Oracy
“Your voice matters. When you speak, you share your truth — and every truth deserves to be heard.” Malorie Blackman
English Team: Miss E McGovern (English Lead), Miss N Hall (Phonics and Early Reading Lead), Miss J Ryan (Oracy Lead), Mrs A Power (English Lead)
Our Purpose (based on the National Curriculum)
At Rack House Primary School, oracy is not an added extra- it is a foundational pillar of our curriculum. We believe that every child deserves the ability to speak clearly, listen actively, and engage thoughtfully with others. Oracy underpins pupils’ learning across all subjects and is essential for success in school, in relationships, and in life beyond the classroom.
From our two-year-old provision onwards, children are immersed in a language-rich environment where high-quality talk is modelled, taught and celebrated. We recognise that learning to talk and learning through talk are equally important. Pupils are explicitly taught how to express ideas, justify reasoning, explore different viewpoints, and collaborate effectively. These skills are developed progressively through carefully structured opportunities such as storytelling, debate, role-play, partner talk, structured sentence stems, and exploratory discussion.
Oracy at Rack House supports deeper understanding and critical thinking. Across the curriculum- from Maths and Science to History and PSHE- talk is used as a tool to develop subject knowledge, vocabulary and metacognitive control. Talk partners, dialogic teaching, and reflective questioning are embedded in daily teaching to improve retention, reasoning and pupil engagement.
We believe that oracy is a powerful lever for equity. By explicitly teaching spoken language, we narrow gaps in vocabulary and communication, particularly for pupils with SEND, EAL or language delay. Through diverse, inclusive class texts and meaningful discussion, our children develop empathy, curiosity and cultural awareness.
Oracy is also central to our school culture. Pupils participate in presentations, performances, debates and assemblies, giving them the confidence to find and share their voice. These experiences build self-esteem and prepare them to be articulate, active citizens in their communities.
At Rack House, we are committed to developing speakers who are confident, reflective and respectful. Our oracy-rich curriculum ensures every child has the language, confidence and communication skills to thrive in learning and in life.
National Curriculum link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7de93840f0b62305b7f8ee/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_English_220714.pdf
Oracy in Early Years at Rack House
Foundations for Oracy in Buddies and Nursery
At Rack House Primary School, oracy is at the heart of learning from the moment children enter our two-year-old provision. We believe that high-quality spoken language is essential for all areas of development. Across Buddies, Rising Threes, and Nursery, children experience language-rich, talk-focused environments where oracy is intentionally taught through play, storytelling, songs, and structured discussion.
In Buddies, oracy is introduced through joyful, repetitive language linked to core texts like Dear Zoo, supported by movement, rhyme, and expressive sound play. Little Wandle Rhyme Time is woven throughout to build rhythm, rhyme, and early phonological awareness. In Rising Threes, children begin to use more structured language, supported by visual cues and modelling. They describe characters, give instructions, and engage in simple storytelling, strengthening vocabulary and turn-taking.
By Nursery, children engage in dialogic learning through rich texts such as The Gruffalo and The Gingerbread Man. Oracy outcomes include speaking in full sentences, predicting, and expressing feelings and ideas clearly. Story-based group talk, role-play, and activities like “Gruffalo Guess Who” promote expressive and purposeful communication. Teachers explicitly model sentence structures, extend vocabulary, and scaffold children's ability to listen and respond thoughtfully.
Across the Early Years, poetry performance also progresses- children build confidence in reciting rhymes and poems, using expression, rhythm, and gesture. Oracy is consistently developed through daily routines, interactive storytelling, and structured talk opportunities. Tools like Tales Toolkit support narrative structure and deepen language use.
Oracy in Reception
At Rack House Primary School, oracy in Reception is central to all learning, laying the foundation for confident communication, early reading, and writing. Spoken language is explicitly taught and embedded through structured, purposeful talk across the day. Children are taught to listen attentively, speak in full sentences, and respond thoughtfully during story time, role play, partner tasks, and whole-class discussion.
Oracy is developed through drama, storytelling, dialogic teaching, and regular poetry performance. Children rehearse and recite poems using expression, rhythm, and gesture, gradually building fluency and confidence in speaking aloud. Teachers model clear articulation, expressive language, and conversational conventions to support this progression.
Tales Toolkit is used across reading and writing to support narrative structure and language development. Children use the symbols for character, setting, problem, and solution to plan and tell their own stories aloud laying the groundwork for sequencing, vocabulary, and imaginative thinking. These oral narratives become the foundation for writing, ensuring a smooth transition from speech to print.
Activities such as ‘Rhyme Time’ and ‘Talk for Writing’ continue to build oral fluency, rhythm, and grammatical awareness. Talk is scaffolded through visuals, sentence stems, and targeted questioning so all children- including those with SEND or EAL- can access, rehearse, and refine their language. Oracy opportunities are built across the curriculum, from explaining maths strategies and predicting in science to sharing opinions and reflecting in PSHE.
