Decentring teachers? How a pupil-led approach can have the greatest impact

In October 2024, the Oracy Commission called for oracy to become the ‘fourth R’ of education’s fundamentals alongside reading, writing and arithmetic. The report campaigned for young people to be “equipped to ask questions, to articulate ideas, to formulate powerful arguments” – in short, to empower them to communicate in our modern world.

For Berkhamsted School, a family of independent schools in Hertfordshire, oracy is top of the agenda. At Heatherton School, Berkhamsted’s satellite Prep in Amersham, the November 2024 ISI Report identified pupils’ communication and articulation of ideas as an “area of significant strength”, highlighting how quickly an oracy focus has been implemented into the curriculum. But while Berkhamsted continues to lead the way with oracy, leaders are constantly driven to rethink their strategies for teaching and learning, thinking outside the box in order to achieve the greatest impact.

“Sometimes the best teaching is when we’re not involved’, says Anna Chatwin, Deputy Head of Teaching, Learning and Innovation at Berkhamsted School. Not content with the teacher-learner dynamic of a traditional classroom model, Mrs Chatwin looks elsewhere to find the next generation of teachers: Berkhamsted’s own Sixth Form.

With Berkhamsted’s schools ranging from Day Nursery to Sixth, there is a sense of a journey as pupils transition up the key stages and through the schools. To support this journey and aid cross-year group collaboration, Berkhamsted offers opportunities for Sixth students to mentor Prep pupils in workshops and group sessions. This recently took the form of an ‘Oracy Mentoring’ session in which Year 12 students worked with groups of Year 6 pupils to develop their public speaking skills.

Berkhamsted invited an external speech coach to train the Year 12s on the art of oracy. Easy tips and tricks such as the ‘3 Ps’ (pace, pitch and pause) provided students with the tools to pass on their skills to younger pupils. While oracy – the ability to speak and communicate clearly – is one of the most difficult and misunderstood skills, students worked together to design games and activities which would empower their mentees to use their voice effectively.

The workshops were run entirely by students and certainly presented some challenges: engaging large groups of Year 6s for an hour is no mean feat! But the innovative and creative activities that the Sixth Form students had designed encouraged pupils to explore the range of ways their voices can empower them. From fast-paced games of ‘Just a minute’ to sharing stories of their worst fears and how they overcame them, the workshop demonstrated the importance of communication in bringing young people together.

“This is a great leadership opportunity for the Year 12s”, says Anna Chatwin. “The impact they will have on the Year 6s is arguably greater than that of teachers – they are influential figures in their school journey. It’s also more dynamic than day-to-day teaching and empowers a pupil-led approach, taking the teacher out of the centre.”

In the near future, some of these Year 6s will be invited to speak at an upcoming Sixth Form assembly to showcase their skills and model strong oracy back to their mentors. Year 12s will then be able to see the direct impact of their efforts and build confidence in their own leadership. This student-led approach was empowering for both year groups involved and will continue to forge strong connections across the Schools Group. For many of Berkhamsted’s current Year 6s going into senior school as Year 7s next year, their oracy mentors will be at the

top of the school as Year 13s – acting as role models and mentors, but also a friendly face representing the end of their Berkhamsted journey.