Oracy at St Columba                                                                   

At St Columba, we are on an exciting oracy journey, with the guidance of Voice 21.  Voice 21 is a UK based oracy education charity, who aim to transform learning and life chances for your people through talk to that they can use their voice for success in school and life.                                                                                                                                                                                

What is Oracy and Why is it Important?

Oracy is how we share ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language and, like literacy and numeracy, oracy is a teachable skill. We believe oracy is key to our children’s development, allowing them to become more effective speakers and listeners and empowering them to become successful in school and wider life, now and in the future. This drives our vision.
 

Our Vision

What does this mean for St Columba?

Being driven by quality oracy education means teachers ensure pupils learn to talk, through talk driven activities. This means lessons are planned and designed to include opportunities for talk whilst teaching skills for positive oracy. Every voice is valued, developing confidence for all pupils. All classes have oracy guidelines – a set of rules that promote oracy – and each class sets targets based upon the oracy framework.
                                                                  
By being part of a network of Voice 21 Oracy Schools, we are able to share best practice and work with a range of oracy experts to identify specific needs and targets for the children at St Columba.
 

The Oracy Framework

What can you do at home?

• Talk! Providing opportunities to talk is key and this can be about absolutely anything. This should be in your home language.
• Make time each day where electronic devices are put away and the focus is on conversation instead.
• Ask questions to encourage your child to think and respond appropriately.
• Use the oracy framework to develop positive oracy skills.
• We are regularly providing an oracy tip and focus question on our newsletter and social media page to support with deciding which oracy tip to focus on and what to talk about. Here is an example: