On 23rd September 27 teachers from across the UK came together at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, as the first cohort of National Oracy Leaders.

The programme, which runs for the whole academic year 2017/18, will equip participants with the tools and expertise to lead oracy in their classrooms and across their schools.

In addition to training and support provided by Voice 21, and Neil Mercer and James Mannion from Oracy Cambridge, the Oracy Leaders will develop their own Impact Projects focused on an area they’re particularly passionate about.

Beccy Earnshaw, Director, Voice 21 says that the programme is addressing a “deficit” of formal responsibility for oracy in schools acroos the UK.

“From our polling of over 1000 teachers and school leaders, we found that in the vast majority of schools no one has formal responsibility for oracy and only a minority of teachers have had oracy related training and development.

It is our ambition that every school should have an oracy leader and that all teachers should have access to high quality oracy professional development.”

The initial training days were led by Neil Mercer and James Mannion from Oracy Cambridge and Amy Gaunt, Alice Stott and Beccy Earnshaw.

They equipped participants with the tools to plan for meaningful talk across a variety of contexts, develop and lead a Whole School approach to Oracy and launch their own Impact projects.

Sarah Thompson, Oracy Leader, Plymouth Grove said of the launch: “I can’t wait to empower the children with the skills they need to become fluent and confident speakers. ‘Children walk an inch taller with oracy’ is a quote from James Mannion’s session that has really resonated with me since our first meeting.”