Oracy at Herons’ Moor
Oracy is what Herons’ Moor Academy does to support the development of children’s capacity to use speech to express their thoughts and communicate with others in education and in life. In the classroom context, oracy is both learning to and through talk. It is through talk that students have the opportunity to develop and share their understanding, through interactions with both teachers and peers. However, to do this effectively, students must also be taught to talk effectively, ensuring they have the necessary skills and understanding to engage in talk for learning. (R Alexander)
Our intent
We intend for our children to speak clearly, confidently and proudly to a variety of audiences. Our children recognise that their voice is important and should be valued and are confident to articulate and express their thoughts and ideas. We intend for them to develop skills to improve and practise their physical, cognitive, linguistic, social and emotional skills. Herons’ Moor provides regular and meaningful activities for oracy both within the classroom and beyond. Oracy is developed throughout our academy day. All adults set high expectations and model the correct use of oracy to allow all children to become confident speakers. Children’s bilingualism is valued and they recognise this as an important skill. Children graduate from Herons’ Moor with a strong sense of identity and belonging, equipped with the ability to express themselves effectively, which enhances their prospects for success in life.
Implementation
Oracy is embedded into all aspects of the school day and into learning across the curriculum. Children work collaboratively in a range of groupings, enabling them to practise communication skills such as speaking and listening and turn taking, as well as an opportunity to discuss their learning and verbalise their thoughts. Children are provided with sentence stems which support their communication and discussion. These sentence stems are clearly displayed and modelled. Children are supported to share their opinion, agree or disagree with others, and encourage others in their group to speak.
Each class has a set of ground rules for talk which supports all children to feel confident and comfortable to have a voice. Teachers use visuals in their lessons and make use of resources such as real objects, knowledge organisers, experiential learning, role play drama and talk for writing. Classrooms are designed for successful communication and are streamlined and purposeful. A table-top display for each topic supports children’s communication with objects, related high quality texts, pictures, key vocabulary and key questions. Classroom displays also feature key vocabulary.