This consistent, structured approach ensures that children leave Reception with strong speaking, listening, and performance skills- ready to engage with the wider curriculum as confident, capable communicators.
Oracy in Key Stage One at Rack House
Oracy in Year One
At Rack House Primary School, oracy is embedded throughout the Year 1 curriculum as a core driver of learning and communication. Every English unit is designed with a specific oracy outcome, enabling children to develop spoken language alongside reading and writing. These outcomes provide meaningful opportunities to rehearse vocabulary, explore ideas aloud, and build narrative structure before committing thoughts to paper.
Pupils engage in structured talk experiences such as debates, presentations, and storytelling. For example, children might take part in a "Monster Debate" to explore contrasting character traits before writing descriptions, or guide peers on a "Zoo Tour" using rich, descriptive language prior to composing poems. These activities promote full sentence articulation, language fluency, and confidence in performance.
Poetry performance is taught progressively across the year. In the autumn term, pupils begin by learning to recite short, familiar poems using rhythm and expression. As the year progresses, they build on this by performing longer pieces with greater vocal control, pace, and audience awareness. By the summer term, children are confidently performing in pairs and groups, experimenting with intonation, gesture, and dramatic effect to convey meaning and emotion. These performances help build fluency, memory, and enjoyment of language while developing important presentation skills.
Oracy is carefully scaffolded through teacher modelling, sentence stems, talk partners, and visual cues. Children are taught to speak clearly, listen attentively, and respond respectfully. Oracy is also woven across the wider curriculum- pupils explain reasoning in maths, discuss hypotheses in science, and express opinions in PSHE. This ensures oracy is not isolated, but integral to every subject and learning experience.
Through this consistent, dialogic approach, Year 1 pupils learn to:
- Express ideas clearly in complete sentences
- Build and use subject-specific vocabulary
- Participate in discussion and debate
- Perform stories and poems with expression and clarity
- Listen actively and engage with others’ ideas
Oracy in Year Two
At Rack House Primary School, oracy is embedded across the Year 2 curriculum as a vital tool for thinking, learning, and communication. Each English unit features a planned oracy outcome linked to our bespoke core texts, enabling pupils to rehearse vocabulary, structure ideas aloud, and deepen understanding before writing. Activities such as character hot-seating, formal debates, and expert role-play help children build narrative confidence and expressive language.
Poetry performance continues to progress throughout Year 2. In the autumn term, children focus on expression, rhythm, and volume when reciting short poems. As the year advances, they develop control of pace, intonation, and phrasing, culminating in group performances that emphasise audience awareness and dramatic delivery.
Oracy is explicitly taught and scaffolded through modelling, sentence stems, visuals, and structured discussion. Children are supported to speak in full sentences, listen actively, take turns, and build on one another’s ideas. These skills are practised across the curriculum: pupils explain findings in science, present maps in geography, and express opinions in PSHE, strengthening communication and understanding in every subject.
Our approach draws on four key strands of talk: physical (voice and gesture), linguistic (vocabulary and register), cognitive (reasoning and structure), and social-emotional (confidence and collaboration).
Oracy in Key Stage Two at Rack House
Oracy in Year Three to Year Six
At Rack House Primary School, oracy is explicitly taught and embedded across every English writing unit from Year 3 to Year 6, with outcomes carefully designed to increase in complexity. Pupils develop from rehearsing structured speech in supportive contexts to delivering extended, nuanced talk for varied audiences and purposes. This progression supports cognitive development, subject mastery, and social confidence.
Year 3: Building Confidence and Structured Expression
In Year 3, pupils move from orally rehearsing simple ideas to engaging in structured tasks such as:
- Character interviews (e.g. “Interviewing Stone Age people”)
- Poetry performances using expression and gesture
- Group debates using sentence stems to support turn-taking and vocabulary choices
Children are taught to justify ideas, begin reasoning aloud, and listen actively. Cross-curricular opportunities include presenting instructions in science and explaining data in geography. Oracy is scaffolded with visuals and modelled sentence structures.
Year 4: Expanding Vocabulary and Exploring Viewpoints
Year 4 deepens pupils' ability to articulate opinions and compare perspectives:
- Hot seating and formal interviews (e.g. speaking as a Roman soldier or explorer)
- Poetry performance becomes more expressive, with pupils experimenting with tone and volume
- Persuasive speaking tasks (e.g. creating tourism adverts or environmental campaigns)
Children develop awareness of audience and begin to organise their talk into coherent sections. Oracy supports reasoning in maths, debate in humanities, and drama in reading.
