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Lucy Powell is to give spoken language 'equal status' to reading and writing in schools' English curriculum

Lucy Powell, who will warn that strong verbal communication has long been "a marker of privilege," is set to announce oracy will be "hardwired" into the national curriculum on equal footing with reading and writing.
Lucy Powell, who will warn that strong verbal communication has long been "a marker of privilege," is set to announce oracy will be "hardwired" into the national curriculum on equal footing with reading and writing.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell plans to announce that oracy — the ability to speak "fluently and confidently" — will be embedded in the national curriculum as an entirely new strand of English, extending through to GCSEs. She will caution that speaking well has been "a marker of privilege" for too long, and that artificial intelligence makes human communication skills more vital than ever. Powell will make the pledge at the Confederation of School Trusts annual conference in Birmingham on Thursday.

The Education Secretary will also caution that hands-on practical skills are "disappearing" from subjects at precisely the moment technology demands the opposite.

Commons Education Select Committee chair Helen Hayes has written urgently to Powell warning that secondary English is already regarded as "dispiritingly dull" and that the curriculum review must not be wasted.

Moretes.comPowell told to revamp ‘dispiritingly dull’ English curriculumDaily Mail NewsLucy Powell accused of 'blowing open' curriculum as speaking skills to get equal status with reading and writingThe TelegraphSpeaking put on par with reading and writing in fresh curriculum overhaul - The TelegraphLBCSpeaking to get ‘equal status’ to reading and writing in school curriculumThe TimesGCSEs overhaul to put speaking on par with reading and writing
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