If you would prefer to listen to the speech click here.

What a year for oracy it’s been.  Three big things have happened. 

1) Firstly, the so-called “lockdown babies”, those born in 2020, started school. Their challenges with speaking, listening and communication prove that it was not only school-age children who had their education profoundly affected by lockdown. Of course, as always the burden has fallen most heavily on children and families facing economic disadvantage.

2) Secondly, last May a new Government was elected, with Keir Starmer, as Prime Minister who had already pledged his commitment to making oracy a key part of education reform with a speech about speaking and listening being critical for children’s academic attainment, not just a skill for learning, but “a skill for life.” Oracy was also included in the party Manifesto and is backed by the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

3) The third big development has been the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, launched by its chair, Geoff Barton at last year’s Speaking Summit. 

Within 6 months the Commission had not only produced its seminal report, We Need to Talk, but had got everyone talking about oracy with the Commission Conversations podcast – a series now approaching 60 episodes. Its call for evidence received almost a hundred submissions from academic experts, charities, exam boards, schools, trusts and education leaders.

The Commission’s report –  We need to talk – was backed widely – from classroom teachers to politicians, academics to broadcasters; demonstrating the wide support for oracy becoming the ‘fourth R’ in our system – underpinning the other three ‘Rs’ of reading, writing and arithmetic.

The Report has helped demonstrate consensus about oracy – a shared definition, policy asks for the system and it set out more detail of the evidence which the Prime Minister’s speech had alluded to, explaining why oracy plays a vital role in ensuring that students thrive in school, work and life: 

Firstly, it helps children to think and learn. It’s an important aspect of attainment and the acquisition of knowledge in all subjects across the curriculum- English, maths, science, the arts. Engaging in discussion, negotiation, and persuasion fosters critical thinking and empathy, crucial in resisting the misinformation and polarisation that we know too well is absolutely rife.   Employers are crying out for stronger communication skills and evidence shows that young people who can confidently speak, listen and communicate are more likely to thrive in work and in life. 

Secondly, oracy supports well being, helping develop young people’s confidence, and agency to advocate for themselves and others. It opens minds to a diversity of ideas and perspectives. Children with good language skills are less likely to suffer mental health difficulties and more likely to be able to articulate their feelings and fears and to comfort a friend. 

Lastly, and I know the school leaders and teachers in the room know this better than anyone – oracy builds relationships – between children, with teachers and parents, strengthening belonging and a sense of community. 

All this has been really clear when I have been on visits in regions like the North East, where the Combined Authority there is supporting 200 Voice 21 Oracy Schools, who through a shared focus on oracy, are building a sense of belonging and community within and between the schools. 

Oracy isn’t just about the skills of speaking and listening, it’s about what goes on between. In visits to schools I have seen the power of supporting young people to engage in dialogue about their learning and the issues of the day. This dialogue strengthens belonging and empowers children to contribute to their communities as active citizens ready to shape the future. This is why the word oracy itself is so important – incorporating speaking, listening, communication and everything in between.

In the age of social media and populism, when society is more polarised than ever we see evidence that young people’s political opinions are diverging according to whether they are boys or girls.  The only way we will address this is if young people have the knowledge, tools and skills to speak to each other about their opinions, views of the world, feelings and experiences. Dialogue and mutual understanding are key.

But its not a choice between all of this and high standards of attainment. There is strong evidence that oracy supports students academically. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) found that oracy interventions are some of the lowest cost, highest impact that the education system has. Receiving help with their oracy can result in 6 months additional progress for students and it is vital to improving academic outcomes across subjects. 

The Curriculum and Assessment Review is chaired by Professor Beccy Francis, also CEO of the EEF. When the interim report was published last week, we at Voice 21 – alongside many organisations and individuals – were really surprised that there was no reference to oracy, especially given the emphasis that the Prime Minister and the Labour Party in general have given this, as a key part of their ‘opportunity’ mission, but we are confident that this omission will be addressed properly in the Review panel’s final report. Oracy is in the Review’s terms of reference and needs to be an explicit ‘golden thread’ through the new National Curriculum, just as it is in the school curriculums of Voice 21 Oracy Centres of Excellence. 

So, the new government and the Oracy Commission have been instrumental in building consensus and making the case for oracy, which brings me to an even more important thing which has happened this last year, which is all about many of you in this room and your schools. 

At last year’s Speaking Summit, I ended my talk with this quote from Alice Walker (author of The Colour Purple): 

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

Oracy education is about teaching children that they do have power and how powerful it feels when you know how to use your voice and how it feels to be listened to, for your perspective to be valued. But I was also making the point, this time last year, that those of you working in schools have more power than I think you realise. 

Of course teachers haven’t been waiting for government to tell them what oracy education should look like. As usual, teachers and school leaders have been cracking on and doing what needs to be done in schools for children. 

Around a third of delegates here are from Voice 21 Oracy Schools and many others of you have come here to take oracy forward because you’ve seen what a difference it’s making in neighbouring schools.  More than one in ten schools already have a named oracy lead.  A third of teachers have received oracy training within the past two years and are using it to empower the children and young people they teach.  One in 20 schools is a Voice 21 Oracy School and over half of head teachers say that oracy is one of their top priorities. One in twenty say it is their top priority.  

Voice 21 now have 54 Oracy Centres of Excellence across the country with children showing what a difference oracy makes.  We support schools to host their local MPs to give them a taste of what oracy means to children in their area. Education Minister Stephen Morgan visited his constituency Voice 21 Oracy School and became a passionate advocate for oracy. In Worcester, at the end of last year, I was at St Barnabas school with MP Tom Collins where they hosted a brilliant debating festival with other schools. Before that I was in Portsmouth with MP Caroline Dineage, visiting St Marys’ Primary School, another Oracy Centre of Excellence. 

In October, children from Cubbitt Town and Torriano Primary schools in London, helped Geoff Barton and the Oracy Commissioners to launch the We need to talk Report, speaking with great power in the Houses of Parliament. On the same day, Anna from Crab Lane Primary School in Manchester was on Breakfast TV talking about what oracy means to her. 

Last week in Pinner Wood in London, I saw children in an International Women’s Day Assembly discussing ‘talking point’ statements like “Boys shouldn’t discuss emotions” and “Girls are quieter than boys”. Visiting a school in the Welsh Valleys, a teacher told me about hearing one of the children using the Talk Tactics they’d learned in class to resolve a dispute on the football pitch. 

Children tell us that oracy helps them learn, helps them think, helps them talk about their feelings, helps them make friends and helps them feel brave. Oracy helps them feel they belong. 

Last week a year 2 student in a Voice 21 Oracy School in Luton  said : “Without oracy assemblies and our oracy skills, the school would be on fire!” The children were reflecting on how oracy skills help them express their thoughts and feelings, challenge each other respectfully, and resolve conflicts. They feel they now have fewer arguments with their friends.

In the last few days, one of our team was in Manchester Road Primary Academy where a child said: “Oracy helps me because it’s like a community where everyone is involved – you can share your ideas freely, all voices are important.” 

And it’s not just children.  Teachers tell us that oracy is enabling them to find joy in teaching again, a sense of power over igniting a love of learning, at a time when we all know teacher retention is in a bad place. 

When you are in a Voice 21 Oracy School it is not so much what you hear than what you feel, it is not what is done but who the school community are, what they stand for. Where every child and adult has the oracy tools, skills and knowledge they need to join in and they know they’ll be listened to. Where they all feel part of something bigger than themselves. 

So what is next for oracy?  What does the year ahead hold? 

In September, Voice 21 will launch a new strategy centred on our ambitious vision for every child to benefit from a high quality oracy education, in every school, every day. 

In the last ten years Voice 21 has grown its reach from 1 school, to this year us reaching over 1,100 schools. We have learned so much in that time and this next strategy is about making sure we take that learning and practice beyond Voice 21 Oracy Schools to reach the whole system. 

We have big plans to support more Voice 21 Oracy Schools to achieve the Quality Mark of Oracy Excellence – from 54 schools today to 600 by 2030. Our priority will continue to be the schools with the highest levels of need in terms of economic disadvantage.  These schools are key to building the vision for oracy and the evidence base of how we deliver the best possible quality of oracy education.

Crucially we’ll also be maximising our national impact across the whole education system reaching beyond the Voice 21 Oracy Schools Network.  We know that by prioritising the strengthening of the evidence of oracy and proving impact in these schools, that whole system change will happen more quickly. 

You being here today is a great way to influence our future plans and show us what your schools want and need to be part of a movement to make sure that every single child, in every school, every day has the oracy education they deserve. 

As I mentioned earlier,  the anniversary of the Covid lockdown (being marked this month) reminds us about the enormous damage done, particularly for children in the most economically disadvantaged communities.  

For a whole generation of students and schools that have been profoundly affected by the missed opportunities of Covid, we want, with you, to build a new Oracy Generation. 

Our plan is the Oracy Generation’s experience of education will centre what they missed in their earlier years – connection, discussion, the experience of being heard, belonging, community: Using their voice to shape their own future to thrive in school, work and life. But also collectively – as a generation – to have the oracy skills and the confidence to shape the future. Theirs and ours. To do that we have to make sure that oracy is an ordinary part of every child’s education, but we know we are still a long way from that. Less than half of teachers say that their schools meet the statutory minimum spoken language requirements set out in the current national curriculum. Far too many children are starting school with speech, language and communication challenges.

Last week I came across these beautiful words from Hans Christian Anderson, 

“The whole world is a series of miracles, but we’re so used to them we call them ordinary things.”

It will most definitely not take a miracle to make oracy ordinary, but it would be an extraordinary achievement for every child to have the kind of oracy education that many of you are already delivering in your schools. If anyone knows that this is possible across the whole system, and can help make that happen, it’s the people in this room. 

You can help us deliver our vision for an Oracy Generation in a few ways: 

If you have come here at the start of your school’s oracy journey, please find out how your students feel about the way their voices are heard and valued in school and make oracy a strategic priority for your team. And if you’re already making progress there’s a few things you can do: 

1. Invite your MP on a school visit to see your oracy practice and hear from children in your school;
2. You can record a message for our Influencing team for politicians about why oracy matters to your students and sign-up for our new activist network Voices for Change;
3. Most importantly, you can raise your school’s voice for oracy with other schools in your community, explain to parents what oracy means for their children and spread the word about the oracy generation you are creating in your school. 

I want to close with some words last week from a child in Overchurch Primary school in Birkenhead in the Wirral talking about the impact of oracy: 

“I used to be scared to speak up, even with my own friends. But because of my teachers and how they teach us to be proud of our voices, I’m not scared any more. I have even stood on a stage and spoken to a whole room of people.”

By you raising your voices and those of the children in your schools you can show what a miracle an oracy education can be and help make it the entitlement and experience of every child. 

We think an Oracy Generation is a cause that is well worth fighting for.  I am really looking forward to being back here next year talking about the progress we’ve made, with you, in making oracy ordinary – for every child, in every school, every day.”