Curriculum Overview
Oracy
Our vision is for every student at Carshalton Boys to leave us able to speak with confidence, listen with attention and disagree with respect. We believe oracy is not a talent some students arrive with and others do not — it is a set of teachable skills, taught deliberately, assessed against shared rubrics, and developed visibly in every speaker across the school.
We know from experience that the skills built through oracy are transferable across the whole curriculum. Structuring a spoken argument, evidencing a point, listening actively and responding to challenge are the same disciplines that underpin strong writing, confident discussion and effective performance in every subject, from English and Humanities to Mathematics and Science. We believe oracy plays a vital role in developing self-confidence, resilience and the ability to hold and defend a point of view — skills that matter well beyond the classroom, at interview and in adult life.
Our Curriculum
Oracy Curriculum Map - Year 7 Scheme of Work - Year 8 Scheme of Work - Year 9 Scheme of Work
At Key Stage 3, students in Years 7 and 8 are introduced to oracy through our Technology rotation, where they complete a twelve-lesson Debate Skills for Oracy unit. Across the unit, students learn to plan and evidence an argument using Aristotle's Trinity of Persuasion, anticipate counter-arguments, evaluate the reliability of sources, and refine their delivery of pitch, pace, tone and body language. Progress is measured directly: every student delivers a baseline talk in Lesson 1 and repeats the same task in Lesson 12, so their growth across the unit is visible to them and evidenced for staff. The unit builds in stakes throughout — from a solo baseline talk, through paired practice and low-stakes fishbowl debates, to a final formal debate — and returns in Year 8 with harder motions and higher expectations against the same shared rubric.
Year 7
Year 8
- Year 8 Subject Page
- Year 8 Vocabulary Page
In Year 9, oracy is offered as a Bridge Option ahead of GCSE choices, preparing students for the externally assessed ESB Level 2 Certificate in Speech (Grade 4) via the Speech to Connect pathway. Over the year, students research and deliver a four-minute biographical talk on a person who matters to them, perform a piece of poetry, prose or drama from memory, read aloud expressively and comment with insight on character, and take part in a formal group discussion — before sitting the live external assessment with an ESB-trained examiner.
Year9
At Key Stage 4, oracy continues to be developed and formally assessed through the Spoken Language Endorsement, a compulsory component of GCSE English Language in which every student plans and delivers a presentation and responds to questions from their audience.