Why Oracy Matters

At Selwood Academy, we believe that talk is central to learning, thinking and personal development. The ability to communicate clearly, listen actively and engage thoughtfully with others underpins academic success and prepares pupils to contribute confidently to their communities and future workplaces.

Our oracy curriculum aims for every pupil to:

  • Speak with confidence, clarity and purpose
     

  • Listen with focus and empathy, responding thoughtfully to others
     

  • Use talk to reason, reflect, question and build ideas collaboratively
     

  • Adapt their language to suit different audiences and purposes
     

  • Use exploratory and uncertain language to deepen thinking
     

  • Reflect on their own and others’ spoken communication
     

A Curriculum in Development

Our oracy curriculum is ambitious and growing. We are embedding structured opportunities for purposeful talk across all subjects and year groups, ensuring that oracy is taught explicitly and valued as a vital skill for life.

Key areas of development include:

  • Listening ladders, helping pupils to recognise what effective listening looks and sounds like, and to progress from attentive listening to active questioning and critical engagement.
     

  • Sentence stems and talk focuses, supporting pupils to use purposeful language for different stages of discussion. Pupils learn to initiate ideas (“I’d like to add…”), build on others’ thinking (“I agree with… and would like to add…”), challenge respectfully (“I see it differently because…”), clarify (“Could you explain what you mean by…?”), and summarise (“So we’ve agreed that…”).
     

  • Uncertain language, encouraging curiosity, reflection and open-minded inquiry. Pupils are supported to explore ideas tentatively using expressions such as “I don’t know, but I can see that…”, “This might be wrong, but…”, or “I’m not sure, though I know it’s not…”, helping them develop confidence in sharing emerging thoughts.
     

  • Thinking time and questioning, ensuring pupils are given appropriate time to process ideas before responding. Teachers use open-ended questions that invite reasoning, exploration and creativity, encouraging pupils to make links to real-life situations and to respond with depth and authenticity.
     

  • Classroom talk routines, including think-pair-share, discussion circles and structured debates, to provide regular opportunities for purposeful dialogue.
     

  • Professional development for staff, ensuring consistency and quality of talk across all classrooms.
     

  • Cross-curricular planning, with clear oracy outcomes identified in subjects such as Maths, Humanities, Science and PASHE.
     

As our approach evolves, we will publish a detailed oracy progression framework, including examples of pupil work and strategies for use both in school and at home.

Supporting Oracy at Home

Parents and carers can play an important part in developing confident, thoughtful speakers and listeners. You can help by:

  • Encouraging your child to explain their reasoning and opinions
     

  • Asking open questions such as “Why do you think that?” or “Can you tell me more?”
     

  • Listening attentively and prompting them to expand on their ideas
     

  • Using exploratory phrases like “It might be that…” to model tentative thinking
     

  • Talking together about news, books or shared interests
     

As oracy continues to grow at Selwood, we will share further guidance and activities to help families reinforce these important skills at home.