The Commission Conversations

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, catches up with Tim Oates CBE, Dame Alison Peacock, Baz Ramaih and Beccy Earnshaw at Voice 21's Speaking Summit conference to get their thoughts on oracy assessment, the Curriculum and Assessment Review's interim report and more.

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Frank Cottrell-Boyce about early language and reading. Frank Cottrell-Boyce is the Children's Laureate. He is a multi award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter. Millions, his debut children's novel, won the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal.

In this Commission Conversation, Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to Professor Teresa Cremin and Dr Helen Hendry about oracy and reading for pleasure. Professor Teresa Cremin is a Professor of Education (Literacy) at The Open University and Co-Director of the Literacy and Social Justice Centre at The Open University in the Faculty of Wellbeing...

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Independent Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Dame Alison Peacock about oracy in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), how oracy supports learning throughout a child's education and how we can incentivise schools to focus on oracy.   Dame Alison Peacock is the CEO of the Chartered College...

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Independent Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to commissioners Justine Andrew, Jeffrey Boakye and Christine Counsell about their reflections on the Commission's deliberations.

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Independent Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to commissioners Sonia Thompson, Stephen Coleman and Sarah Houghton about their reflections on the Commission's deliberations.

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Independent Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to commissioners Rob Drummond, Sally Apps and Rufus Norris about their reflections on the Commission's deliberations. 

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Rebecca Montacute about the Sutton Trust's new report 'Life Lessons' which explores the development of oracy and other life skills in school. Rebecca Montacute is Head of Research and Policy at The Sutton Trust. Since joining the Trust in 2017, she...

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Jacqui O'Hanlon about realising the potential of Shakespeare's work in the curriculum and young people's lives, how theatre-based pedagogy can impact students' speaking, listening and writing and how, more widely, the arts in schools contribute...

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Rachel Higgingson about developing a whole-school approach to oracy education, oracy in the curriculum   and the value of active listening.  Rachel Higgingson has been in education for 25 years. Her aim is to support young people to develop the knowledge, skills a...

In this ‘Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to John Claughton about the importance of teaching young people about language, how to encourage curiosity about language and why this is powerful in the classroom.  John Claughton is the co-founder of WoLLoW (The World of Languages and Languages of the World). He has tau...

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Clare Sealy about why it's oracies, not oracy, which aspects of oracy students might need to be taught explicitly and why we should think carefully about assessing oracy. Clare Sealy is Head of Education Improvement, States of Guernsey. Previously, she was a...

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Lewis Iwu about the importance of teaching young people debating skills, the importance of retaining your 'authentic voice' as a speaker and why oracy education matters now.  Lewis Iwu is the former Executive Director of the Fair Education Alliance, curr...

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Sammy Wright about his new book 'Exam Nation',  including the challenges of assessing oracy and why, despite these challenges, it might still be worth doing. Sammy Wright is Head of School at a large secondary in Sunderland. He is the author of 'Exa...

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to Brian Jenner about the importance of process to oratory. Brian Jenner is a speech writer and the founder of the European Speechwriter Network. He has worked with high profile individuals including a Dragons’ Den panellist, a Duke and a Premiership footballer. 

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to Wendy Lee about the challenges of identifying children and young people with Speech Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) and how schools can support students with SLCN to thrive at school. Wendy has worked as a speech and language therapist for over 30 years, in clinical...

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to Adam Power-Annand about using drama to support speaking and listening in Key Stage 1. Adam Power-Annand is the National Lead and CEO of Speech Bubbles, a charitable project which supports children struggling in the classroom and in social situations because of communication...

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to Topsy Page about oracy in a primary setting and practical ideas for embedding speaking and listening in schools. Topsy Page is a teacher, trainer and Oracy Cambridge Associate. She is the author of 100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Oracy.

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, talks to Daisy Christodoulou about the challenges with traditional assessment and how comparative judgement can be used to assess children’s oracy skills.  Daisy Christodoulou is Director of Education at ‘No More Marking’, an organisation which uses Comparative Judgement to provide...

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to Grace Lockrobin and Emma Swinn about Philosophy for Children and how this approach can support learners to think with others and to think for themselves in subjects across the curriculum.  Grace Lockrobin and Emma Swinn are co-leaders of SAPERE (the Society for the Advanceme...

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to Andrew O'Neill about why he chose to prioritise oracy at All Saints Catholic College, including incorporating a discrete oracy lesson in Year 7. Andrew O'Neill is the headteacher of All Saints Catholic College. In 2022, he was awarded Pearson's Headteacher of...

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to  Elaine Allen about the links between oracy and early reading, how oracy relates to other aspects of literacy and why oracy education isn’t something ‘new’. Elaine Allen is Blackpool Literacy Lead and Director of the St John Vianney English Hub. She also serves on the Liverp...

In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to Lisa Stephenson about story as a way into the curriculum, storytelling as a means to draw on children's linguistic strengths and cultural heritage and how drama pedagogy can support the development of children's social-emotional competencies. Lisa Stephen...

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to James Mannion about oracy as a curricular object, building students’ linguistic repertoires and making change stick James Mannion is the  Director of Rethinking Education and the host of the Rethinking Education podcast. An experienced former teacher and school leader, James...

In this ‘Commission Conversation’ Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England talks to Ros Wilson about the link between speaking skills and writing skills. Ros is an education consultant, former teacher, former Ofsted inspector and the creator of Talk:Write.