Oracy skills to decide as a group how to classify animals into 2 groups then 2 subgroups.
Curriculum - Oracy - The Sikh Religion
This week, class 16 completed an oracy lesson. We looked at what the ‘Sewa’ and ‘Langar’ is in the Sikh religion and discussed kindness, and how we can show kindness to others through physical and emotional acts.
Curriculum - Oracy - 2D Shapes
Class 6 have been working hard making and labelling the features of 2D shapes. Using straws for the sides and playdough for the vertices pupils were proud of their complicated shapes. We then discussed the shapes using our oracy skills, building on other pupils ideas and adding more descriptive features.
Curriculum - Oracy - Personal Values
Class 14 discussed and ranked their personal values. Then using their linguistic skills they debated which were most important as a group.
Curriculum - Oracy - The Circulatory System
This week class 14 have been debating whether the scientists Galen or Harvey’s theory about the circulatory system was correct. They used sentence stems to help them structure their ideas.
Curriculum - Oracy - A Healthy Lifestyle
In science we have been looking at what makes a healthy lifestyle. Today we discussed the importance of exercise. We discussed how we must exercise everyday. In pairs the children designed a fitness video. We thought carefully about the physical strand from the oracy framework and made sure we had a loud and clear voice. We hope you enjoy it and it gets you moving for the day.
Curriculum - Oracy - Exclamation Marks
This week in English we have been learning about exclamation marks. We have been adding the correct punctuation to the sentences and then using different tones of voice to read the sentences.
Curriculum - Oracy - Endangered Species
Today we researched endangered species to find out where they live, how many are left and why there are endangered. We then presented what we had found to other groups in order to spread awareness about what can be done to save them. We developed our physical oracy presentation skills to make our presentations interesting. We practiced speaking loudly so that the audience could hear and using our expression and gestures to help make our point.
Curriculum - Oracy - The Linguistic Strand
Class 6 had an oracy English lesson today. We focused on the 'linguistic' strand of the oracy framework and used talk tokens to share our preferences of the 3 Jonny Duddle books we have studied. We also introduced the 'listening ladder' and thought about where we think we are on it.
Curriculum - Oracy - Pirate Feelings
In English we are looking at the story “the neighbours next door” today we focused on the physical strand of the oracy frame work. We thought about how the pirates are feeling used a sentence stem to structure our sentences and performed them to the class. The class then had to guess which pirate we were. We had lots of fun acting like pirates.
Curriculum - Oracy - Pirates
In their literacy lesson class 7 were practicing their oracy skills.
They were pretending to be the different pirates from the pirates next door explaining how they felt due to the way the neighbours had treated them. I am so proud of them for standing up in front of the class.
Curriculum - Oracy - Performing a Radio Play
Here are class 13 performing a radio play, using their expressive voices.
Curriculum - Oracy - How Christian's Pray
In RE we have been looking at how Christian’s pray and what they do when they pray. In this weeks lesson we focused on the physical strand from the oracy framework and we wrote our own prayer.
Curriculum - Oracy - The Ugly Five
We have been reading The Ugly Five as part of our english lessons. During the oracy lesson, the children were asked what their favourite animal from the story was and why. We had some interesting answers.
Curriculum - Oracy - Light, Seeds & Water
Class 6 had an oracy lesson in science this week. We used talk tokens to discuss whether a Moston United football club should have a roof built to stop the pitch getting muddy. We then carried out an experiment to discover whether seeds can grow without water or light.
Curriculum - Oracy - The 5 Pillars
To end our topic on Islam and the five pillars the children presented information about each pillar. The children had improved in their confidence speaking in front of the class and were clear and concise.
Curriculum - Oracy - Expanded Nouns
In oracy, we have been using expanded nouns to describe the different animals that appear in our class book Handa's Surprise.
Curriculum - Oracy - Pharaohs (Class 9)
In class 9 we have started a new topic about ancient Egypt. This week we were using our oracy skills and answering the question - Who was 5he greatest pharaoh in ancient Egypt?
Curriculum - Oracy - Pharaohs (Class 10)
Class 10 have worked in trios to investigate who the greatest pharaoh was. First, we were given information to read about three different pharaohs. Then, we used our oracy skills to discuss. One person in each group shared their opinion with the rest of their group and explained why. Then, the second person used sentence stems to say whether they agreed, and gave evidence to either add to the first person's point or disagree. Person three then summarised what the other two people had said. We then swapped roles. We really enjoyed using our oracy skills to investigate!
