: Laying the Foundations for Talk from Reception to Year 1 Developing talk routines within direct instruction can support confident communication from Reception to Year 1.

This blog outlines some of the work that Torriano, namely Holly Churchill and Ashleigh Murray, have undertaken with other primary schools in Camden. This school-led initiative is not an intervention approach. It aims to develop high-quality teaching in Early Years settings (particularly Reception to Year 1), with a focus on Communication and Language within direct instruction.

Talk underpins learning in the Early Years. But to truly support all learners we must be clear about what we mean by ​“high-quality talk.”We can draw a careful distinction between high-quality talk in direct instruction — deliberately taught, structured opportunities for children to practise language — and high-quality interactions that take place throughout the provision, as seen in the ShreC approach (share attention, respond, expand, and engage in conversation.

Both are essential. High-quality talk in direct instruction is planned, rehearsed, and guided. It includes routines like talk partners, explicit vocabulary instruction, and dialogic talk opportunities during whole-class learning. Meanwhile, high-quality interactions happen moment by moment in play, continuous provision, and routines. Adults intentionally tune in, respond, and extend thinking and language — creating a web of meaningful talk experiences throughout the day.

These two strands — explicit teaching and responsive interaction — work in tandem to build confident communicators.

Early language development plays a vital role in children’s learning, wellbeing, and long-term outcomes. Around 7 – 10% of children in England begin school with identified language needs, with increased prevalence in areas of higher socio-economic disadvantage. This variation often reflects differences in access to early communication opportunities, not in children’s capacity to learn.

Recent evidence continues to highlight the impact of the pandemic on children’s communication skills. Ofsted’s October 2024 report on Reception and Key Stage 1 notes: ​“Schools continue to face significant challenges in dealing with the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic on the behaviour and social skills of children currently in Reception… children are starting primary school with delays in language and communication.”

These findings reinforce the need for rich, responsive learning environments. High-quality, purposeful talk — where conversation is used for reasoning, problem-solving, and making connections — is central to supporting all children’s development and building strong foundations for future learning. As the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) highlights, ​“Oral language interventions can have a positive impact at all phases of education, but the impact is highest in the early years (+7 months), and higher in primary schools (+6 months) than in secondary (+5 months).” This emphasises the importance of embedding oracy across early and primary education to improve children’s language skills and wider academic outcomes.

The Oracy Education Commission explains, ​“Oracy is not simply the ability to speak, but the ability to use talk to think, to learn, and to communicate effectively” (Oracy Education Commission, 2024).

These principles underpin our federation’s high-quality talk development from the very start in Early Years. In Reception,within direct instruction, we co-construct Talk Guidelines with the children — simple, visual prompts that promote active listening, respectful dialogue, and positive turn-taking. These guidelines are modelled and reinforced throughout the day to build foundational interactional learning behaviours.

We then introduce talk partners, supported by micro-routines modelled by adults. Children are carefully paired — often with a mix of oral language proficiency — and provided with structured prompts and sentence stems to support exploratory dialogue. Over time, these structured pairings evolve into trios, then Hoop Groups: small-group discussions in which the children can instigate, build, or challenge, promoting sustained and purposeful dialogue.

A range of scaffolds can also be provided before children engage in hoop discussions to facilitate and support discussion points. An example of this is provided below. As illustrated, the numbers correspond to the order in which the children speak. Talk is made ​‘visible’ by using counters to mark when they speak, as well as if they ​‘agree’ or ​‘disagree’ with the point shared.

1. The first person, the ​‘instigator’, shares their viewpoint on the discussion point provided.

2. The second child speaks – building on or challenging the previous speaker.

3. The third child speaks, building or challenging again.

4. The fourth person summarises the debate and the reasons offered by the group.

As the debate skills develop, children have multiple opportunities to speak, building on and challenging each other’s arguments further. Over time, these early stages of debate skills become more sophisticated, allowing for a richer dialogue between children.

Meanwhile, in continuous provision, practitioners use ShreC-informed interactions — sustained shared thinking that models and extends language through curiosity, questioning, and co-construction. The two work together in tandem to ensure every opportunity for talking is maximised.

Language grows when children are immersed in words and encouraged to use them purposefully. That’s why we use Word of the Day across classrooms — introducing, explicitly teaching and then revisiting four carefully selected words each week. Children are supported to use these words in context across both continuous and enhanced provision. Staff have a clear understanding of the need to model these words with children in their play and parents are brought into the loop through weekly stickers that go home.

This is more than a standalone vocabulary lesson — it’s woven through everything. Adults model new language during play, revisit key words in group tasks, and use visual cues and sentence stems to support usage across the day.

What does this approach look like in practice? Talk routines are deeply embedded into every lesson and children need little or no prompting to use them. A child who once gave one-word answers now says, ​“I disagree because it’s heavier,” during a Hoop Group discussion. Another might explain, ​“I think it will float because it’s made of plastic,” using vocabulary ​‘float’ from a recent Word of the Day. These aren’t rehearsed lines — they are signs of real understanding and growing confidence.

Children learn to agree and disagree respectfully, to ask questions, and to listen with purpose. These are not soft skills — they’re powerful tools for thinking and learning.

We know that talk cannot be left to chance. It must be planned, modelled and embedded — through direct instruction and responsive interactions. Our next steps are focused on deepening consistency across all staff, and further developing the link between oral language, self-regulation and executive functioning.

As Chloe Butlin from the Education Endowment Foundation highlights, ​“Teachers know that developing oral language is integral to effective teaching, with high-quality vocabulary development and creative speaking and listening opportunities. They want language-rich classrooms filled with confident communicators. They know that bolt-on oracy activities will not achieve this.” In our federation, talk is not an add-on — it is the foundation of effective teaching and learning.

References

Butlin, C., 2023. Embedding Oracy in the Classroom. Education Endowment Foundation Blog.

Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), 2024. Oral language interventions

Ofsted, 2024. Education recovery in schools: summer 2024 update.

Oracy Education Commission, 2024. The Oracy Imperative: A national call to action. [online] London: Oracy Education Commission.