To not want my child to be given an oracy grade by school!?

[RosaLappen]

She is quiet, that is her nature. It doesn't mean she can't express herself, it doesn't mean she's not following the lesson.
It's essentially a grade on her personality isn't it?

A what grade?

No it's a grade on her ability to speak clearly and to an audience and relevant.

Children who want to speak all the time have to learn not to and no one complains about that.

A percentage of a GCSE is oracy controlled tasks, isn't it? Don't you want her to be prepared for that?

No oracy in GCSE's

All written exams

It is an important grade. She can be quiet and reserved by nature but can she when required speak to and engage an audience? This is an equally important skill to any other Literacy or Numeracy tasks.

It's not about how much she speaks but how clearly she can communicate when she does speak.

your child struggles with speaking in front of people, so she shouldn’t get a grade for it? Should children who struggle with maths not get a maths grade? Children who struggle with writing get no writing grade?

Speaking and listening is part of the national curriculum, arguably the most important part - the part they will use the most in any career when they’re older. The ability to speak clearly, at an appropriate volume using appropriate vocabulary, and the ability to listen to others, is a vital skill. It should be taught and therefore, like other parts of the curriculum will probably be graded.

Surely this is a fad!? No oracy grades so far in any schools I've come across?

I don’t think it’s a grade on her personality. Lots of naturally quiet people still have to speak up sometimes for work etc. It’s a valuable skill to learn.

Do all your schools do this already then?

GCSE English Language includes a grade for spoken English. This has no impact on the overall grade for their GCSE, but it is shown on the GCSE certificate.

One child I know asked to give her speech alone in front of her teacher. That was sufficient for her to pass.

Also, I’ve taught children who are quiet by nature, but when required to make a speech, or pushed to speak in lessons, are able to do so to a high standard. It’s not a grade on her personality. She might need more coaxing to contribute in lessons than her ‘loud’ peers, but it doesn’t necessarily mean a lower grade.

It must depend on the exam board. For the WJEC the marks from DC's oracy tasks count towards their final English Lang GCSE grade. Same with AQA MFL I think.

English teacher here- she will need to do a spoken assessment for GCSE for which she will get pass, merit or distinction. The grade doesn’t have any effect on her 1-9 GCSE grade but must be done (unless exceptional circumstances) in order to actually get the GCSE. Aside from that as stated above an oracy grade should not be dependent on how much she talks but the quality of both her spoken language and listening skills. I don’t believe we do enough of this in state schools because exams are entirely written and then students end up lacking life skills for interviews, work presentations etc.

If there's no oracy in gcse's, why did my daughter have to do group and individual oral presentations in English and Welsh, and oral tests in French and Spanish?

So do other schools give oracy grades?

I had to do a speech as part of my gcse course in 1995. It is not new.

It's preparation for life surely. She'll need to be able to speak confidently and articulately at job interviews, uni interviews, meetings etc.

Anyway going to answer my question? You all respond as if this is a complete no-brainer, but are there actually any other schools that give an oracy grade?

Are you not reading our replies? Yes, they all do as part of the GCSE syllabus. No, it doesn't assess her personality, but it will help her with a valuable life skill.

It's preparation for life surely. She'll need to be able to speak confidently and articulately at job interviews, uni interviews, meetings etc.

Not totally sure a grade will bring this about.

If she can express herself clearly then she will be fine. You don’t get graded on amount of noise.

I thought spoken English had always been part of GCSE - it certainly was back in 1991 when I did mine with MEG (who I believe are now defunct). DS is following the AQA syllabus and spoken English is certainly still a component, though recorded separately from the overall grade.

Ok sorry I probably wasn't clear.

This is on every report - she will be given an oracy grade for every subject, every time she gets a report.

Any other school do that?