The Edward Betham C of E Primary School

Oracy

Intent

At our school, we believe that every child’s voice matters. Rooted in our Christian vision of faith, hope and love, we seek to nurture confident, articulate, and compassionate communicators who use their voices to learn, to connect, and to make a positive difference in their communities and the wider world.

Through our oracy curriculum, guided by the Voice 21 Oracy Framework, we aim to:

• Develop pupils’ ability to speak and listen with confidence, respect, and empathy, grounded in love for others.

• Foster faith in their own ideas and hope in their potential to express them clearly and thoughtfully.

• Equip pupils with the linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional tools to engage meaningfully in dialogue, discussion, and debate.

• Embed a culture where talk is valued as a key driver for learning, collaboration, and personal growth.

We believe that when children learn to use their voices with love, integrity, and confidence, they are empowered to live out our Christian vision and contribute positively to society.

Implementation

Our approach to oracy is embedded across the curriculum and daily school life, supported by the Voice 21 Framework’s four strands: Physical, Linguistic, Cognitive, and Social & Emotional.

We implement this by:

• Providing explicit, progressive teaching of oracy skills in every year group, with carefully planned opportunities to develop talk for different purposes: exploratory talk, presentation, discussion, debate, and performance.

• Modelling high-quality talk and active listening in all classrooms, creating a respectful, inclusive environment where every child feels heard and valued.

• Embedding sentence stems, vocabulary scaffolds, and talk guidelines to support structured dialogue.

• Using dialogic teaching approaches to encourage deep thinking, questioning, and reasoning.

• Creating purposeful opportunities for pupils to use their voice beyond the classroom — such as collective worship, pupil leadership roles, performances, and community engagement.

• Providing professional development for staff to ensure consistent and effective oracy practice, in alignment with our oracy  framework.

• In September 2025, we launched a three-year oracy development plan to ensure that oracy becomes a key strength of our school:
• 1. Year 1 – Foundations: Introduce the Oracy Framework; establish discussion guidelines; trial talk tactics and actions in lessons.
  2. Year 2 – Embedding: Whole-school training on oracy pedagogy; broaden implementation across subjects; develop formative assessment strategies for oracy.
  3. Year 3 – Sustaining: Embed oracy in curriculum planning; develop pupil oracy champions; showcase oracy outcomes through exhibitions, presentations, and cross-school events.

Through this, we will cultivate an oracy-rich environment where talk is both a tool for learning and an expression of love, respect, and faith in one another.

Impact

The impact of our oracy provision will be seen in pupils who:

• Speak with confidence, clarity, and compassion in a range of contexts.

• Listen actively and respond thoughtfully, showing love and respect for different viewpoints.

• Use talk to deepen understanding, express creativity, and engage critically with ideas.

• Demonstrate faith in their ability to communicate and hope in their capacity to influence and inspire others positively.

• Transfer their oracy skills into all areas of learning and life, becoming empathetic, articulate individuals who contribute to a just and loving community.

Ultimately, our pupils’ voices reflect the heart of our vision — faith in themselves and others, hope in their potential, and love in the way they communicate and connect with the world.

Key Documents

Click on the links below