\n<\/p>\n
The children\u2019s writer Michael Rosen, one-time political strategist Alastair Campbell and former education secretaries Charles Clarke and Estelle Morris have urged the prime minister to honour his pre-election pledge to embed speaking skills in England\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n
They are among 60 signatories to an open letter to Keir Starmer, calling on him to establish oracy as a core part of Labour\u2019s revised national curriculum and make it the fourth \u2018R\u2019 in education, alongside reading, writing and arithmetic.<\/p>\n
Supporters were delighted when Labour announced in 2023 that teaching oracy \u2013 often defined as developing skill in using spoken language \u2013 would be a central part of Labour\u2019s educational priorities if it won the next election.<\/p>\n
However, campaigners say it was not mentioned in the interim report of the government\u2019s curriculum and assessment review earlier this year, leading to fears oracy may have slipped down the educational agenda. The full report is due later this year.<\/p>\n
The letter, organised by Voice 21, the UK\u2019s leading oracy education charity, said: \u201cTwo years ago you pledged that under your Labour government, every child would be supported to develop essential oracy skills \u2013 as part of the mission to ensure all young people are prepared for work and ready for life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge you to turn that promise into lasting change. In a world shaped by rapid advances in artificial intelligence, deepening social divides and persistent inequality, the skills of speaking, listening and communication have never been more urgently needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosen, who is a professor of children\u2019s literature at Goldsmiths, University of London, said: \u201cThe backbone of language is our talk. It\u2019s the everyday way we make and change relationships, share the events of our lives, hear about other people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s where we forge our identities and culture, it\u2019s where and how we get a good deal of our understanding of what matters. We can learn and develop how to be better talkers and listeners.<\/p>\n
\u201cSchool is a perfect time for us to do that. This needs time and space and sensitive help from teachers. I hope this government backs an oracy programme in education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell, now a mental health campaigner and author, added: \u201cIt\u2019s time every child had the chance to develop their oracy skills \u2013 it\u2019s key not just to confidence and deeper thinking but also for countering the rise in polarisation. Labour should make sure its curriculum review has a proper commitment to oracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other signatories to the letter include author and educator Jeffrey Boakye, Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust, which champions social mobility, and Rupert Knight, associate professor in education at the University of Nottingham.<\/p>\n
Kate Paradine, Voice 21\u2019s chief executive, said: <\/strong>\u201cSir Keir Starmer has acknowledged the importance of oracy and the need to embed it in the national curriculum. We are now urging the government to deliver on its manifesto commitment so that every child can benefit from a high-quality oracy education.\u201d<\/p>\n A Department for Education spokesperson said the government\u2019s plan for change would ensure every young person, irrespective of background, develops the skills needed to succeed in work and life, including in speaking and listening.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re already investing in evidence-based language interventions in the early years, including Nuffield Early Language Intervention, to support children\u2019s speech and language development and have strengthened our teacher training framework to place greater emphasis on high quality oral language.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will also consider how best to ensure pupils can communicate fluently and confidently as part of a cutting-edge curriculum, with final recommendations from the independent review due to be published in the autumn.\u201d<\/p>\n Quick Guide<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Show<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.<\/p>\n If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.<\/p>\n Secure Messaging in the Guardian app<\/strong><\/p>\n The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS\/Android) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019. <\/p>\n SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post<\/strong><\/p>\n See our guide at theguardian.com\/tips\u00a0for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each.\u00a0<\/p>\n Illustration: Guardian Design \/ Rich Cousins<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The children\u2019s writer Michael Rosen, one-time political strategist Alastair Campbell and former education secretaries Charles Clarke and Estelle Morris have urged the prime minister to honour his pre-election pledge to embed speaking skills in England\u2019s schools. They are among 60 signatories to an open letter to Keir Starmer, calling on him to establish oracy as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[496,5393,2456,3826,1346,2225,588,5395,5394,1347,322],"class_list":{"0":"post-11888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-embed","10":"tag-englands","11":"tag-honour","12":"tag-keir","13":"tag-pledge","14":"tag-schools","15":"tag-skills","16":"tag-speaking","17":"tag-starmer","18":"tag-urged"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Contact us about this story<\/h4>\n