This might be a familiar classroom moment. The “Dunno” might not come from a lack of thinking, but a lack of confidence, lack of appropriate vocabulary, or lack of structure to express it. As teachers, we recognise that what pupils can say often falls behind what they can think, and if pupils cannot articulate their ideas, they are less able to develop, refine or challenge them.
This is why, at St Mary’s Catholic Academy, we are placing a renewed focus on oral language.
Over recent years, the school has had a strong and deliberate focus on reading. That work has paid off: reading data has improved across all year groups and now exceeds national averages, and pupils are increasingly able to access challenging texts across the curriculum. As a school serving pupils living in seven of the ten most deprived neighbourhoods in England (IDACI, 2025), this really matters. Now, it is time for the next step: ensuring pupils can talk about what they know with clarity and confidence.
What does the evidence say?
The case for this is rooted in evidence. Research consistently shows that spoken language is a key driver of learning. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) highlights that oral language interventions can lead to 6 months’ additional progress, particularly when talk is structured and explicitly taught. High-quality classroom discussion supports pupils to organise their thinking, deepen understanding and engage in reasoning (EEF, Teaching and Learning Toolkit).
The Oracy Education Commission (2024) reinforces this, identifying oracy as a “foundational skill” that underpins learning, critical thinking and future employability. Crucially, it argues that oracy should be developed across the curriculum – not just in English lessons – through deliberate teaching and practice.
Beyond attainment, the evidence also points to wider impact. The EEF notes that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have weaker language skills, which can affect both academic outcomes and long-term opportunities. Strong spoken language is linked not only to improved GCSE outcomes, but also to wellbeing, confidence and participation in life outside of school. In this sense, oracy is not an “add-on”, it is central to both equity and excellence.
What does this look like in practice?
At our school, this work is being developed through a carefully implemented, evidence-informed approach. The school is working with Voice 21, with a focus on developing both staff expertise and classroom practice. An oracy lead and a team of Oracy Champions are driving this work, engaging in professional development and sharing effective strategies across the school.
The initial implementation focuses on form time. Pupils engage with carefully selected articles, accompanied by structured discussion prompts and oracy activities. These sessions are designed to explicitly teach and provide opportunities to practise key speaking and listening skills in a low-stakes environment. The approach will begin with a small number of form groups, allowing time to trial, refine and evaluate before scaling up across the school.
In practice, this looks as follows:
Step 1 – The teacher introduces the topic of the article and encourages students to discuss their prior knowledge of this topic
Step 2 – The teacher reads the article to the students, as the students follow along. This allows students to hear an expert reading aloud, hearing the tricky vocabulary being spoken and getting used to the cadence and rhythm of the written language.
Step 3 – As a class or in smaller groups, students engage with the discussion prompts provided and then complete a task: this could be a simple summary or it could incorporate some more complex strategies over time.
A common format will be used for the form time oracy activities. This is an example that was used in a professional development session, with content appropriate for teachers rather than students.
Next academic year, the focus will shift into subject classrooms. Departments will consider what oracy looks like within their disciplines, how pupils explain their reasoning in mathematics, justify their ideas in English, or debate perspectives in History. Teachers will explicitly model and scaffold subject-specific talk, ensuring that oracy is both taught in its own right and used to deepen curriculum learning.
Professional development time will support this, with key strategies shared, modelled, rehearsed and discussed within subject teams.
This is not about adding something new, but about being more intentional with something that already exists in every lesson: talk.
Ultimately, the aim is simple. By embedding oracy across the curriculum, we are working to ensure that every pupil can find their voice, is able to articulate ideas, engage with others and fully participate in their learning and the wider world.
