Blog

Picture the scene: Classrooms are buzzing with conversation, students debating ideas, explaining their reasoning, and building on each other’s contributions. But what’s the purpose of all this talk? Is it simply a by-product of learning, or could it be something much more? The answer lies in understanding two complementary approaches: learning through talk and learning to talk. These concepts, when combined, create a powerful framework that builds effective communication skills and deepens students' learning across the curriculum.

Oracy—the ability to express oneself fluently and confidently through spoken language—remains one of the most overlooked yet essential disciplines in education today. While literacy and numeracy often dominate educational priorities, oracy is increasingly recognised as the key to unlocking deeper learning, critical thinking, social mobility, and employability across all subject areas. Despite its importance, oracy continues to receive limited attention in many curricula worldwide.In this blog, we will explore the benefits of oracy, the research supporting its integration into classroom practice, and how teachers can make it an integral part of the curriculum.

Making predictions is a critical skill in learning that spans all subjects and year groups. However, one of the most significant barriers to developing this skill in students is their fear of being wrong. This fear can stifle creativity, hinder learning, and prevent students from engaging fully with the material. As teachers, it is essential to create a classroom environment that values the process of thinking and exploration over the correctness of answers. A powerful tool in achieving this is teaching and using tentative language. This blog will explore how to foster such an environment and provide practical strategies for incorporating tentative language into prediction activities.

In this blog, we delve into the essence of context-specific oracy, challenging the notion that oracy is a 'transferable skill' that can be applied to any context.

Embodied cognition is a concept in educational psychology that proposes that learning is not merely a cognitive process but fundamentally intertwined with physical actions and the environment. This article explores the research underpinning embodied cognition and provides examples of how it may be applied to a range of curriculum subjects.

One of the critical facets of the Essentials Curriculum is its emphasis on the repetition of knowledge throughout the educational milestones. This repetition is deliberate, aiming to surpass the National Curriculum requirements to fortify students' understanding and mastery. This article demonstrates practical ways to implement such repetition.