Our Oracy Curriculum
Because Every Voice Matters!
At Courthouse Green, we have a bold vision: to put oracy at the heart of everything we do. Every moment of the school day is an opportunity to learn to talk by learning through talk.
In the classroom and beyond, we see children using talk to explore their ideas, develop their opinions, solve problems, manage emotions, and resolve disagreements with empathy.
This means our children know their voice has value, they’re building confidence, and they’re achieving their very best.
Oracy in the early years lays the foundation for communication, learning, and social development. Through speaking and listening, children build vocabulary, express ideas, and grow in confidence.
It also supports reading and writing, helping children engage fully with learning. These early opportunities for talk develop critical thinking and emotional awareness, preparing them for future success.
We use oracy to help children think about their thinking. With spoken scripts and sentence stems, they learn to break down tasks, ask questions, and reflect on their learning.
Phrases like “What do I know?”, “What do I need to do next?”, and “How can I check my work?” give them a clear path to success. This talk-based approach builds independence and deeper understanding.
In maths, oracy helps children explain their thinking, evaluate methods, and reason aloud. By discussing patterns or tackling “Which one doesn’t belong?” questions, they become flexible, confident problem solvers.
Talking through their ideas helps them justify, compare, and connect different strategies. An oracy-rich approach means every child can access and succeed in maths.
What our children say…
“We’re always talking in class—sometimes in groups to explore ideas, other times when presenting to an audience or debating big questions like “Who is responsible for deforestation?”
“We even have a school parliament! One representative from each class is elected, and they take part in city-wide debates with other schools in front of a big audience of the rest of their year group.”
“Because we have so many opportunities to talk, we are amazing orators! To celebrate this, Courthouse Green hosts an annual oracy competition with schools from across Coventry. I spoke at the CBS Arena about what our city should look like in the future—in front of an audience and a panel of expert speakers, including politicians and a radio DJ!”
Being a Voice 21 school, and now a Centre of Excellence, has transformed how our children learn. Across the curriculum, students now explain their thinking, justify their methods and weigh up different ideas —whether it’s a science experiment, a historical debate, or a maths strategy.
If you visit Courthouse Green, you’ll hear pupils questioning, justifying, and evaluating—every child, no matter their starting point, is engaging and finding their voice.
Oracy has raised our outcomes in reading, writing, and maths—but it’s more than that, it’s helped our children belong, feel seen, and be proud of who they are.
Our children leave Courthouse Green knowing their voice can change their world.
What Voice 21 say about us:
The implementation of oracy at Courthouse Green Primary School exemplifies School Benchmark 4. Oracy is seen as an integral pedagogical tool that is the foundation of learning. It’s planned for deliberately so that all pupils receive a breadth of opportunities to develop their oracy skills and build a sense of belonging within the school community. Highlighted strengths at Courthouse Green include:
Co-planning and professional development driven by subject leaders and Oracy Champions to support staff to plan for exploratory and presentational talk across the curriculum, including termly oracy showcase events;
The Courthouse Cues approach to teaching and appraising expectations for oracy, which is progressive and understood by all staff and pupils.
Class targets for oracy, which reflect the school’s progression for oracy, enable staff and pupils to reflect on their oracy development over time.