Powell pledges equal status with reading and writing
Education secretary Lucy Powell has said that the government will be ‘hardwiring oracy’ into the revised national curriculum, as she revealed that it will be given equal status with reading and writing. Speaking to the Confederation of School Trusts annual conference in Birmingham yesterday, Ms Powell said that despite being ‘central to success in work and in life’ for too long the ability to articulate oneself confidently had been ‘a marker of privilege’. However, she pledged that in the future ‘speaking, listening and communicating will be a core part of every child’s education, from primary to GCSE and beyond’, and that oracy will ‘light up every classroom’.
Currently spoken language is assessed as part of the English language GCSE, but as a separate component in which pupils receive one of four grades – not classified, pass, merit or distinction – rather than as counting towards the final grade of the GCSE itself. Giving oracy equal status with reading and writing, with a dedicated oracy framework, had been a recommendation of the curriculum and assessment review. The final revised national curriculum is expected to be published by spring next year.
A report from the National Literacy Trust last year found that children’s self-perceived ability in speaking and listening dips notably in the early part of their secondary education. It also found that young people rated themselves most highly in relation to one-to-one and advocacy-related speaking and listening skills, but felt less competent in formal or public-speaking contexts.
Elsewhere in the speech, Ms Powell said she would be ‘going further and deeper on curriculum reform’, hinting that there could be a greater emphasis on practical skills. She said: ‘Too many children are not getting what they need. There’s not enough space for the proper depth or richness that really gets children excited to come to school. Practical skills are disappearing from practical subjects, just when the world demands the opposite.’ She also said that the government would ‘open up enrichment to reach all children’, giving the examples of music, debating, the arts, engineering and sports.
Responding to the speech, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, welcomed the greater emphasis on oracy, and said he was ‘pleased [Lucy Powell] recognises the value of practical and vocational skills, as well as music, the arts and sports’. However, he strongly urged the government not to overload the new curriculum, but instead remove some content from elsewhere to make room for these new priorities: ‘It is crucial that the ongoing review of the curriculum reduces other content in order to genuinely create the space to embed these skills, however – teachers are already unable to cover the current curriculum in the time available. On top of that, time is also needed to implement the new expectations around integrating citizenship education in primary schools, meeting the new expectations to offer enrichment activities, and making the curriculum locally relevant and grounded in children’s experiences.’
Geoff Barton, chair of the Oracy Education Commission, also welcomed the ‘direction of travel’ indicated in the speech as ‘timely and right and welcome’ because ‘every child deserves to find their voice’. He went on to warn that teachers would need ‘time, training and practical support’ and that assessment should ‘be designed to help pupils improve, not as another high-stakes testing hoop, and none of this should pile on extra workload.’