Curriculum - Oracy - Studying Seeds
Our science lesson had an oracy focus this week! We worked in groups to study a variety of seeds before asking questions we would like answering throughout our new topic of Plants, such as "how much water does a seed need?", "how long does a seed take to grow?" and "can a seed grow without soil?"
Curriculum - Oracy - Small Group Work
Some of the children in year 1 have been practicing their oracy skills in a small group. We discuss the important aspects of speaking and listening, including looking at the speaker, taking turns to talk and thinking about what we are going to say.
Curriculum - Oracy - Listening Skills
In oracy we worked in pairs to give instructions on how to grow a beanstalk. We had to listen very carefully to our partner, so we knew what step came next.
Curriculum - Oracy - Medicine
In class 6, we had an oracy session in PSHE. We were learning all about who should give us medicine, and worked in groups to discuss different scenarios. We focused on the Linguistic strand, giving reasons why we had different ideas. We used talk tokens to make sure everyone had the chance to share their ideas.
Curriculum - Oracy - Jack & The Beanstalk
In our oracy session, we worked in groups to retell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk using stick puppets.
Curriculum - Oracy - Electric Car Discussion
Class 13 have debated, ‘Are electric cars better for the environment?’ in groups using their oracy skills and scientific knowledge. Check out the debates.
Curriculum - Oracy - The 5 Pillars of Islam
This week in RE we have looked at the 5 pillars of Islam. The children worked in groups to research a pillar and presented their findings to the class.
Curriculum - Oracy - Sustainability Discussion
Class 13 have debated, ‘Are metals sustainable?’ in groups using their oracy skills and scientific knowledge. Check out their debates.
Curriculum - Oracy - Greenland
This week in Geography, class 16 have learnt all about Greenland and how climate change is having an impact on the land and the people there. We looked at 2 case studies: one person who was happy about the effects that climate change was having and 1 person who was not happy. Children had to decide who they agreed with. We then had a debate using our oracy strands and sentence stems.
Curriculum - Oracy - Reader Leaders Class Visit
Class 5 enjoyed their visit from the reader leaders today. They read the ugly five and class 5 loved it. Thank you year 6!
Curriculum - Oracy - The Kindest Red
Children in year 1 and year 2 have been reading the story The Kindest Red. They have thought about kindness and have worked together to organise different words associated with being kind. They focused on the Social and Emotional strand of the Oracy Framework and worked hard to take turns to contribute. They used stem sentences such as 'I think this word means ....... because......' to articulate their ideas. Class 4 worked together to write a class poem about kindness.
Curriculum - Oracy - Build, Challenge, Clarify
Year 6 children in class 15 spent time developing their oracy skills - using build, challenge and clarify. Children had to discuss different scenarios and how people would feel.
Curriculum - Oracy - Breaking Rules
Class 6's RE lesson this week had an oracy focus. We were working on the physical aspect of the oracy framework, focusing on making sure our voices are loud enough to be heard. We created mini performances about somebody breaking a rule, then discussed what would be different if we had a positive role model to show us how to make the right choices.
Curriculum - Oracy - Animals & The Food Chain
In science we worked in partners to identify the different animals in the food chain. We then used the sentence stem to explain the food chain.
Curriculum - Oracy - Gas and Weight
In science this week, we investigated whether gas weighs anything. We shared our ideas giving examples from previous investigations, life experiences and our own knowledge. Then we weighed a bottle of fizzy water. We discussed what happens when you shake fizzy drinks before opening. We then did exactly that! We could hear the gas escaping and when we weighed it, the bottle of water weighed less. This proved that the gas must have weighed something when it was in the bottle. We discussed what we had observed and used reasons to back up our ideas.
Curriculum - Oracy - Stone Age Artefacts
Class 11 have used their oracy skills to explore different real life Stone Age artefacts. They thought about what they were, what it was used for and what it was made from.
We discovered there was a spindle Whorl to help when twisting fibres together to make cloth, a flint hand axe from over a million years ago, a Stone Age axe that would have been attached to a wooden handle from around 5000 years ago, a bronze axe head from around 2700-4500 years ago and a small piece of flint probably used for cleaning animal skin to make leather from between 10,500 and 4000 years ago.
It was fascinating to be touching and looking at pieces of Stone Age history.
