Inspire - The Oracy Curriculum

Why talk (oracy) is important at Spinney Hill

At Spinney Hill, talking, listening and asking questions are very important. We believe children learn best when they can talk about their ideas. In every lesson, children are encouraged to speak, listen, ask questions, and share their thoughts.

Talking helps children to:

• explain their ideas
• understand new knowledge
• think more deeply
• listen to others and respond

We want all children to feel confident speaking. When children can speak clearly and share their ideas, they are more likely to succeed in school and in life.

Children need both:

• something to talk about (knowledge and facts), and
• the skills to talk well (how to explain and give reasons).

For example, if children discuss topics like democracy or migration, they learn facts first, then talk about them to develop their understanding and opinions.

At Spinney Hill, talking is part of every lesson. It is not a separate subject. Children learn through talk every day.

Our aim

We want every child to:

• find their voice
• share their opinions
• ask questions
• challenge ideas respectfully
• stay safe and confident
• take part in society as they grow older

How we teach speaking skills

We teach speaking in a clear and structured way. We use the Oracy Framework, which helps children improve in four areas:

• thinking
• language
• voice and body
• social skills

This framework is used in all classrooms and supports children at every age, from Early Years to Year 6.

Teachers plan lessons so children practise speaking skills step by step as they grow. Each class also has simple “talk rules” to help children speak and listen well.

In our lessons

In every lesson, children take part in discussions. Teachers use a “back-and-forth” (ping-pong) style of talking, where children:

• share ideas
• build on what others say
• learn new words
• think carefully
• respectfully challenge ideas

We use scafollds to support children's discussion.

Whole School Sentence Starter/ Sentence Stem Progression

This document outlines the whole-school progression of sentence starters and sentence stems used to support oracy at Spinney Hill Primary School from Nursery to Year 6. Organised by key roles in talk, it shows how pupils are supported to express ideas, build on others’ contributions, challenge respectfully, clarify meaning and summarise discussion. The progression moves from simple, scaffolded language in the early years to more precise, flexible and independent spoken language by the end of Year 6. It supports pupils to move from early talk and interaction in EYFS, to structured reasoning using scaffolded language in Key Stage 1, and towards increasingly independent and flexible use of spoken language in Key Stage 2, while also enabling teachers to adapt provision by drawing on prior year expectations where needed. Together, this provides a consistent framework to support high-quality classroom talk, inform teacher expectations and ensure planned opportunities for purposeful discussion, enabling all pupils to participate, contribute and communicate with confidence.

Our commitment

At Spinney Hill, talking and communication are at the heart of our teaching. We believe strong speaking and listening skills help children succeed in school and in the future.

At Spinney Hill Primary School we have identified milestones we wish children to achieve in developing their oracy skills.

This progression outlines the oracy skills pupils are expected to develop from Nursery to Year 6 across four strands: Physical, Linguistic, Cognitive, and Social & Emotional.

Each strand is broken down into threads (e.g. Voice & Clarity, Reasoning and Evaluating) to show how specific aspects of oracy develop progressively over time.

The statements reflect what a typical pupil can do independently by the end of each year, following teaching and practice.

Teachers use this progression to understand how oracy skills build over time and to identify what to teach next, making clear links between prior and future learning.