“We must ensure oracy is at the heart of our approach to tackle educational inequality for children, and crucially, to level the playing field later in life”, says Andy Carter.

Andy Carter, Conservative MP for Warrington South and Chair of the APPG on School Exclusions has recently published an article emphasising the importance of Oracy Education to tackle educational inequality.

The article emphasises the worsening spoken language gap that exists between disadvantaged pupils and their peers as a result of Covid – highlighting that Oracy education has never been more important. This position echoes that of the Speak for Change Inquiry by the Oracy APPG, which published its report in April 2021.

“It is critical, now more than ever, that oracy is fully embraced by schools as a key tool for levelling up opportunities for working class kids, equipping them with the vital skills needed to advance into further and higher education, and join the labour market.”

Says ESB’s Chief Executive, Tina Renshaw, “As a member of the Oracy Network, the group supporting the work of the Oracy APPG chaired by Emma Hardy MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, ESB has been successfully offering oracy qualifications to learners for nearly 70 years and knows its impact as a valid pathway to promote oracy in schools. Research from Sutton Trust in February 2019, for the APPG for Social Mobility, found that from the age of five, the UK’s most disadvantaged children can be 19 months behind their more affluent peers in vocabulary development, and this deficit can have life-long consequences. By not developing our children’s language and communication skills from the earliest opportunity, we are limiting our workforce and the economy. The report states: ‘Children with poor vocabulary aged five are more than twice as likely to be unemployed aged 34’.”

“Clarity of communication and an ability to express thoughts simply, sincerely and persuasively, are qualities needed by everyone in this specialised, competitive world.  For whatever the industrial, professional or social responsibilities are, every individual will have to inform, instruct, listen, explain, question, interpret, disagree and advise. ESB’s assessment frameworks can act as a scaffolding tool for embedding Oracy into a school curriculum”.

One of the young people from the Reclaim Project, a youth social justice charity supported by ESB said this of the impact of Oracy skills, “As someone from one of the most marginalised groups in the country I believe that it is even more important that the children and young people from marginalised groups have a voice, and one that is going to allow them to have a place in the world. One that is going to allow them to create better opportunities for themselves in education and in the world of work and self-employment. Good oracy empowers children, young people and their teachers to communicate more effectively. The benefits of this are tremendous.”

“Teachers across primary and secondary schools must be given much greater oracy training and support”.

The recommendations of the Oracy APPG inquiry supported this position, with recommendations for the DfE, Ofsted, teacher trainers, schools leaders as well as Ofqual. The suggested steps for the Department for Education included publishing non-statutory guidance (like the Gatsby Benchmarks or Model music curriculum) for how schools can embed the statutory spoken language requirements set out in the National Curriculum. This non-statutory guidance was to include evidence on effective approaches to oracy – Clear expectations for oracy teaching and learning accompanied by a learning progression building on  existing frameworks such as those developed by a number of Oracy organisations including ESB.

“Half of teachers across primary and secondary schools said school closures negatively impacted the spoken language development of free school meal pupils, just one in five said the same of the most affluent pupils.”

As demonstrated through its 70/70 campaign, ESB is passionate about closing the disadvantage gap. Steadfast in its determination to reduce the impacts of disadvantage on speaking and listening skills, it wants to reach schools where learners facing disadvantage due to socio-economic factors, special educational needs and disabilities, and/or migration status and enable them to embed Oracy education and access its qualifications.

Did you know?

• The majority of ESB’s Speech Qualifications are Accredited.

• ESB’s Level 3 Graded Examinations in Speech qualifications and our Level 3 Debating qualification carry UCAS tariff points for university and HE entry.

• External funding options may be available for your learners. Your centre may also be eligible for funding and support through our Christabel Burniston Fund.

If you believe your learners or young people would benefit from an Oracy journey which includes ESB assessments, we would love to hear from you! Get in touch and find out whether your centre is eligible for funding and support. Please email business@esbuk.org. 

You can also read the full article here: https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/spoken-language-support-for-children-is-crucial-to-tackle-educational-inequality.

---