The importance of oracy - No Pens Wednesday
In November, Talbot celebrated ‘No Pens Wednesday’. This has become an annual event and is a celebration of skilled speaking and active listening.
The ability to be able to talk clearly, audibly, to show awareness of one’s audience and to be able to listen well by making comments and asking for clarification is a life skill that is extremely important.
As part of the day, the children took part in lots of different activities to really make them think about how they talk and listen. For example, in the morning, they listened closely to instructions, used key vocabulary to talk about their time in Year 4 and learned to take turns in group discussions. In the afternoon, the children continued to use their speaking and listening skills alongside a practical science lesson making electrical circuits.
There is no doubt that revising speaking and listening skills, as part of No Pens Wednesday, allowed the children to continue to develop these skills in their everyday lessons. Not only that, but it was interesting to put down pens and pencils and communicate in a different way.
