Transforming learning and life chances through talk

Above: Student discussion – oracy circle

“Good communication is a skill that you need to learn, it’s not something that always happens naturally.” Oracy at St Michael’s School
Voice 21 is the national oracy charity that exists to empower every child to use their voice for success in school and life. Support from The Mohn Westlake Foundation will enable the charity to significantly increase access to high-quality oracy education in areas that need it most.

At a glance…

  • 730,000 students will benefit from this grant.
  • Voice 21 are transforming learning and life chances through talk.
  • Ensuring that economically disadvantaged children develop the oral communication skills they need to realise their full potential.
  • Started out from one school in Stratford, East London in 2016.
  • The charity has worked with over 10,000 teachers, 1,200 schools and through them, improved the oracy education of over 290,000 students.
Despite widespread recognition, research and evidence of the importance of oracy (oral communication skills, including listening), only a minority of schools have consistent, coherent or adequately resourced provision to develop it. This is where Voice 21 makes a difference. Working in communities with high deprivation, low social mobility and poor language skills on entry to education, our grant will enable them, to support over 1,630 more schools and the 730,000 students they serve.
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Primary pairs
Voice 21 has developed and refined a comprehensive whole-school improvement programme ‘Voice 21 Oracy Schools’, targeted at state schools (primaries, secondaries and pupil referral units) in areas of economic deprivation. Designed and delivered with impact at its heart, our approach enables every school to provide a high-quality oracy education for their students.
“We don’t know how we ever taught maths without focus on oracy”Oracy at Bishop Young Academy
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Paired oracy task - primary

For more information about this project please visit their website: voice21.org
Read their impact report: voice21.org/impact-report-2021/

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