Our Vision for Oracy

At Wygate Park Academy, we recognise that oracy is a vital foundation for learning, communication, and personal development. We believe that being able to speak clearly, listen actively, and engage in meaningful dialogue supports children not only in English but across all areas of the curriculum. Oracy underpins reading, writing, and thinking – enabling pupils to articulate their ideas, reason effectively, and collaborate confidently. By placing oracy at the heart of our school culture, we equip our pupils with essential life skills that empower them to succeed both within and beyond the classroom.

Why Oracy Matters in Our School Context

For many of our children, spoken language is the gateway to learning. Oracy enables our pupils to access the curriculum, articulate their thoughts, and engage confidently with the world around them. In our context, a strong oracy culture is essential to:

• Support language development, especially for EAL pupils, by providing rich, structured talk opportunities across all subjects.
• Close the vocabulary gap.
• Promote inclusion, ensuring every child’s voice is valued, heard, and respected regardless of background or ability.
• Build confidence and identity, giving all pupils the tools they need to share their ideas and take pride in who they are.

Oracy and Our School Values

Our commitment to oracy is rooted in Wygate Park Academy’s core values:

• Resilience – Oracy helps children persevere through discussion, reflection, and learning from mistakes in a supportive talk environment.
• Empathy – Through listening carefully and responding thoughtfully, pupils learn to understand different viewpoints and appreciate the experiences of others.
• Ambition – Oracy empowers pupils to dream big, speak up, and take ownership of their learning and future.
• Challenge – High-quality dialogue allows children to engage with complex ideas, justify their thinking, and refine their understanding.
• Honesty – We teach pupils to speak with integrity, share their views truthfully, and listen respectfully to others.

Oracy and Our Curriculum Pillars

Our four curriculum pillars are the cornerstones of our provision. Oracy is not only a pillar in itself — it strengthens and enriches all four:

1. All Different, Everyone Welcome
   Oracy ensures all pupils, regardless of language background, can contribute and feel heard. It promotes mutual respect, tolerance and belonging.
2. Reading and Phonics
   Talk supports reading by developing vocabulary, comprehension, and the ability to discuss texts critically and creatively.
3. Vocabulary and Oracy
   We explicitly teach vocabulary and provide meaningful opportunities to use it through structured talk, enabling deeper understanding and retention.
4. Ambition and Challenge
   Pupils are encouraged to articulate high-level thinking, challenge ideas, and stretch their reasoning through debate, discussion, and presentation.

What Oracy Looks Like at Wygate Park Academy

Our vision is brought to life through:

• Daily structured talk in every classroom — from talk partners to whole-class debates.
• Progressive oracy expectations, ensuring pupils build skills year on year.
• A consistent oracy framework, including sentence stems, discussion guidelines and purposeful vocabulary teaching.
• Celebration of voice — through pupil-led assemblies, performances, storytelling, and presentation opportunities.
• Oracy across the curriculum, supporting thinking, reasoning and communication in every subject.

Our Commitment

At Wygate Park Academy, we are committed to ensuring that every child leaves our school not only as a confident reader and writer, but as a confident communicator — able to speak with clarity, listen with empathy, and engage with the world with curiosity and courage.

Through our oracy vision, we are not just teaching children to talk — we are helping them to find their voice!