ORACY

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Voice 21

Oracy is the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language. At Finlay Community School, we are committed to transforming oracy teaching and learning across the school, enabling all our children to benefit from a high quality oracy education.

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In 2023, we became a Voice 21 school and began working with the UK's Oracy Education Charity - Voice 21. Through the deliberate, explicit and systematic teaching of oracy across phases and throughout the curriculum, we strive to support children and young people to make progress in the four strands of oracy outlined in the oracy framework: physical, linguistic, social and emotional and cognitive. 

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The oracy framework provides an overview of the oracy skills and knowledge children should acquire during their time at school. It can help to identify strengths and areas for development, as well as to allow us to plan explicitly for talk and support reflection on talk. At Finlay Community School, we have created an intent guide to show how oracy is taught at Finlay and what the progression of each strand looks like across the school. 

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Our Vision for Oracy: 

Our school is a place where students, staff and carers speak with kindness, confidence and clarity; where every voice is valued. Our classroom communities are places where critical issues can be discussed; where students feel comfortable putting forward an idea one day to set it aside the next; where students can safely challenge each other - and still play together in the playground or sit together at lunch.

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We aim to equip students with the tools they need to use their voice to aspire, belong and achieve in school and in life.

 

Our Oracy Intent

​Our curriculum provides opportunities for students to talk for different purposes, to different audiences, on different subjects throughout their time at Finlay. With regular and meaningful oracy experiences, students are prepared to speak through thoughtful, progressive development of skills in each of the four strands of the Oracy Framework.

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Our learners are made aware of talk and the power it has to help them think deeply. Teachers harness the power of talk to engage children, to stimulate and extend their thinking. Staff members take an active role in guiding students’ language, modelling ways in which talk can be used to think collectively. Talk tasks are designed to draw on and beyond children’s existing knowledge, to elicit debate and consideration of different interpretations or ways of problem-solving. 

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Since joining Voice 21, we have: 

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• Established discussion guidelines 

• Appointed oracy ambassadors 

• Redesigned our curriculum to allow for oracy to be at the heart of our pedagogical approach

• Implemented phase assemblies 

• Implemented different groupings: nesting, pairs, trios and circles 

• Implemented talk tactics: build upon, instigate, challenge and summarise

• Introduced Star Speaker awards 

• Held a yearly poetry slam and exhibition of work 

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Oracy Long Term Intent Guide 2025 2026

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For more information on our oracy curriculum, please speak to our Oracy Leads: Sasha Palmer (sasha.palmer@finlay.gloucs.sch.uk) or Meg Harding (megan.harding@finlay.gloucs.sch.uk). 

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