Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to improve children's oracy skills in Selby and Ainsty constituency.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department recognises the importance of oracy, which is why spoken language is already part of the National Curriculum for English for 5 to 16 year olds. For Early Years, the Department is investing up to £17 million in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, improving the language skills of reception age pupils who need it most following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the Department has secured over £28 million to support the speech and language of pupils worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which are today’s 3 and 4 year olds, delivered through the new family hubs network.
In secondary schools, the GCSE English Language qualification ensures that pupils are able to listen to and understand spoken language and use spoken Standard English effectively. Provisional 2023 data published by Ofqual shows that overall entries to GCSE English Language increased by 4.9% since summer 2022. The data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2023-exam-series/provisional-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2023-exam-series#gcse-entries.
The Department funds the National Poetry Recitation Competition, which encourages both primary and secondary schools to participate, to improve pupils’ knowledge and enjoyment of poetry and to improve oracy through poetry recitation and recall.
The £67 million English Hubs Programme, launched in 2018, is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the English Hubs Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousand schools in England.
Selby and Ainsty's local English Hub, Outwood English hub, is working to engage and support primary schools across the region to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for local schools. Outwood English Hub is planning to host a showcase at the Parsonage Hotel and Spa in Escrick later in the Autumn term.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to improve children's oracy skills in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department recognises the importance of oracy, which is why spoken language is already part of the National Curriculum for English for 5 to 16 year olds. In the early years, the Department are providing up to £17 million of funding in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), improving the language skills of reception age pupils who need it most following the pandemic. In addition, the Department has secured over £28 million to support the speech and language of young children worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, delivered to 3 and 4 year olds through the new family hubs network.
In secondary schools, the GCSE English Language qualification ensures that students are able to listen to and understand spoken language and use spoken standard English effectively. Provisional 2023 data published by Ofqual shows that overall entries to GCSE English Language increased by 4.9% between summer 2022 and summer 2023. This data can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2023-exam-series/provisional-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2023-exam-series#gcse-entries.
The Department funds the national poetry recitation competition. This encourages both primary and secondary schools to participate to improve pupils’ knowledge and enjoyment of poetry, and to improve oracy through poetry recitation and recall. The competition provides an opportunity for pupils to enjoy sharing poems aloud.
The £67 million English hubs programme, launched in 2018, is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousands of schools across England.
Enfield North’s local English hub, New Wave, is working to engage and support primary schools across the region to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for local schools. 10 schools in Enfield have received intensive support from the New Wave English hub, excluding new partner schools who have joined the programme this year. A further five schools received resource funding from the hub in the 2022/23 academic year.
Mentions:
1: Baroness Garden of Frognal (LDEM - Life peer) Oracy is often overlooked in the curriculum, but being able to express oneself plays a key part in success - Speech Link
Aug. 04 2023
Source Page: Youth Investment Fund Phase 2: Allocations of awards to beneficiariesFound: activities to commence, including events for young people to organise (cinema nights, DJ nights etc); an oracy
Aug. 03 2023
Source Page: Holyoakes Field First School: 3 August 2023Found: The school has a strong reputation and has done some excellent work (WELLCOMM, NELI & Voice21 Oracy)
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to improve children's oracy skills in Portsmouth South constituency.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Spoken language is a key part of the knowledge rich curriculum and is taught from early years to GCSE level. The Department recognises the importance of spoken language which is already part of the English National Curriculum. The GCSE English Language qualification ensures that pupils are able to listen to and understand spoken language and use spoken standard English effectively.
The Department is also providing up to £17 million of funding for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention to improve the language skills of reception age pupils who need it most following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the Department has secured over £28 million to support the speech and language of three and four year olds. This will be delivered through the new family hubs network.
On 11 July 2023, the Department published the updated Reading Framework which outlines how vitally important talking is to reading and how teachers can support all pupils to express their ideas confidently. The £60 million English Hubs Programme, launched in 2018, is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the English Hubs Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousand schools.
Portsmouth’s local English Hub, Springhill English Hub, is working hard to engage and support primary schools across Portsmouth to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for Portsmouth schools. The Hub has supported four schools in the city, with another six expected to become partner schools in September 2023.
Jul. 19 2023
Source Page: The National Gallery Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023Found: a work of art, architecture or an artefact of their choice, enabling them to develop research and oracy
Jul. 19 2023
Source Page: The National Gallery Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023Found: a work of art, architecture or an artefact of their choice, enabling them to develop research and oracy
Written Evidence Jul. 14 2023
Inquiry: Education for 11 to 16 year oldsFound: collaborative, problem-solving, courses based around real-world issues and assessing skills like oracy
Mentions:
1: Baroness Rebuck (LAB - Life peer) I would add oracy to that list, as suggested yesterday by Keir Starmer, having seen the positive effects - Speech Link
2: Lord Vaizey of Didcot (CON - Life peer) I learned a new word: oracy. - Speech Link
3: Lord Young of Norwood Green (LAB - Life peer) my vocabulary is as good as most people’s, but I had to check the dictionary when I heard the word “oracy - Speech Link