Dr. Shaddai Tembo is joined by Amy Gaunt for a final episode to look at the role parents can play in supporting oracy in young learners. 

Voice21's YouGov polling found over 80% of parents support oracy in the curriculum and the pair discuss how helping educate parents on what oracy is via workshops can spark inspiration at home. 

Shaddai and Amy discuss how teachers need to think carefully about messages going home and not to make parents feel they aren’t doing enough. They discuss making parents feel included and tips to including them in oracy education. 

Practitioners may benefit from considering oracy as a ‘golden thread’ in school and learning more about the impact of technology on oracy skills and focussing on screen-free learning to help conversations be more present. Amy also signposts to Voice21’s downloadable benchmarks, as well as available reports to look at, before rounding off about the long-term oracy vision. 

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In this episode, Dr. Shaddai Tembo and Amy Gaunt discuss strategies and activities for in the classroom, such as debate, drama and storytelling. 

Amy and Shaddai look at giving students the skills they need to develop their oracy skills, such as how to debate and creating spaces for expression. They also consider a child’s journey through school and the wide-ranging oracy rich curriculum.  

Practitioners will think more about oracy being ‘always on’ and how to develop ‘oracy muscles’, as well as good practice for supporting transitions. They will learn more about extracurricular activities and how parents' evenings can develop oracy skills. 

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In this episode, Amy and Shaddai discuss oracy benchmarks and what we mean by high quality oracy education. Amy discusses the levers teachers have to help identify oracy as well as the high expectations set on oracy education. 

Amy and Shaddai discuss being ambitious for students and using your voice to deliberately involve all children. They talk about valuing different accents and dialects and creating opportunities to engage in exploratory talk. 

Practitioners may be interested in learning more about ‘non-purposeful talk’ and enabling challenges or builds on ideas. They may also benefit from letting conversations breathe and enable pupils to reflect more on their discussions.  

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Dr. Shaddai Tembo is joined by Amy Gaunt, Director of Learning, Impact and Influence at Voice21, a national oracy education charity who work with schools across the UK. 

Amy and Shaddai discuss how oracy is defined and how we deliberately think about the way we speak with children. They highlight the benefits of an oracy-rich curriculum to support life beyond school and help children to be good friends and life partners in their adult life. 

Amy touches on the four strands of the oracy framework that Voice 21 developed with University of Cambridge and touches on focussing on strengths and developing skills. 

Practitioners will learn about how human skills are needed in the age of AI and technology as well as the importance of the things we don’t say.  

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Dr. Shaddai Tembo is joined by Mike Gardner for a final episode, to discuss embedding oracy in school culture by integrating into policies, practical steps for teachers and the role of parents in collaborative oracy education.  

Mike highlights the everyday opportunity that pick-up and drop-off times can offer educators to engage and collaborate with parents to demonstrate what good social interaction looks like to the child. Teachers can also consider their own communication skills and how to model manners in day-to-day life when speaking with other teachers. 

Practitioners can consider looking beyond the classroom for opportunities to develop language and communication skills. Shaddai and Mike touch on “non-academic” time and the use of clubs and extracurricular activities to encourage use of language and communication, as well as getting to know children more so they feel listened to and seen. 

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In this episode, Dr. Shaddai Tembo and Mike Gardner discuss the role of oracy in building self-efficacy and supporting emotional regulation through talk. They touch on how educators can support children to build confidence in the classroom and communicate their thoughts and feelings. 

Mike and Shaddai talk about children’s identity and how this links to oracy, as well as how adults need to help foster positive relationships and allow children to feel they are a part of the environment they are in. 

Practitioners may be interested in the gender differences in oracy development as well as Mike’s real-life experiences, which includes the story of a young girl new to the UK and what strategies were used to make her feel confident. 

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Dr. Shaddai Tembo is joined again by Mike Gardner to discuss how teachers can use oracy in their assessment practices. They touch on how oracy helps to model new learning and shifting from teacher talk to learner talk. 

Shaddai and Mike talk about the role of the whole school in supporting and enabling educators to roll out an oracy-rich curriculum, allowing practitioners to think whether their own school values and policies are setting the right standards. 

Practitioners may be interested to learn more strategies for effective learner-centred talk, the influence teachers have on communication, and ways of managing dominant voices in the classroom. 

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Dr. Shaddai Tembo is joined by Mike Gardner to discuss the importance of oracy and the causes of language gaps in classrooms. 

They discuss the challenges of screen time, further compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, and how this period in our history and a lack of pedagogy around digital technology has resulted in a lack of ability for children to self-regulate.  

Practitioners can learn more about how oracy cuts across all areas of children’s development and how the way children are taught is more important than the supporting technology used to support them.  

Mike also talks about his upcoming book which will look at the journey of a child from birth through to adulthood through a lens of social mobility with an aim of bridging the oracy gap. 

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Mark Loveday is joined by Michael Surr for a final episode, to discuss partnerships and resources for SEN, as well as the role of technology in education.  

The episode highlights the role that nasen plays in SEN support and Michael discusses the new partnership with TTS, who have agreed to be nasen’s strategic partner for the next two years. They also discuss nasen assured products, like the TTS Developed Calming Cats. 

Practitioners may be interested in listening to Mark and Michael discuss future policy changes for inclusion and why these are needed for better inclusion in schools, as well as why grades are not the only measure of success in education.  

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In this episode, Mark Loveday is joined by Michael Surr to discuss what a Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCO) does and how their role is very much planning rather than delivering the provision. 

Michael discusses the role everybody has to play in supporting all children and focuses on the importance of collaboration as well as the effective role teaching assistants have to play. 

Practitioners may be interested by evaluating the impact of support staff and the challenges and strategies that everyone can face, to help them better understand the SENCO role. 

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