Speaking and listening is central to the Howard Park curriculum. It is developed from EYFS through to Year 6 across the whole curriculum. Speaking and listening involves more than analysing your ability to talk and hear other people. It is about adapting language to suit the situation and linking your listening and speaking skills to be able to respond to any argument. By developing pupils’ vocabulary, we can offer them the vital academic tools for school success, alongside the capability to communicate with confidence in the world beyond the school gates.
Pupils are given opportunities in all areas of the curriculum to develop their speaking and listening skills, in paired, group or whole class situations. These opportunities exist right across lessons, not just within the English curriculum. For example, through debate, presentations, performances. Children are taught to practise speaking for a variety of different purposes and audiences.
Ways in which you will see speaking and listening taught in classrooms includes:
- Expressing their opinions through classroom discussions, paired work or small groups.
- Listening to the point of view of others in classroom conversations.
- Pupils are always encouraged to explain and justify their answers or opinions. This helps to promote constructive dialogue throughout the classroom in a variety of situations.
- Pupils being given the opportunity to speak in assembly in front of a larger audience through their termly class assembly.
- Through reading sessions, pupils are always encouraged to explain the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the books they read.
Please find below a copy of our progression grid that demonstrates how speaking and listening is developed through school.