Oracy

Oracy at Penn Wood

Every voice matters. Every voice has the power to make a difference.

At Penn Wood, we want all of our children to become confident, articulate and agile communicators. We want every child to feel that they have a voice, that their ideas matter and that they have the right to be heard.

As a large and culturally diverse school, with more than 87% of our children speaking English as an additional language, we celebrate the richness that different languages, cultures and experiences bring to our community. We value oracy in all languages and see communication as a key to opening doors to learning, relationships and future opportunities.

Our vision for oracy reflects our wider school vision, ‘Better Never Stops’, and our core values of Community, Kindness, Respect and Excellence. We want children to listen to others with respect, express themselves with confidence and use talk to develop their thinking, build relationships and contribute positively to the world around them.

^{How we Teach Oracy}

Oracy is more than simply giving children opportunities to speak. We teach children how to talk, how to listen and how to learn through talk.

Our work with Voice 21 has helped us to develop a shared understanding of the physical, linguistic, cognitive and social-emotional skills that underpin effective communication. Teachers plan purposeful opportunities for children to talk, collaborate, question, explain, reason and respond across the curriculum.

Each class has its own Oracy Toolkit, aligned with the Voice 21 Oracy Framework, to support them in developing the language and confidence they need to participate successfully in discussion. Children learn how to build on another person's idea, challenge respectfully, ask questions, explain their thinking and make their own contribution.

Our established Talk for Writing approach also provides a strong foundation for learning through talk. Talk for Writing has been embedded at Penn Wood for many years and supports children to develop vocabulary, language structures and confidence through speaking and listening as part of the writing process.

Oracy Across the Curriculum

At Penn Wood, talk is an important part of learning in every subject.

Children use talk to:

• explore and develop their ideas;
• rehearse and refine their thinking;
• explain their understanding;
• ask and answer questions;
• solve problems collaboratively;
• learn and use subject-specific vocabulary;
• listen and respond to different viewpoints;
• present their learning to others.

We strive for classrooms in which children are not only answering questions, but are increasingly able to initiate discussion, develop ideas together and articulate their thinking clearly.

As children move through Penn Wood, children's oracy skills become increasingly sophisticated. They develop the confidence to speak in different contexts, adapt their language for different audiences and purposes, and communicate effectively both informally and formally.

A Culture in which Every Voice is Value

Oracy is not confined to lessons. It is part of the culture of Penn Wood.

We want children to experience the power of their voice through classroom discussion, assemblies, pupil voice, collaborative learning and opportunities to speak to different audiences. Our commitment to Community, Kindness and Respect means that children learn that effective communication involves not only speaking confidently, but also listening carefully, valuing the contributions of others and responding thoughtfully.

We want our children to understand that their voice can help them to learn, connect with others and make a positive contribution to their community.

Our Oracy Journey

Our work with Voice 21 has given us a framework and shared language for developing oracy across the school. We continue to build on this work by strengthening classroom practice, developing teachers' expertise and creating increasingly purposeful opportunities for children to use talk as a tool for learning.

Our aim is for oracy to be something children experience every day, in every classroom and across every aspect of school life.

At Penn Wood, we believe that when children find their voice, they open doors to possibility.

Better never stops.