Oracy

Our curriculum floats on a sea of oracy, enabling our children to be confident communicators.

What is Oracy?

Oracy is the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others. At Marlborough, we understand that oracy is a powerful tool for learning;  by teaching children to become more effective communicators and listeners, we empower them to better understand themselves, each other and the world around them. Put simply, Oracy is the ability to express yourself well.

At Marlborough, our curriculum is infused with Oracy - we do not teach it as a stand alone lesson but it is threaded into every lesson and subject. 

 

During class discussions, we have a no hands up approach and instead, we expect the children (and all adults) to use agree, build or challenge. As a school, we have defined these as:

 

• Agree - I think the same. 

• Build - I want to add more. 

• Challenge -  I do not think the same. 

 

This encourages active listening and enables the discussion to be led by the children and allows them to agree, extend (by building) or challenge their peers. 

 

Please see the visuals and sentence stems for every year group below:

 

 

Pupil Voice

 

Reception child: I am happy using the ABC and I know how to use them really well. Sometimes people challenge me and I can challenge them back.

 

Year 2 child:  I like that ABC helps our sentences to be complete and the sentence stems help me to structure my answer kindly. 

 

Year 4 child: It really helps the teacher to see how you want to answer. Not just waving your hand. Everyone gets a chance to say something even if they’re not picked.

 

Year 5 child: I love ‘to further develop’ other people’s point and it sounds really formal. I like the challenge sentence stems because they are a kind way to challenge someone and give a contrary view. The agree sentence stems help me to agree with what has been said and it helps build other people’s confidence. I can also give another reason when I agree with someone. 

The strands of Oracy  

 

 

Oracy in Day Care 

At Marlborough, we understand that strong communication begins in the earliest years. Oracy is embedded in daily life across both our Baby and Toddler Rooms. We highlight the importance of listening to each other, taking turns in conversation, and building respectful communication from the very start. Our Day Care practitioners carefully model new language and vocabulary through a wide range of exciting experiences, from sensory play and storytelling to role play and outdoor exploration. 

By nurturing oracy in a language-rich environment, we support each child’s confidence and begin a lifelong love of learning.

 

 

Oracy in Nursery and Reception 

Oracy is a vital part of early years education as it lays the foundation for children’s communication, social development, and learning across all areas of the curriculum. In nursery and reception, children begin to explore language, express their thoughts, and build relationships through spoken interactions.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework recognises this, stating that “children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development.” Through rich conversations, storytelling, role play, and questioning, young children develop their vocabulary, learn how to listen actively, and start to organise their thoughts verbally—skills that are essential for literacy, problem-solving, and emotional regulation.

The EYFS framework also emphasises the importance of high-quality adult-child interactions in promoting oracy. It notes that “back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development.”

In nursery and reception settings, educators play a crucial role in modelling language, asking open-ended questions, and giving children time to respond. These interactions help children to articulate their ideas, build confidence in speaking, and become active participants in their learning. Prioritising oracy at this stage not only supports school readiness but also fosters a lifelong ability to communicate effectively.

                                              

  

 

Oracy in Key Stage One

In Key Stage One, children have been developing their oracy skills with a strong focus on articulating their ideas clearly and with appropriate projection.

Through structured opportunities for speaking and listening, pupils are learning to express themselves with greater confidence and clarity.

The use of sentence stems has played a key role in supporting their sentence structure, enabling them to speak in full, coherent sentences.

Additionally, children have shown significant progress in their listening skills by using ABC gestures (Agree, Build, Challenge) to thoughtfully engage with their peers’ ideas.

This approach has encouraged respectful, meaningful dialogue and collaboration in the classroom. We are very excited to see children becoming more confident in expressing their thoughts in greater detail, a development that is also positively influencing their writing and enhancing their overall social interactions.

 

Oracy in Key Stage Two

 

In Key Stage Two, the children continue to develop and hone their oracy skills using ABC to support the children to develop into confident and articulate communicators, ready for the next stage of their educational journey. 

 

Pupils are provided with a wide range of opportunities to practise and refine their speaking and listening skills, including taking part in structured debates within school and representing the school in external debating competitions. We were particularly proud of our Year 5 and Year 6 debating team who won the English Speaking Union Debating competition in July 2025. These experiences not only allow children to express their ideas clearly and respectfully but also teach them to listen actively, consider different viewpoints, and build reasoned arguments. 

 

By the time they leave Key Stage Two, children are well-prepared to move forward as thoughtful, persuasive communicators who can engage effectively in discussions, ensuring they transition into the next phase of education with confidence and skill.

 

We also offer a debating club for Year 5 and Year 6 after school to further develop their debating and oracy skills.

 

Parent Workshops

 

 We look forward to welcoming parents and carers to our Oracy workshops throughout the year. Our next workshop will be on Thursday 19th March 2026 in the community room from 8:45 - 9:30am.