Voice 21 celebrates third year of Voice North East

On Wednesday 8 July, Voice 21 hosted the Voice North East Exhibition in Sunderland to celebrate the conclusion of the Voice North East Project, in partnership with North East Combined Authority.

Across three years, Voice 21 have worked with a combined 176 schools and 3296 teachers across seven local authorities, supporting them in their ability to ensure that every child in the North East receives a high-quality oracy education .

Andrew Garrad, Senior Programme Manager, North East Mayoral Strategic Authority said:

“Choosing to prioritise oracy education across the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) was an easy decision…We have seen wide-ranging impact across the region and the feedback from teachers and school leaders is incredibly positive. Students are more confident, we have seen greater collaboration and learning between schools, as well as strengthening teacher agency and development.”

The impact at a glance

In year one, just 23% of participating teachers felt confident in their oracy practice. By year three, that had grown to 77% across 176 schools.
59,000 students have felt the impact too, with 88% respondents saying they enjoy classroom discussions, making lessons more engaging.
Across the region, 11 schools have been recognised as Oracy Centres of Excellence, leading excellent practice and inspiring lasting change.

Lily Rowell, Regional Programme Manager of the Voice North East Project said:

“This type of project has been particularly beneficial and important for these schools because it gives them that real sense of community and network.Taking a place-based approach to oracy during the project has been really important because the North East has a very rich linguistic history, namely the accent and dialect, and this was something that we were really keen to celebrate and enhance. We wanted all our staff and students to feel really proud of where they come from.”

The schools involved have been seeing the benefits of a high-quality oracy education too. Lee Gallon, Executive Headteacher at Cheviot Primary School reflected on the project:

“One of the biggest things we’ve noticed is the academic outcomes for children. We have also seen a big increase in confidence and participation in group discussions and reduction of anxiety in less confident children.”

Stefanie Sands, Head of School at Cheviot Primary School said: “We’ve seen a real impact on our SEND and EAL children in that they’re able to join in far more readily than they were before. There’s been huge progress that we just couldn’t unlock before.”