Intent of Oracy Curriculum

In our school we endeavour to combat a language and vocabulary gap effecting the cultural capital of our children. We continually seek opportunities to develop the oracy skills of our pupils and increase the potential for improving their knowledge of speaking and listening. The aim of the Prince Rock curriculum is to develop articulate speakers, inspired writers and avid readers who can apply their knowledge of English to communicate effectively in an ever-changing world. Our intention is for all children to become fluent, skilled and attentive readers, which is developed through quality talk both inside and outside of the classroom. We aim to develop and expand children’s language and vocabulary when they listen to and join in with stories, rhymes, songs and through talking about carefully selected books. Children will be exposed to language outside of normal conversation and we will work hard to ensure disadvantaged children make progress so that they are not at risk of falling behind their peers.

We intend for pupils to:

• Be articulate speakers and good responsive listeners in a variety of situations.
• Evaluate their own and others’ contributions through a range of drama activities.
• Develop abilities to reflect on their own and others’ contributions and the language used.
• Enjoy using language in different contexts and have the confidence and ability to do so.

We aim to:

• Give all children a voice.
• Develop their ability to converse through high quality dialogue (back and forth).
• Enable children to articulate what they know and understand.
• Enable children develop their knowledge across all subjects, understanding and using the vocabulary they need to support learning.
• Enable children to share their thoughts, opinions and ideas with clarity and confidence.
• Put oracy at the centre of our curriculum and embed skills across all subjects
• Develop children’s physical, linguistic, cognitive and social and emotional skills.
• Offer staff regular CPD in order to provide up to date knowledge and the required skillset to support children with their oracy skills.
• Support children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
• Provide environments that are conducive to good speaking, listening and communication.

In direct reference to National Curriculum and Ofsted expectations, we will ensure that our children can:

• Listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers.
• Ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge.
• Use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary
• Articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions.
• Give well structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings.
• Maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments.
• Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas.
• Speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of standard English.
• Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates.
• Fain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s).
• Consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others.
• Select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.

Implementation for All

At Prince Rock, we aim to ensure the children at our school are exposed to high-quality, language rich talk through explicit teaching and dialogue with adults and peers. In order to support this, we use a range of interactions to engage, scaffold and extend:

• Thinking out loud and modelling new language (in multiple contexts) for children.
• Paying close attention to what the children say and answering.
• Rephrasing and extending what the children say to clarify points.
• Providing models of accurate grammar (in particular past tenses and plurals).
• Validating the children’s attempts at using new vocabulary and grammar by rephrasing what children say if necessary.
• Asking a range of closed and open questions.
• Explaining why things happen using accurate language linked to the subject area.
• Deliberately connecting current and past events which are familiar to them.
• Extending children’s vocabulary and explaining new words.
• Building on their newly acquired words and making connections through word associations, synonyms and antonyms.
• Connecting one idea or action to another to build links.
• Helping children to articulate ideas in well-formed sentences through opportunities to practise with peers and adults.

When children are introduced to new vocabulary, they are provided with opportunities to gather these words through whole class word banks and complete ‘word fields’ to further extend. Working word walls and banks allow for key language to be revisited, discussed and built upon in subsequent lessons.

For example:

Park – grass, habitats, insects, wildlife, environment, flowers, pollination, spacious

In order to support speaking and listening skills, we use talk rules to develop the children’s understanding of what good listening looks like, how to talk to a partner or in a small group and how to share thoughts within a larger group. We focus on developing 9 talk moves which are in line with Voice 21 and are as follows:

We also use our ABCM’s throughout the school to deepen our thinking and learning through discussions across the curriculum. These are used daily within lessons alongside sentence stems to develop the children’s talk.

Groupings

Each term, a class will focus on developing their talk skills through the use of groupings in order to gradually develop their ability to communicate effectively and in a range of ways. Although there will be a focus on these groupings, children will also use groupings they have worked on before.

Curriculum Progression

The intention of our oracy curriculum is to support the oracy development of children in all subjects and areas of learning. The skills are applicable whichever subject you teach. To be secure with the understanding of subject content, it is important that pupils are able to talk about what they are learning and use talk as a tool to develop their understanding. Within each English unit, an oracy objective will be provided and the children will develop their oracy skills linked to this and their needs. Below is a table of progression for the primary age range.

Monitoring of oracy

Implementation of oracy in EYFS

The aim of the Early Years reading curriculum is to help practitioners to support children’s learning and development by closely matching what they provide to each child’s current needs. We use Blank level questioning to assess the children’s understanding of language and tailor our teaching to this. This support is underpinned by developing positive relationships, the development of enabling environments and celebrating the uniqueness of every pupil.

As they begin their journey with us, we encourage our children to listen attentively in a range of situations. They learn to listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately. During this time, our children also learn to express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs. We follow a Talk for Writing approach to our literacy sessions and children become competent storytellers using key language and vocabulary to re-tell stories through role play and story maps As their language develops, they learn to answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events. In the Early Years, language development is a key aspect for all our children and experiences are provided from the outset to help narrow vocabulary gaps and provide an environment rich in language to promote talk and speech development at every opportunity.

