At St. Mary’s, we strive to create an oracy-rich community, where we ensure that all children feel that their voices are valued and listened to. The children are taught to use their voice confidently to: reason, negotiate, present and explore ideas to support their learning across the curriculum and to prepare them for later life.
When the children returned to school after half term, we participated in an oracy day. This consisted of a range of activities in which the children could develop their oral and aural skills.
Watch below to see some of the activities we participated in.
Speaking and Listening – From Early Years to Year 6
Voice 21 Oracy Framework
This week, Year 5 have been exploring one of the most iconic scenes from Roald Dahl’s Matilda as part of Readers’ Theatre. By varying their expression, tone and pace, they brought Miss Trunchbull’s ferocity and Bruce Bogtrotter’s timidness to life. Here’s a sensational performance by Toluwa and Jackson – a brilliant display of drama skills and character work. #readingstm #oracystm #dramastm #year5stm … See MoreSee Less
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😅
🎤 Speech Fest 2025 🎤
A massive congratulations to our brilliant winners from Friday’s Speech Fest!
🥇 Leon (Y4) – Art
🥈 Mila (Y5) – Tigers
🥉 Oliver (Y6) – Motocross
The standard across the board was incredibly high so to be named a winner is a truly impressive achievement. We’re so proud of you all!
#oracystm #englishstm #year4stm #year5stm #year6stm … See MoreSee Less
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🎤 Speech Fest Success at St Mary’s! 🎤
Today, St Mary’s proudly hosted our first ever Speech Fest competition and what a brilliant event it was! The children were asked to deliver a speech on a topic they were passionate about. Out of 180 children who auditioned, only 14 made it to today’s final!
We were honoured to welcome a fantastic panel of judges including:
⭐️The Worshipful the Mayor, Robert Bettley-Smith
⭐️Local MP, Adam Jogee for Newcastle-under-Lyme
⭐️Poet and author, Angela Marie James
⭐️Chair of Governors, Jo Kirkham
The children’s speeches were exemplary and the judges had an incredibly tough job choosing the winners. Every single participant spoke with confidence, passion and purpose.
🌟 Congratulations to all who took part and a special well done to our winners:
🥉 Oliver G – Motocross 🏍️
🥈 Mila – Tigers 🐯
🥇 Leon – Art 🎨
Also, a huge thank you to Oliver S, a St Mary’s alumni, for stepping up to be our compère for the event! What a wonderful host!🎤
A huge thank you to Staffordshire Libraries for their hospitality and for providing the perfect venue for Speech Fest! 📚
This event was a true testament to the power of oracy at St Mary’s and the incredible journey we’ve been on. It showed just how important it is for every child to have the opportunity to make their voice heard.
#oracystm #year4stm #year5stm #year6stm #englishstm … See MoreSee Less
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Thank you so much for inviting me to be one of the judges. It was indeed very tough to decide. You have some very talented and confident children. Well done everyone 😀
So proud of Leon and Steven for taking part in the Speech Festival! Both were superb and out of 14 children, Leon took first place!! St Maria are incredibly proud of both boys and all children who took part 🥳 #englishstm #year4stm #oracystm … See MoreSee Less
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🌟 This week, Year 6 have been busy creating wonderful memory boxes that reflect their school life! 🎨✨ Using mixed media, they thoughtfully designed their boxes to capture special moments and personal memories. Each child chose whether they wanted their piece to be abstract or more literal, giving them the freedom to express their unique perspective. The results are as creative and meaningful as the memories themselves! We couldn't wait to show our parents💭🖌️ #artstm #familylearningstm #oracystm #year6 … See MoreSee Less
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Great idea
This half term Year 3's oracy focus was linked to our RSHE Careers and Vocations Day. Each child had the opportunity to research their dream job. From astronauts to artists, teachers to vets and then present their findings to the class.
It was wonderful to see our pupils speaking with such passion, purpose and pride as they shared why their chosen career inspires them.
At St Mary’s, we believe every child’s voice matters and today, those voices spoke of big dreams and bright futures! ✨
#oracystm #rshestm #year3stm … See MoreSee Less
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Year 2’s current Science unit is all about plants. For the last two weeks we have been learning about the life cycle of a plant. Here are a few children explaining the process. #sciencestm #year2stm #oracystm … See MoreSee Less
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☸️ This week, Year 5 have been exploring Buddhism as part of Multi-Faith Week. They’ve learnt about the beliefs of Buddhists and have discussed, using their Oracy skills, the similarities and differences of their own faith and Buddhism. Here they are to tell you all about it! ☸️ #year5stm #restm #oracystm … See MoreSee Less
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You did good Lydia ♥️♥️♥️ xxx