Spoken Language and Oracy

The current Primary National Curriculum (2014) outlines twelve statutory statements relating to Spoken Language in the English curriculum:

Pupils should be taught to:

1.      listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers

2.      ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge

3.      use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary

4.      articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions

5.      give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings

6.      maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments

7.      use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas

8.      speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of Standard English

9.      participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates

10.   gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s)

11.   consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others

12.   select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.

These statements apply to all year groups from year 1 to year 6 and the content taught at a level appropriate to the age of the pupils. Schools should ensure that pupils build on the oral language skills that have been taught in preceding years.

However, in April 2021, ‘Speak for Change’ (the Final report and recommendations from the Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group Inquiry) recognised the difficulty in building an effective progression for individual schools. They recommended that the Government should “Publish non-statutory guidance for how schools can embed the statutory spoken language requirements set out in the National Curriculum. This non-statutory guidance should include … Clear expectations for oracy teaching and learning accompanied by a learning progression building on existing frameworks such as those developed by The Communication Trust, English Speaking Board, Voice 21 and Oracy Cambridge.”

As no such guidance has been published, at Winnington Park Primary School we have developed our own progression document to support delivery of the statutory spoken language curriculum. This was developed from our professional experience as well as consulting a wide range of documentation, including our own progression documents for reading and writing. For four of the statements, we recommend referencing ‘Communicating the Curriculum’ (The Communication Trust) where expertise in speech and language development are required. These statements are not included in our document.

Nursery statements are taken from the ‘Prime Areas’ curriculum and Reception statements are from the EYFS Framework.

At Winnington Park Primary and Nursery School, we ensure spoken language and oracy is built into our curriculum (see each year group's medium term plans) and we promote spoken language and oracy through a weekly ‘Oracy Award’. We also have a whole school oracy day each half term.

See the attached Progression in Spoken Language and Oracy document for further information.

Curriculum Information and Accessibility Plan Statement 

Parents, carers and other members of the public can find out more about our school’s curriculum through information published on the school website, in line with statutory requirements or by contacting our school directly. This includes details of the content of the curriculum for each subject and year group, the approach to assessment, and how the curriculum is sequenced to support pupils’ learning over time.

Mrs Bria Hall is our Curriculum Lead and can provide futher information about our progressive curriculum. Please email office@winningtonpark.cheshire.sch.uk if you'd like to arrange a meeting with her.

Winnington Park Primary School and Nursery is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity for all pupils. Our Accessibility Plan sets out how we will increase the extent to which disabled pupils can participate fully in the curriculum. This includes:

• improving access to the curriculum through differentiated teaching, reasonable adjustments and targeted support

• increasing the availability of accessible resources and assistive technology

• providing staff training to support the needs of pupils with disabilities

• monitoring and reviewing progress to ensure continued improvement in inclusion

The Accessibility Plan is reviewed regularly and supports the school’s duties under the Equality Act 2010.

For more information, please have a look at our Accessibility Policy