One month ago, the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England released its We Need to Talk report calling for oracy to be seen as the fourth ‘R’ with equal status to reading, writing and arithmetic. Oracy means articulating ideas, developing understanding and engaging with others through speaking, listening and communication. Oracy is intrinsic to children’s early development, to the sharpening of thinking, to social and emotional well-being, to confidence, agency, the ability to listen critically – and to disagree agreeably.
Education should prepare our children and young people as future citizens, ready to withstand the increasing polarisation of political and civic discourse, the growth of artificial intelligence, and the mental health crisis in our schools. Oracy helps address all of these.
We therefore call on the government to adopt the Commission’s recommendations including:
- Integrate speaking, listening (and all forms of communication) into every subject across the curriculum, as well as in extra-curricular activities.
- Require teacher training and development to include knowledge of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) and to make oracy a key part of the training and development of all teachers at all stages.
- Ensure the history and richness of the English language is a key focus of the English curriculum for all children.
- Incentivise schools to provide a broad curriculum enabling children to access the value of the expressive arts and citizenship as contexts for oracy.
We represent a broad coalition including academic experts, education charities, exam boards, schools, businesses, trusts and education leaders who submitted evidence to the Commission and now will work to ensure the take-up of its recommendations.
The need for oracy in education is urgent. Parents want it, the economy demands it, democracy needs it, teachers welcome it and our children deserve it. The time for oracy for every child is now.
Yours sincerely,
Geoff Barton, Chair of Commissioners
Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England
Baroness Estelle Morris of Yardley, Chair of Trustees
Voice 21
Sally Apps, Cabot Learning Federation
Commissioner, Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England
Charles Byrne, Director General
English Speaking Union
Alastair Campbell, Writer and host
The Rest is Politics
Professor Stephen Coleman, University of Leeds
Commissioner, Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England
Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary
Association of School and College Leaders
Jilly Duffy, Chief Executive
OCR
Professor Rob Drummond, Manchester Metropolitan University
Commissioner, Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England
Sebastien Ergas, Acting CEO
Impetus
Russell Findlay, CEO
Speakers Trust
Diana Gerald MBE, Chief Executive
BookTrust
Susannah Hardyman, CEO
Action Tutoring
Jane Harris, CEO
Speech and Language UK
Sarah Houghton, Place2Be
Commissioner, Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England
Ed Marsh, CEO
The Tutor Trust
Professor Neil Mercer, Director
Oracy Cambridge
Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre
Commissioner, Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England
Tim Oates, Group Director of Assessment Research and Development
Cambridge University Press and Assessment
Dr Kate Paradine, CEO
Voice 21
Dame Alison Peacock, Chief Executive
Chartered College of Teaching
Lord Watson of Invergowrie
House of Lords