Oracy is now one of four cross-curricular priorities in the DfE 2028 curriculum review, alongside literacy, numeracy and digital literacy. Spark2 delivers hands-on age-appropriate Speak with Confidence workshops for EYFS to Year 6 — mapped to the four strands of the Oracy Framework. Trusted by 1,800+ UK schools; 9.3/10 average teacher rating.
In 2024, the DfE-commissioned curriculum review (Prof Becky Francis) named oracy as one of the four foundational cross-curricular priorities that all pupils should leave primary school with. In 2025 the government confirmed oracy will move to statutory status alongside literacy and numeracy from September 2028. Schools that start building oracy provision now will be ahead of a wave, not scrambling to catch up in 2027.
Beyond the statutory push, the evidence base for oracy is overwhelming. The Oracy Cambridge programme has shown that pupils who talk more (and are taught how to talk well) achieve higher outcomes in writing, reading comprehension and problem-solving. The Education Endowment Foundation's Communication and Language Approaches guidance report finds effect sizes of +6 months on reading and +5 months on writing from structured oracy provision.
The Ofsted personal-development judgement explicitly asks whether pupils can articulate their views, listen respectfully to others, and speak with confidence in unfamiliar settings. Oracy is one of the most concrete, evidence-friendly things schools can point at when talking to inspectors.
Voice 21 and Oracy Cambridge developed the Oracy Framework as a comprehensive vocabulary schools use to teach and assess talk. Our Speak with Confidence workshop is explicitly mapped to all four strands, differentiated across EYFS, KS1 and KS2.
Voice projection, pace, tone, pause. Eye contact, posture, gesture. Reception pupils practise "big voice, small voice"; KS2 add speaking to a room without a microphone.
Ambitious vocabulary, sentence variety, register (formal vs informal), rhetorical techniques. KS1 pupils build talking-partner routines; KS2 practise triadic listening and "steel-manning" a viewpoint.
Building on others' ideas, giving reasons, exploring different perspectives, using evidence. This is where oracy fuels critical thinking and writing quality — pupils who can reason aloud go on to reason on paper.
Active listening, taking turns, disagreeing respectfully, changing your mind well. The strand most schools struggle to teach — but the one Ofsted's personal-development judgement cares most about.
A 20-minute WOW opener explaining what oracy is and why it matters — pupil-facing language, no jargon. Sets up the day so pupils arrive at their workshop primed to engage.
Half day: 4 sessions covering up to 128 pupils. Full day: 7 sessions covering up to 224 pupils. Each session pitched to the year group in front of us — Reception's "show and tell" evolves into Y6's "prepared 3-minute speech".
Pupils practise ABC talk (Agree, Build, Challenge), "trios" (speaker + listener + observer), and "give-and-take" routines your teachers can reuse in every lesson from next day.
A physical poster set for every KS2 classroom, giving pupils the vocabulary they need to disagree well ("I see it differently because…"), build on ideas ("Adding to what you said…"), and steer conversations.
Your class teacher watches and then co-delivers alongside our facilitator, so oracy protocols carry on the next Monday. Not a one-off show — a day of embedded CPD.
One A4 evidence sheet supplied for your subject leader file — mapped to the personal-development strands Ofsted inspects, with observable indicators to look for in follow-up lessons.
The single hands-on day is a strong start. But statutory 2028 oracy needs year-round provision, not a one-off WOW. Our Whole-School Future Skills Programme places Speak with Confidence in the autumn term as your oracy anchor, then the Future Skills Passport reinforces oracy weekly across all 12 essential skills — pupils practise reasoning aloud in Manage Money in autumn 2, evidence-based debate in Protect the Planet in spring 1, and public speaking in Solve Real Problems by summer term.
That's the difference between a school that "did an oracy day" and a school that can put a coherent oracy narrative in front of Ofsted, in front of parents, and (from 2027) in front of a Future Skills Mark assessor.
Oracy is the ability to speak, listen and use language well. It's one of four cross-curricular priorities named in the DfE 2028 curriculum review, on the same footing as literacy and numeracy. Schools that raise oracy see improvements in writing, reading comprehension, wellbeing and pupil confidence.
Spark2's Speak with Confidence workshop runs as a half or full day in your school hall. Pupils work in year-group cohorts through the four strands of the Oracy Framework — physical (voice, body language), linguistic (vocabulary, sentence structure), cognitive (reasoning, giving evidence) and social-emotional (listening, turn-taking, disagreeing well). All resources included.
Yes. Our Speak with Confidence workshop is explicitly mapped to Voice 21's four-strand Oracy Framework and the Oracy Cambridge research base. We use the same vocabulary teachers use in their own oracy CPD, so pupils and staff share language after the workshop.
£499 half day (up to 128 pupils, 4 sessions) or £599 full day (up to 224 pupils, 7 sessions) plus VAT. Future Skills mission-led pricing. All resources, teacher pack and follow-up materials included.
Yes — oracy starts in EYFS. Reception pupils work on talking about their day, describing feelings and taking turns; KS1 add show-and-tell and asking better questions; KS2 progress to structured debate, presenting evidence and disagreeing constructively. Our facilitators differentiate every activity by year group.
Yes. Ofsted's personal-development judgement explicitly assesses whether pupils can articulate their views, listen respectfully, and speak with confidence in unfamiliar settings. Oracy is one of the most concrete things schools can evidence for this judgement. Our teacher pack provides that evidence.
Book a Speak with Confidence workshop for autumn term to anchor your oracy year — or take the free 8-page School Report to see how your current oracy provision maps to the 2028 statutory framework.