Oracy

Oracy at Wilbraham

''At Wilbraham, we strongly believe every child should have a voice that’s heard – a powerful voice that shapes their future and inspires change. Oracy equips all our pupils with the skills they need to collaborate, learn, and succeed in the wider world.''

What is Oracy?

If your child is starting conversations at home with 'I'd like to start by saying...', or they respond to you with 'To build on your idea...', there's a good reason! At Wilbraham, we teach children to communicate effectively through their speaking and listening skills. We call this 'oracy'. Oracy is not a lesson, but children at our school learn to improve their communication skills whilst participating in all subjects.

Through our oracy curriculum, children learn to:

• Express themselves with confidence

• Listen carefully to peers and adults, responding appropriately

• Reason and explain their ideas

• Work collaboratively

We use a range of strategies and activities across the school, such as discussion guidelines, talk tactics, and structured group work, to give every child the opportunity to develop these skills. Our aim is for all children to leave Wilbraham as confident communicators, ready to succeed in education and in life.

How can I support my child at home?

• Encourage them to talk about their day

• Ask open questions like “What do you think…?” or “Why do you think that happened?”

• Play games that involve describing or questioning

• Read and discuss books together, focusing on sharing opinions or summarising.

Voice 21

Wilbraham is proud to be partnered with Voice21, a national charity that supports schools in building speaking and listening skills into the curriculum.

Being a Voice 21 school helps us give every child the tools to become a confident speaker and active listener, ready for success in school and beyond.

Discussion Guidelines

Children at Wilbraham enjoy a large range of oracy opportunities, from group discussions in class to performing speeches and poetry in front of adult audiences!

The foundation of all these oracy skills is our discussion guidelines, which are used in every classroom to help guide the children to be more confident and capable speakers.