Great Oracy Toolkit

Transformational oracy CPD for teachers and school leaders

This programme is a practical toolkit that follows an implementation cycle in order to ensure that oracy becomes embedded into your curriculum in a way that is bespoke to your setting. The programme follows the Oracy Academy's journey with research and theory that is underpinned by practical application. The CPD is led by a team of experienced teachers and oracy experts.

Dr Jim Rogers

I have had a wide and varied career in education. I started out teaching children with SEND then went on to secondary teaching and school leadership. I have since been a Teaching and Educational Research Fellow at Exeter University, a Director of three Teaching Schools and Teaching School Council Board member, and have had executive leadership roles for a multi-academy trust and international education charity.

My interest in ‘oracy’ began while teaching in secondary schools in areas of high deprivation. As Director of P.T.S.A. I became interested in designing a different type of professional learning programme, that was research informed and collaborative. The focus was on challenges children faced that weren’t ‘measured’ but impacted on learning, play and communication, namely ‘oracy’. I am proud that my original programme in Plymouth continues to run to this day and we have now delivered to over 300 schools, primary, secondary and special, 5 Teaching School Hubs, two Local Authorities and several multi-academy trusts. Our work will have impacted over 100,000 children!

Clients include:

Ryders Hayes and Voice of the Blackcountry
The Mercian Trust
AET
Prime 7
South Central Teaching School Hub
Five Counties Teaching School Hub
One Cornwall Teaching School Hub
Bristol City Council
Wiltshire County Council

Rachel Gallyot

I have been very lucky to have had a broad career and worked with some great people. had a wide and varied career in education. I was very recently the former the CEO of a primary MAT as well as a serving Executive Headteacher. Prior to this I worked as a Regional Director for a large MAT with a profile of primary, secondary and special schools.

I have also been a headteacher of both large urban and rural, village primary schools and understands the challenges of a range of settings.

My interest in oracy, as part of a holistic approach to speaking, reading and writing, was cemented during the leadership of a SSIF research project in conjunction with York L.A and Huntingdon Research School in York which was part of the ‘No Child Left Behind Strategy’. The aim of the project was to improve writing outcomes for all pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged. This project developed a pedagogical model that focused on teacher modelling. The impact of this on teacher confidence and pupil outcomes was significant. What it also demonstrated was that the curriculum that underpins oracy in schools is huge and that opportunity needs to be meaningfully built in overtime. As a CEO in a primary MAT we did this work with both Jim and Laura and the impact was demonstrable overtime.

Dr Laura Kerslake

I started my career in the classroom, first teaching A-Level philosophy, and then becoming a primary teacher. My interest in oracy started when I started doing Philosophy with Children sessions in the classroom, and became interested in the different ways in which children articulated their thoughts.

I have a PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge, where I focused on oracy and classroom dialogue, taking an associate role with Oracy Cambridge. I have worked in various academic roles in which I have researched and written about oracy and dialogue.

I have been proud to have led and taken part in many innovative projects relating to classroom dialogue, including The Playground of Ideas and Philosophize (which you can read more about here). I’m pleased that my work has never taken me too far from the classroom, and I have many years’ experience producing oracy resources for schools, delivering oracy training to teachers and providing oracy sessions for children.

I have worked with: