On Wednesday 3rd October we joined 6000 schools across the country to participate in the Communication Trust’s ‘No Pens Day’ event. As part of our commitment to developing Oracy skills, both teachers and pupils put their pens down for a whole day to allow lessons to be focused on speaking and listening tasks. These ranged from discussion and group work tasks to presentations and created a fantastic buzz of enthusiastic learning around the College.
Some highlights were in Y13 science lessons, where pupils used structural learning blocks to discuss ideas about the biochemical sequence of events of aerobic respiration. In DT Food, pupils worked collaboratively as each person in the pair had half the ingredients, they needed to communicate effectively and ensure a successful bake! In Y10 Spanish, pupils prepared for their speaking assessments and improved their listening skills by playing human dominoes, ¡muy impresionante! In geography Y8 pupils were learning about globalisation through playing a trade game whilst in history, Y8 pupils were participating in ‘Henry VIII take me out’ and had to ask questions of each of the wives to decide who would be the best wife for the king. The maths department used an impressive range of speaking and listening strategies to develop pupils’ teamwork, explanation and problem-solving skills.
It was a great day which certainly got pupils talking. Look out for plenty more Oracy focused activities throughout the year as we work together to develop our young people’s speaking and listening skills.