Oracy Education Commission

We continue to work with teachers, school leaders, and policymakers to make the ambition of ‘We Need to Talk’ a reality for this generation of children and young people
and we encourage everyone to read it in full here 📕👇

oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/oec-report

More CPD planning completed today, all based on Oracy. Pulled a lot from reports and resources by @voice21oracy.bsky.social @oracycommission.bsky.social and @speechandlanguk.bsky.social which have been incredibly useful! Looking to build a strategy and network for local schools 👍🏼

Ofsted Education Inspection Framework: Voice 21 Response - Voice 21

Ofsted’s new Education Inspection Framework gives recognition to oracy as a foundational skill, as well as adopting the @oracycommission.bsky.social's definition of oracy.

We welcome this important milestone in oracy education. Read our full response👇

voice21.org/ofsted-educa...

One year ago @oracycommission.bsky.social
(a panel of experts led by @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social
& hosted by us) produced a landmark report, ‘We Need to Talk’.

Read it here 📕👇
oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/oec-report/

oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/wp-content/u...

Ten Years of Impact - Voice 21 Learn more about who our Voice 21 Oracy Schools are and how they are achieving a high-quality oracy education. We are committed to improving access to a high-quality oracy education for those students...

🚀 Our special ten year anniversary Impact Report, launched yesterday, looking back at the changes we've made, schools we've worked with and lives we've touched over that time.

View it here 👇
voice21.org/ten-years-of...

We were also reminded of YouGov polling funded by the @britishacademy.bsky.social @profarlenehh.bsky.social and commissioned on behalf of the @oracycommission.bsky.social

We heard from Justine Andrew about why oracy skills are essential for employees to succeed at KPMG; Ellie Bristow about the @literacy-trust.bsky.social work on oracy; and @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social, who discussed the findings and recommendations of the @oracycommission.bsky.social.

It’s time for our 2nd panel🥳

At last year's summit the @oracycommission.bsky.social launched. Now Baz Ramaiah,
@beccyearnshaw.bsky.social, @alisonpeacock.bsky.social
@realgeoffbarton.bsky.social & Tim Oates discuss the next steps needed to generate equitable access to oracy education.

2nd keynote of the day is @robdrummond.bsky.social talking about his work with the @oracycommission.bsky.social

Teachers report poorer early speech and language skills And most say this makes their job harder, poll finds

@realgeoffbarton.bsky.social reacts to recent polling by YouGov for GL Assessment:

"We want to give [children] agency in their learning, a voice in their future.”

Read more here 👇

schoolsweek.co.uk/more-childre...

We'll be joined by leading voices across the education sector including @alisonpeacock.bsky.social, @daisychristo.bsky.social & @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social at the Speaking Summit 2025.

Enjoy a day packed with expert insights & practical strategies. Get tickets now👇

speakingsummit.voice21.org/home

A throw back to last year @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social launching the @oracycommission.bsky.social at the Speaking Summit 2024.

We're so excited that he'll be joining us again this year on the 25th March at the 2025 Speaking Summit.

Secure your tickets today:
speakingsummit.voice21.org/home

Very much looking forward to being on this panel and sharing thoughts with the other contributors about whether/how oracy should be assessed, something I talked a bit about in my
@oracycommission.bsky.social conversation with
@realgeoffbarton.bsky.social offBarton

🎉 Last night @voice21oracy.bsky.social was celebrated as a finalist for the PRCA Public Affairs Third Sector Campaign of the Year Award 2025 for our work with the @oracycommission.bsky.social to define #oracy education, outline a framework, and make recommendations for a national entitlement. 🧵👇

Together they will reflect on the work of @oracycommission.bsky.social and explore the next steps needed to drive a systemic shift in access to high-quality oracy education for all children and young people.

🎫 Buy your ticket for the 2025 Speaking Summit here👇

speakingsummit.voice21.org/home

Last year the @oracycommission.bsky.social launched at our Speaking Summit. This year our panelists include Baz Ramaiah @beccyearnshaw.bsky.social @alisonpeacock.bsky.social @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social & Tim Oates CBE.

🎫 Get your 2025 Speaking Summit tickets now 👇

speakingsummit.voice21.org/home

Votes at 16 legislation could be tabled within months, minister suggests Labour’s manifesto pledged to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in all elections.

As we discussed within @oracycommission.bsky.social, there’s an urgency to increasing #oracy education - helping all young people to listen actively & critically, to disagree agreeably, and to engage in democracy … www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

No nation has done more to civilise this world than America The fashion for denigrating the ally that has guaranteed peace and prosperity for 80 years must end now

“If I could ask all state schools to do one thing, it would be to make public speaking part of the core curriculum, so that all kids become accustomed to speaking up & valuing their voice”: @matthewsyed.bsky.social on one (but only one!) important part of #oracy [£]: www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Make oracy the fourth ‘R’ of education, theatre boss says Rufus Norris, the outgoing head of the National Theatre, wants children to learn oral language skills across the curriculum

As @nationaltheatre.org.uk's Artistic Director Rufus Norris says: “oracy ought to be considered the fourth ‘R’":

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12...

#oracy

But, in truth, if we’ve learnt anything over recent years, it’s that great practice in classrooms can’t be mandated from Whitehall. Instead, it’s now over to us - the teaching profession - to make it happen. Let us know your #oracy priorities, as we move from talk to action.

Now we’re talking about our recommendations at conferences, at school & trust training events, and behind the scenes with officials & policy-makers. We’ve fed into the Curriculum & Assessment Review; and will do the same with reviews of leadership & teaching standards.

Then in October 2024, we launched our report, ‘We Need to Talk’. It was well received and led to (mostly) constructive debate about the implications of #oracy education. We called oracy ‘the fourth ‘R’ – as fundamental as reading, writing & arithmetic:

oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/wp-content/u...

The Commission Conversations Podcast · The Oracy Education Commission · Commission Conversations are short dialogues, discussions, and debates compiled by the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England. They are desig...

Between April & October 2024, the work of the Commission was supplemented by podcasts called ‘Commission Conversations’. The idea was to explore the many dimensions of #oracy - disciplinary oracy, inclusion, storytelling and much more.

Explore here: open.spotify.com/show/5UwEJKk...

So in April 2024, we established our independent Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, initiated and supported by the charity @voice21oracy.bsky.social. This is its wide-ranging and diverse group of Commissioners:

Also, as Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer signalled that #oracy would be a key part of the Labour Party’s future ‘Opportunity Mission':

labour.org.uk/updates/pres...

Revisiting #oracy in 2024 felt timely, partly because it was 50 years since the completion of the all-encompassing Bullock Report, ‘A Language for Life’, which said:

www.education-uk.org/documents/bu...

Last year, lots of us were talking about #oracy. Here’s a quick retrospective:

Oracy isn’t new. A useful discussion of what oracy means and why it matters to children’s learning and personal development is here, via our ‘Speaking Volumes’ papers:

oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/wp-content/u...