Member meetup: Speaking up – developing oracy for high achievement

Free meetup for NACE members – exploring effective approaches to develop oracy within a cognitively challenging curriculum

18 October 2022, Horticulture House, Manor Court, Chilton, Didcot OX11 0RN

There is growing awareness of the importance of access to high-quality oracy education and related opportunities – and the significant impact this can have across all spheres: academic, professional, cognitive, social, emotional. The Covid-19 pandemic, and resulting periods of remote learning and isolation, has brought fresh urgency to this issue, with many young people further deprived of opportunities for rich talk and spoken language development. 

As schools move on from the pandemic and seek to address current challenges, close gaps, and take oracy education to the next level, NACE is focusing on research into the role of oracy within cognitively challenging learning. This term’s free member meetup will bring together NACE members from all phases and diverse contexts to explore what it means to put oracy at the heart of a cognitively challenging curriculum. 

Taking place at the NACE offices near Didcot, the event will open with a review of the research context and case studies from schools already focusing on oracy, with further inspiration from prominent author and speaker Haili Hughes, and leading oracy education charity Voice 21. Following a networking lunch, the afternoon will be dedicated to idea-sharing and discussion – putting our own oracy skills into practice!

Free parking is available at the venue, which is also a short taxi journey from Didcot train station.

Programme*  

10:00: Registration and refreshments

10:20: Welcome: Rob Lightfoot, NACE CEO

10:30: Morning session

• Embedding oracy in your school curriculum to support cognitively challenging learning: what, why, why now, and how?
  Introduction and research context: Dr Jonathan Doherty, NACE Associate

• Speak up: developing confidence to improve oracy in the classroom
  Haili Hughes, Head of Education at IRIS Connect and Senior Lecturer and Teacher Development Mentor Lead at the University of Sunderland
  
  
• Developing high-quality oracy education for all
  Rebecca Earnshaw, CEO, Voice 21

• School case studies

• NACE membership updates

12:45: Networking lunch

13:30: Afternoon session

• Speed sharing: focus on developing oracy across the curriculum - opportunity to share experiences and ideas with peers, focusing on effective approaches to developing oracy skills as part of a challenging curriculum 
• Overview of the day

15:00: Close

*Programme subject to change.

Please note: As spaces are limited, we are initially limiting places to a maximum of two per school, to allow as many schools to participate as possible. If more than two staff members from your school register, we will contact you to confirm which staff members should be given priority. Additional staff members can be added to the event waiting list.

If unable to attend, please contact NACE to transfer your place to a colleague. An admin fee of £50 will be charged if the event is not attended by your school after booking.