Oracy at Chislehurst School for Girls
Throughout your daughter’s time at Chislehurst School for Girls we will provide abundant opportunities for her to find her voice and express herself fluently and confidently in speech. One of the school’s core aims is to develop articulate young people.
Conversing comfortably with adults, and in particular initiating conversations, is a skill we regard as especially important. We encourage students to develop their ideas and their public speaking skills in the safe environment of school assemblies. Students from all year groups are coached by a member of the Senior Leadership Team to write their own contribution to an assembly and to deliver it with poise and assurance to the whole school. We also ensure that students are happy using microphones and any other technology needed to support speaking in front of a large audience.
The other side of the equation is the ability to use language well; to debate, discuss – and to listen. Discussions in class and tutor groups organically develop in girls a ready facility with words as they learn from their teachers and from each other. English lessons enable students to work on their grammar and vocabulary.
All Year 7s start their journey at Chislehurst School for Girls with a welcome reception over break time with the Headteacher in groups of nine across the year. Here, over refreshments, they enjoy conversation on a number of topics, listening and taking turns to speak with their Headteacher and thereby growing in confidence.
Our students have enjoyed visits and workshops in recent years with the prize-winning British Nigerian poet Theresa Lola as part of the English Faculty’s annual Festival of Literature in July.
Participation in drama helps to develop mastery of verbal expression, teaching students how to enunciate clearly and gain an understanding of how body language and the expression of emotion can aid or hinder communication. Year 7 students get the chance to showcase their creativity in a popular annual Five-Minute Drama and Dance competition. We also have a long established British Sign Language club.
Our annual involvement in the national Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial Competition for Year 8 and 9 students encourages them to construct an argument and deliver it without notes in a high-profile courtroom setting. Likewise, our participation in the annual Bar Mock Trial Competition has long been a strength at Chislehurst School for Girls, taking us to the National Final at the Royal Courts of Justice in London in 2025.
These prestigious competitions, supported by the organisation Young Citizens UK, provide our students with valuable opportunities to compete locally and nationally while developing skills that will last a lifetime.
Extracurricular opportunities such as these build on the work done in the classroom and across academic departments. The school hosts weekly careers talks by members of our parent body and external speakers on a wide range of topics, where students listen, reflect and later engage in thoughtful Q&A sessions.
Fearless Voices is an extracurricular club that coaches our beginners in oracy, at whatever age that might be. In Year 10, students can take part in a day-long public speaking workshop with a professional coach. There is a competitive element too, with one student going on to represent the school at the annual Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge regional final. We have enjoyed great success in this London and Essex-wide competition in recent years, having won it in 2023 and 2024.
All GCSE English students must deliver a presentation on a topic of their choice and then participate in a Q&A session. Our students are prepared for this with great care, and a significant number achieve distinctions and merits.
Our students have also participated in the national Poetry By Heart competition, learning and reciting poems with an emphasis on clarity and projection.
One other route to developing the ability to converse well with fellow students and adults alike is through taking on positions of responsibility within the school – from form captains, student council representatives and prefects to becoming a member of the Head Student Team.
We want your daughter to grow into an assured speaker and attentive listener who will be an effective communicator, and even perhaps an advocate for others, as she journeys with confidence through her adult life.
Mrs M. French, 2026