Year 5: Mastering Structure, Persuasion and Performance
In Year 5, oracy becomes more sophisticated and content-rich:
- Panel discussions and campaign speeches (e.g. rainforest conservation debates)
- Role-play and monologues (e.g. speaking as historical figures or novel characters)
- Poetry performance includes narrative and free verse, with dramatic delivery and audience engagement
Pupils use rhetorical devices, control pace and tone, and speak with increasing independence. Oracy is used to articulate scientific reasoning, explain problem-solving in maths, and reflect on moral issues in PSHE.
Year 6: Articulating Complex Ideas and Presenting to Real Audiences
By Year 6, pupils use oracy to explore ethical dilemmas, abstract themes, and formal argumentation:
- Formal debates (e.g. the ethics of zoos)
- Speeches and advocacy campaigns (e.g. environmental conservation or equality)
- Sonnets and structured poetry performance, focusing on expression, clarity, and emotional depth
Pupils write and deliver persuasive presentations, narrative monologues, and character-based performances with a high level of control over structure, register, and delivery. Oracy is integral to science investigations, historical inquiry, and citizenship education.
Cross-Curricular Oracy Opportunities
Throughout Years 3–6, oracy is consistently woven across subjects:
- Science: presenting hypotheses, explaining investigations, and role-playing as scientists
- History & Geography: delivering historical arguments, participating in mock trials, or taking on explorer roles
- Maths: justifying strategies, using subject-specific vocabulary aloud, and engaging in paired problem-solving
- PSHE & RE: structured discussions, empathy-based role play, and expressing personal beliefs respectfully
- Performing Arts: annual productions, assemblies, and poetry recitals refine presentation and performance skills
Progressive Skill Development
Across Years 3 to 6, oracy outcomes are designed to develop the four key strands of effective communication:
- Linguistic – from vocabulary building to rhetorical techniques
- Cognitive – from idea clarification to structured reasoning
- Physical – from basic voice projection to refined use of tone, gesture, and pace
- Social-Emotional – from turn-taking to audience awareness and empathetic speaking
This structured, whole-school approach ensures pupils leave primary school as confident, articulate communicators, well-prepared for the academic, social, and civic demands of secondary education and beyond.
The Results of Our Approach
By the time they leave us, pupils will:
- Speak clearly, confidently and fluently in a range of contexts, adapting tone, vocabulary and structure for different audiences and purposes.
- Engage actively in discussions, expressing ideas with clarity, reasoning and empathy, while listening and responding appropriately to others.
- Apply subject-specific vocabulary accurately and confidently, using spoken language to deepen understanding across the curriculum.
- Present ideas formally and informally with confidence- through debates, storytelling, performances, and presentations- demonstrating awareness of audience and intention.
- Perform poetry and prose with increasing expression, fluency and control over pace, gesture and intonation.
- Demonstrate self-assurance and collaborative skills through structured talk, showing emotional literacy and the ability to work with others.
The impact of our oracy curriculum is evidenced through:
- Talk-Rich Classrooms: Pupils across the school engage in high-quality classroom talk, with oracy outcomes clearly linked to each writing unit. Discussions, debates, presentations and role-play are routine, purposeful and inclusive, supporting deep thinking and language development.
- Progressive Oracy Outcomes: From Year 1 to Year 6, pupils progress from rehearsing structured speech to leading sophisticated formal discussions. Children build control over tone, vocabulary, and rhetorical devices, demonstrated in poetry performances, campaign speeches and class debates.
- Cross-Curricular Fluency: Oracy is woven throughout all subjects. Pupils confidently explain reasoning in maths, present findings in science, and express perspectives in PSHE and humanities. Oracy supports comprehension, critical thinking and deeper engagement across the curriculum.
- Confidence and Clarity: Pupils develop strong voice and presence. From guided storytelling in KS1 to persuasive speeches in UKS2, children show increasing confidence, audience awareness, and control over verbal expression.
- Inclusive Communication: All pupils- including those with SEND or EAL- develop their voice through structured routines, scaffolded talk, and rich vocabulary instruction. Visual prompts, sentence stems, and talk partners ensure access and success for every learner.
- Metacognitive Talk: Children reflect on their ideas, build on others’ contributions, and use talk to problem-solve and plan. They develop independence in thinking aloud and collaborating, strengthening metacognitive awareness and learning resilience.
- Spoken Language as a Valued Skill: Oracy is celebrated across the school through poetry slams, class assemblies, drama performances, and pupil-led presentations. Children understand that speaking well is as important as reading and writing and take pride in developing their voice.
Useful links:
Voice21:
https://voice21.org/
Tips for oracy activities for parents:
https://literacytrust.org.uk/training-and-workshops/teachbrief/primary-conference-2025-top-tips-to-boost-oracy-in-the-classroom/
