Our final network meeting for the academic year allowed us a chance to celebrate and reflect on the impact oracy has made across our schools for both learners and teachers this year. We were joined by David Reedy (Independent Literacy Consultant) and Alison Gawthrope (Director of Primary Education and Partnerships, THE Partnership).

Alison handed out oracy awards to our successful schools.

And we also thanked David Reedy for delivering inspiring inset to the hub across the year. His work and influence could be seen in our end of year feedback.

Year 6 pupils from Cubitt Town Primary School travelled to Birmingham to take part in The Great Oracy Exhibition 2022, organised by Voice 21. The Great Oracy Exhibition brought together educators from across the UK and beyond for an immersive day of experiencing and exploring oracy in action.

Cubitt Town pupils demonstrated the ‘Harkness’ technique. ‘Harkness’ teaching is a pedagogy based on round-the-table discussion between students, in which peer-to-peer dialogue is emphasised. This is different from a teacher-led dialogue, in which points keep being referred back to or get directed by a teacher. The whole point is to get students talking to one another, so that they become responsible for the intellectual content of the lesson.

We look forward to Cubitt Town Primary School sharing more of this work with hub next year.