An oracy assembly retains many of the features of a “traditional” assembly: all of the students from a year group, phase or school are brought together; key messages are shared; the school’s values or attributes are celebrated. But in an oracy assembly, the skills of speaking and listening are not only called upon, but deliberately and explicitly taught and celebrated. In this session, Laura Bisiker, an experienced Oracy Leader will model an EYFS/ KS1 focused oracy assembly, equipping you with everything you need to know to launch them in your school. 

In this session Mel Carlin from Abbey MultiAcademy Trust will share how she has successfully implemented a cross-phase oracy project as part of the MAT’s mission to become a talk-rich trust. She will share how, in line with the trust's values, she has educated, nurtured and empowered Oracy Leaders in each school to develop an oracy-led approach to teaching vocabulary. 

Hear from Laura Horton and Kirsteen Bennett from St George’s Primary School about how they developed and implemented an oracy-rich approach to vocabulary teaching across their school. Find out more about their practical approach to planning and teaching vocabulary and get the opportunity to try out a range of vocabulary games and teaching strategies. You’ll leave with a toolkit of practical strategies to teach vocabulary, as well as CPD ideas to develop an oracy-centred approach to teaching vocabulary across your school.

In this session Alison Roper and Laura Buttree from Cockwood Primary School will outline how they’ve used ‘Votes for Schools’ to create an authentic weekly opportunity for talk, helping students to become more knowledgeable on current affairs and improving their confidence to share their opinions as well as developing their listening skills. You’ll find out how teachers match a ‘Votes for Schools’ session to a focus oracy skill and how they plan Parliament Week with an oracy focus. 

When integrating oracy into your curriculum it can be difficult to know where to start. In this session, Alun Ryan-Ramirez from St Michaels CofE Primary School in Bristol will share how teachers across the school successfully rebuilt their oracy provision after lockdown, including how they developed a Key Stage 1 and 2 oracy & PSHE curriculum. You’ll leave the session with a good understanding of how a focus on oracy can enhance your PSHE provision, as well as plenty of practical ways to weave oracy across the curriculum at your school. 

The Douglas Barnes Award for oracy classroom research aims to further understanding of effective oracy education. By becoming researchers, teachers become confident oracy practitioners with a critical understanding of the active ingredients of high quality oracy education. In this session, you’ll hear from Emily Thomas and Ambika Sharpling from Pinner Wood School about how they empowered teachers across their school to take part in the award, building a community of oracy experts across their school.