Oracy (or the ability to talk well) is a really important skill. It’s also a big focus of ours here at Ashington Academy, we want all our students to feel confident talking; to be able to express themselves appropriately and clearly; to talk about their learning and to listen effectively.
That’s why we’ve launched our ‘Sound Like an Expert’ initiative, to further promote formal, academic talk around school. In lessons all across our school, teachers are teaching academic language and rewarding students when they can use it accurately, either verbally or in their written work.
From ‘ideology’ and ‘epic’ to ‘biomimicry’ and ‘exothermic’, students have been dazzling us with their ability to articulate academic language beautifully! To celebrate, our Ashington ‘experts’ have been rewarded with postcards to take home. Each postcard earned carries praise points and there are prizes to be earned individually and as an inter-year group competition. Our interactive chart is updated twice weekly and, as you can see below, Year 7 is currently in the lead. If your child comes home with a postcard or a blazer badge, be sure to ask them to tell you why they got it and what words they’ve used!