Oracy
Every voice matters, every voice heard.
Our school culture and curriculum intentionally places oracy at its heart, helping children develop essential communication skills while living out our core values of loving-kindness, respect and aspiration.
We promote loving-kindness by fostering a culture where we are all loved, and every voice is valued. Children learn to listen carefully and speak thoughtfully, knowing that we all belong in a community where everyone’s ideas matter. Guided by aspiration, pupils are encouraged to confidently share their ideas, continually improve and recognise that we all have something to give. Through respect, they learn to honour different viewpoints while expressing their own opinions politely and constructively. This approach nurtures confident, respectful, and thoughtful communicators ready to contribute meaningfully to their community and beyond.
How we teach oracy
We teach children both how to talk and how to learn through talk. Using the Oracy Framework, we develop the physical, linguistic, cognitive and social-emotional skills that underpin successful discussion, inspiring speech and effective communication.
Throughout their seven-year journey at Liphook Federation, pupils engage in a variety of talk groupings and develop year-group-specific talk tactics, ensuring a structured progression in their speaking and listening skills.
Oracy in the curriculum
Oracy is woven throughout our curriculum, enriching children’s thinking and deepening their understanding about key concepts. Alongside this, every year group works towards a defined oracy outcome each term, with progression in audience size, purpose, and the level of challenge in spoken communication.
For example, pupils build confidence in Year R by sharing facts about themselves within a small hoop group. By Year 6, pupils deliver a TED-style talk - in front of the school community, including governors and SLT - on making the world a better place, linking their ideas to our core values of loving-kindness, respect, and aspiration. This structured progression ensures that children develop into articulate, confident speakers who can engage meaningfully with a range of audiences.
Culture of Oracy
Oracy is the lifeblood of our school, fostering high pupil engagement and a strong pupil voice. Whether in assemblies, collective worship, the playground, or the classroom, spoken communication is central to learning and community life.
Assembly and Collective Worship
Oracy is embedded in our assemblies and collective worship, ensuring all children actively participate in discussion. Through talk partners, pupils explore ideas before confidently sharing their thoughts with the wider school community, shaping meaningful whole-school conversations. For example, during a discussion on whether rules should always be obeyed, a Year 6 pupil referenced Rosa Parks, highlighting how doing the right thing can sometimes mean challenging the rules. Collective worship often concludes with a ‘pause for thought’ displayed in classroom reflection areas, sparking further discussion beyond the assembly hall.
Lunchtimes
Lunchtimes provide another valuable opportunity for oracy. Discussion points in the dining hall encourage lively conversations, while talk prompts and sentence stems displayed in the playground help children navigate social interactions and resolve conflicts constructively. 
Liphook Federation runs Oracy South, an oracy hub which supports oracy in other schools and organisations. Please follow the link below for further information.
