What is oracy?
Why is it essential to the lives of young people?
And how can you provide your students with a high-quality oracy education?
On Friday 15th March Voice 21, the national oracy education charity, answers these questions at their annual Speaking Summit. Created for school leadership teams and oracy champions, we invite you to a day of talks, workshops, and CPD developing your oracy practice.
You’ll leave with:
An understanding of what oracy is and why every child is entitled to an oracy education
A firm grasp of the latest research and evidence on the impact of oracy education in schools
Plenty of practical ideas to develop your school’s oracy provision
Affirmation of the power and importance of oracy education through opportunities to hear about the impact oracy education is having on students across the UK
Throughout the day, you’ll hear from teachers, researchers, business leaders and policy-makers on how we can ensure all young people get the best possible chance to find their voice for success in school and in life.
Snapshot of the programme
Oracy in secondary schools. What works?
Join Voice 21’s oracy experts to explore how to embed high-quality oracy education in a secondary school setting. You’ll become familiar with a range of tools and resources to support you to develop your school’s oracy provision and hear from leaders in Voice 21 Oracy Schools about what worked for them and their students.
Supporting reluctant speakers: what if they don’t want to talk?
For some children, participating in classroom talk can be challenging. Consider how you can support all children to access opportunities for talk in the classroom and develop the oracy skills they need in school and in life. During the session, you’ll hear from two school leaders about how they have fostered an inclusive classroom in which all voices are valued and heard.
Leading voices: how can you embed oracy education across schools and trusts?
Hear from three experienced leaders about how they have implemented oracy education at both a school and trust level. You’ll learn more about how they have scaled an approach that works in one context across multiple schools. Reflecting on their implementation journey, they will share key achievements, the pitfalls they encountered, and what they plan to do next.
Highlights from 2023
In April 2023 we welcomed several hundred teachers and educators from all over the UK.
Across the vibrant and energising day, the audience listened to a range of inspiring speakers from the education, business and media communities, discuss a variety of oracy-related subjects and themes.
Professor Neil Mercer from Oracy Cambridge launched proceedings, announcing to the audience: “Teachers, don’t underestimate your influence on the development of your students’ spoken language skills’.
Former No.10 Communications Director, turned author, podcaster and mental health campaigner Alastair Campbell joined us for an 'in conversation' with former Voice 21 CEO Beccy Earnshaw.
Alastair reflected on which politicians and world leaders are particularly good speakers and listeners, before discussing the importance of teaching young people how to be effective communicators, concluding, “confidence can be taught".
TV and radio presenter Mary Mandefield delivered the afternoon keynote reflecting on her personal experience growing from a shy student to confident professional: "Some of the best conversations I've had on my shows are not with the people who are slick and media trained, but people who are passionate about what they're talking about. It's about encouraging and showing different kinds of voices."