Implementation of oracy in KS1

As our pupils move into key stage one, they learn the importance of active listening, register and collaborative group discussion. They become co-creators of guidelines for discussions and for talk in the classroom to maintain a safe and respectful environment for talk.

Listening protocols enable our pupils to learn to engage with ideas, learn from their peers and hear new vocabulary in practice. These protocols for listening enable our children to understand how to self-regulate in discussion. In addition, at a rate that is appropriate, our children learn different roles to play in discussions to help manage talk and encourage the development of speaking and listening skills which provide a structure for discussions, meaning that eventually our pupils can self-govern talk.

Our children experience oracy in every aspect of their school day and it sits at the heart of their learning across the curriculum. At this phase, our pupils are given different opportunities to present, perform and debate to their peers, the wider school and the community.

Implementation of oracy in KS2

In the final phase of their primary journey with us, our pupils embed their oracy skills and begin to self-regulate more effectively when speaking and listening. They learn to choose the appropriate register, body language and vocabulary to suit their audience.

Talk guidelines are still use to structure group discussions, encouraging our pupils to self-govern. Active listening continues to be revisited and embedded to support our pupils to engage critically with complex ideas, learn from their peers and hear new vocabulary in practice. At this phase, additional opportunities are given to allow our pupils to step out of a discussion and observe talk to consolidate their understanding of oracy skills and in turn offer critique and support to their peers to improve.

By the end of their journey through our schools, our pupils will have learnt the skills to be able to clearly articulate their thinking, reason, justify, clarify and challenge. They will speak confidently and with clarity in a range of scenarios: class presentations, performances, debates and assemblies to a range of audiences and with skills fit for the purpose of their talk.

Interventions

Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI)

During the first term of reception, children are assessed using a language screening programme which identifies gaps in language development. Using this information, the children in greatest need of targeted language support will be targeted and receive intervention with a trained adult. NELI is designed for children aged 4-5 years and combines small group work with one-to-one sessions targeting vocabulary, narrative skills, active listening and phonological awareness. At Prince Rock, we focus on small group sessions which are tailored to the needs of the children. Following the completion of NELI, children complete an exit assessment. If appropriate, NELI will also be completed in Y1 for those children who are at risk of falling behind.

Blank Level Questioning

At the beginning of the school journey, children in the EYFS are also assessed using Blank Level Questioning in order to ascertain their ability to understand simple to abstract questions. Once this is completed, high quality teaching and planning ensures children develop their ability to progress within the levels. If needed, children will receive targeted support 1-1 or in a small group to work on specific areas. As the children move through the school, teachers will continue to adapt learning to meet the children’s language needs.

SEND

If a parent or member of staff have a concern about a child's speaking, listening or communication skills or progress, a meeting will be set up to discuss these concerns. Sometimes, it is necessary for a member of the SEND team to also become involved. The SEND team is led by the Pastoral Assistant/INCo and is supported by the SENCo and FLO (Family Liaison Officer). The whole team is also supported by the SEND Governor. 

Once initial concerns are shared and discussed any additional support is planned and put in place. This will often be a short-term target intervention to begin with, and a graduated response will be put in place supported by a robust assess, plan, do and review cycle. If further support is required at a more specialist level, beyond the level of a targeted intervention then referrals to outside agencies can be discussed and actioned. This would include a potential referral to a Speech and Language Therapist, Communication Interaction Team or an Educational Psychologist.

The class teacher is always the first stop for any support that is additional to or different from that of the other children. Their responsibilities would include:

• Identifying, planning, delivering and managing any additional help a child may need.
• Writing pupil progress targets/Individual Education Plan targets and reviewing these once a term.
• Liaising with the SEN team to ensure targets and support are appropriate and achievable.

Enrichment

• Prince Rock Parliament
• GD Reading club – opportunities to discuss books that have been read and opinions
• School choir – project voice, expression, perform
• Plays – performance, drama
• Assemblies – Speak to an audience, read aloud, poetry performance
• Songs in Spring
• Poems in the Playground
• Youth Speaks
• LAT links – meet pupils and adults from other settings

Impact of Oracy Curriculum

Oracy is assessed using both formative and summative assessment strategies. Assessment for learning is used throughout individual lessons to inform future planning and to identify elements that need to be addressed at later points. Within each term, children are assessed using the table of progression above. The skills for each year group are assessed, however if pupils are working below their year group, previous year group skills are used. A ‘Rag Rating’ is given against each strand of the Key Performance Indicators, under the headings of: Physical, Linguistic, Cognitive, Social & Emotional. Any gaps in children’s oracy development are identified, and explicit oracy sessions are planned to close these gaps.

In order to measure the impact of our oracy provision, we complete regular monitoring and assessment cycles which include: Termly Pupil Progress meetings, Blank level assessments, YR NELI assessments and use of Voice 21 assessment tracker.