What would we like our children to get better at? What does confidence look like?

• Positively responding to questions and requests
• Eye contact when both speaking and listening
• Having a confident body posture
• Speaking clearly and concisely
• Answering in full sentences
• Initiating further or new conversation through commenting or questioning

How can parents help support this at home? What opportunities can be created outside of school?

• Direct engagement in conversation – this works better face to face e.g. at the dinner table rather than in the car or whilst on a device.
• Review of the day:

What has your child achieved/experienced/learnt?

What is their current topic? What new words did they learn and what do they mean?

• Opportunities to debate:

Pose contentious questions to spark reaction linked to current affairs e.g. climate change, politics, television, sport

• Opportunities to explain procedures or ideas:

Verbally talk through maths problems, explain how a Lego set of instructions was completed or created, discuss a story idea.

• Recital / performance:

Listen and question to them during reading, have them share their story maps from English work, recite a piece of poetry or a song

• Feedback to an audience:

Encourage them to interact in meaningful conversation with others – older relatives, shop workers, answering the telephone, giving verbal messages

• Play games which encourage verbal interaction with others:

Junior Articulate and Story Cubes are particularly good for this.

When we see children communicating positively, what do we do in school?

We celebrate with verbal praise and reward with a Confident Communicator sticker. Friday assembly will have a designated slot for certificates.