As our mission suggests, supporting our Voice 21 Oracy Schools to deliver a high-quality oracy education is at the heart of everything we do. Schools that become Voice 21 Oracy Schools also become part of a national network committed to providing a high-quality oracy education.

At Voice 21 we want to make sure that the committed and passionate teaching professionals we work with get the best support and advice we can possibly provide. We do this by gathering both quantitative and qualitative data throughout the year, to help us understand the impact of our work on our schools and their students and how we can learn and grow to make even more of a difference. 

So if you’ve ever completed a Voice 21 oracy survey or feedback form, spoken to us as part of a focus group or interview, or invited us into your school to see the direct impact of oracy on students, thank you!

What are oracy surveys, and why do we do them?

One way in which we monitor our impact is through our Oracy Surveys. We ask teachers and students in Voice 21 Oracy Schools to complete these surveys each year so that we can understand how they’re progressing on their oracy journey. 

Last year, these surveys were completed by 10,000 staff and 33,000 students. The data from these surveys also inform how our Programme Leads and School Relationship Officers guide, support, and advise schools across the UK to develop their oracy provision.

What do these surveys show?

Upon completion, we are able to provide schools with their own personalised oracy survey report, which shows:

• School benchmarks – how well do staff feel your school is implementing a high-quality oracy education (HQOE)?
• Staff confidence – how confident do your staff feel about delivering a HQOE?
• Student perception – how do you students feel about speaking and listening in school?

What is the value of Oracy Surveys for Voice 21?

We use them to measure progress and answer questions we have about how we design and deliver our membership strategy. For example:

• Should schools engage with the different elements of our professional development offer in a particular order?
• Can we observe trends in the data that enable us to tailor our advice, in an evidence-informed way, to a school’s circumstances?

Impact and Insights Lead Josh Fenby-Taylor explains, “Oracy surveys are a great way for Voice 21 to evaluate the effectiveness of our oracy programs and initiatives in schools. For instance, last year, these surveys were completed by 10,000 teachers and 33,000 students. Through this, we were better able to understand how working with Voice 21 develops teacher confidence and leads to greater progress in the school and teacher benchmarks.”

The deadline for submitting is fast approaching – Friday 13th June – so if you haven’t already completed your oracy surveys we encourage all Voice 21 Oracy Schools to do so.