Launched within School 21, an award winning outstanding school in East London, we've since grown to work with schools across the UK. We provide professional and leadership development, school improvement and curriculum resources to enable schools to support children and young people to find their voice for success in education and in life. We also lead a campaign to influence educators, policymakers and influencers to take speaking seriously in schools. By the age of three, children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds have heard approximately 30 million fewer words than their more advantaged peers. On entry to school, disadvantaged children’s spoken language development is significantly lower than their more advantaged peers. These gaps in language development grow, rather than diminish, as pupils move through school hampering both their educational success and future career prospects. Voice 21 believes that oracy has been undervalued and overlooked within our schools for too long denying the majority of children and young people opportunities consistently afforded to an advantaged few.
