About Oracy for Schools
Our Oracy Mission
More and more children arrive at school scarcely talking at all. And demands from government are squeezing out valuable talk-time from the school day.
"Technoference" seems here to stay. Parents distracted by social media speak less to their children, and children who use devices are less likely to talk to their parents. And the impact is growing, and has continues up the year groups.
Sentence-starters, flashcards and talk-worksheets can be helpful, but also feel a bit artificial.
Plus, different children face different obstacles:
Some haven't talked enough at home.
Some are fearful that other won’t listen.
Some want to speak, but not in front of 30 people.
Some don’t like having their opinions on display.
Some want to speak but are put off by classrooms or teachers.
Some want to speak but don’t want to be seen to want to.
Some are afraid of getting the wrong answer.
And there's not exactly space to fit a new subject called "Oracy" into an already packed timetable.
So how can you help learners become more confident at speaking - in any situation?
How do we help schools?
In a practical, logistical sense, we support schools by easy to use, practical resources that make a real difference to children’s oracy skills.
We also model excellent oracy pedagogy with of workshops with classes of different ages, observed by teachers, followed by a staff meeting to unpack the principles. We’ve found it’s seeing your children talking and listening enthusiastically at a high level that enthuses teachers to embrace our three principles of oracy. We also INSET days or give a terrific interactive keynote for a conference. Drawing on years of experience in the field of philosophy for children, we’ll show you how to identify the questions within your curriculum that have the greatest oracy potential.
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.
Sticky Questions Resource
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.
Oracy Training/INSET
Engaging, memorable training that gives all set a toolkit of practical strategies to use immediately in their classroom.
Contact us
Have a question about oracy at your school? Reach out and start a conversation with us!