Why oracy matters
“I wish you’d come to my school when I was a child. I was the one who hid behind my hair at the back of the class and hoped nobody asked me to speak.”
I still remember the passion a teaching assistant showed in these words after a training session, ten years ago or more. None of her teachers had helped her find her voice. It was only well into adulthood that, fed up of being sidelined, she did so herself by sheer willpower.
A teacher at a recent open evening had said her son was, “No trouble, you’d hardly know he’s there.” You can imagine how that went down.
More and more children arrive at school scarcely talking at all. Demands from the last government in England squeezed out valuable talk-time from the school day - and the new government wants it put back!
Helping children find their voices has been our work for the last fifteen years. When that child who wouldn’t normally speak holds forth in front of the class, and the class listen, it’s not just a “lightbulb moment” – it’s giving a child the skill for life to share their light with others. We wish you and the children you teach many such moments.
Who are we?
We’re Jason and Tom. We have been supporting schools develop their students’ oracy skills for over fifteen years. We continue to work week-in, week-out with schools in various ways.
Together, we’re “The Philosophy Man”. We partner schools deepen thinking yet lighten planning through Philosophy for Children (P4C).
We co-founded Debate Planet - a brand-new approach to debating that gives schools everything they need to make debating for everyone.
We’re also co-authors of Thinking Moves - a groundbreaking approach that makes metacognition simple and understandable for teachers and students.
Tom is Director of Hidden Leaders - delivering team-challenge days for every year group that develop students’ problem-solving, critical-thinking and collaborative skills.
Jason set up Outspark: supporting schools to deliver the expedition element of the Duke Edinburgh Award. He’s also Director of GIFT, which runs residential trips for gifted and talented young people.
Weve also created resources for Voice21, helped train staff at The Economist Education Foundation and we’ve also collaborated with SAPERE, the UK’s P4C charity, on P4C.com.
We’ve distilled insights from all these settings to capture and innovate the best of oracy practice. Oracy for Schools brings all of these resources to you in one place so you can find the best option for the maximum impact on oracy in your school.
Help Me Find My Voice: A Practical Guide to Oracy for Schools
We’d never let a child leave school unable to read or write because “that’s how they are.” But we do sometimes make a mistake in thinking that when a child won’t speak in the classroom, it’s the child, not the classroom.
This practical guide to oracy explores why kids don’t talk in class – from kids who are “playground confident, classroom shy” to those who need to be someone else before they can be themselves. It’s fifteen years of experience of getting kids talking, boiled down to twelve principles you can use in every setting.
We hope this book arms you with the strategies you need to make one of the biggest differences you can - helping a child find their voice.
You can order books in our shop, or get a copy for all of your staff through “the day of the book” - workshops and/or INSET seeing those principle in practice.
“When we booked the day we knew our children would engage with the activities on offer, but what we had not considered was the range of other skills they would develop and enhance.”
Watching the children “grow” throughout the day was incredible. The range of activities ensured that all our children were engaged, regardless of physical or mental ability. Stepping out of comfort zones was huge for some of our class but the way the activities were arranged and delivered ensured success for all. Our loudest, more confident listened, whilst our less confident and more reserved spoke.
Bridget Kaal,
Pastoral and Mental Health Lead, Goffs Oak Primary School
Sticky Questions
Our year-round, whole school programme. Children take home a juicy philosophical puzzler stuck to their jumper, chat at home and share back at school.
Debate Planet
Sign up for our flagship debating programme that makes debating for everyone - not just an exclusive club for mini-Boris Johnsons.
Teamtalk Challege Days
Book a Team Talk Challenge day to develop students’ communication and critical thinking.
“Our event was very well-paced, building in opportunities for reflection and consolidation that were authentic and meaningful.
The team-building activities were fantastic ice-breakers, helping everyone work together in a fun and active way. A real, and perhaps unexpected, triumph of the day was how successful the debating and ethics activities were; it was really rewarding to see how many pupils genuinely enjoyed and actively engaged in activities that were completely new to them. As a result, we saw a significant leap in developing higher level thinking skills, confidence and collaborative working.
All of the Hidden Leaders’ facilitators were both professional and respectful at all times - they are experts in their field, which makes a tremendous difference to the quality of the provision on offer. I can’t recommend Hidden Leaders enough!”
Mercedes Davis
Head of Sixth Form,
Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar School
Contact us
tom@thephilosophyman.com
01245 830123
7 Tower Road
Writtle
Essex
CM1 3NR