Oracy

At St John’s ensuring every child finds their voice is crucial, supporting not only academic outcomes but developing confidence and supporting the wellbeing of our pupils. Oracy skills are pivotal for social mobility, equipping children to thrive in life beyond school. That’s why, we’re committed to supporting our pupils on their oracy journey. We want to help set every pupil on the road to achieve their potential with the ability to articulate their thoughts, ideas, and opinions with confidence – no child should be left behind. We adopt ‘A Model for Language’ approach – teaching oracy through the three lenses of ‘Form’, ‘Use’ and ‘Content’. This enables us to be explicit with our teaching through every lesson to create the ’20:20’ vision for spoken language.

Our key oracy principles are:

• Oracy is for everyone: every child should be given opportunities to have their voice heard and develop the skills needed to express themselves.
• Everyone has a part to play in helping children to develop their oral language skills.
• ⁠Oracy is vital to the curriculum, and also to children's confidence and wellbeing.
• Oracy can unlock reading, writing and a broader vocabulary; talking is an essential part of these processes.
• Early identification of speech and language barriers is key, enabling us to support children early in their education journey.

Learning to talk, talking for life.