Are you on a journey to develop an effective spoken language curriculum? Is oracy a key priority for your school’s development?

It’s well understood that strong speaking and listening skills are the foundation of a child's success, with direct links to their academic achievement, social growth, and emotional well-being. Despite this, oracy is often underrepresented in school curricula. In fact, Ofsted's recent English subject report, Telling the Story, highlights a significant gap: “In all schools, the curriculum for spoken language is considered in far less detail.” The report further notes that, “Most primary schools do not have an explicit curriculum for developing spoken language.”

Recognising this gap, we have two essential resources to get you started when thinking about enhancing oracy within your school:

1.    HFL spoken language progression 
This comprehensive progression document is designed to support the development of spoken language from Years 1 to 6. It aligns with the national curriculum’s statutory requirements and provides clear guidance on how these skills can progress over time. Importantly, it incorporates spoken language requirements across curriculum subjects and programmes of study, offering a holistic and structured approach to building these essential skills.

2.    HFL spoken language audit
Our audit tool enables English subject leaders and senior leadership teams to assess the current oracy practices within their school. This resource allows for a thorough review of spoken language development, both as an independent area (learning to talk) and integrated within English teaching, promoting dialogic approaches to reading and writing. 

Upon completing the audit, we invite you to join us for our Oracy: Learning Through Talk training. We will explore how to design an engaging, creative, and progressive speaking and listening curriculum that empowers pupils not only to communicate effectively but to learn deeply through the power of talk.