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NEW! Tongue Fu Talking - A fully-resourced Oracy Framework

On-demand Courses

Our On Demand courses bring together practical, evidence-informed training and the flexibility to learn at your own pace.

Each course is a recording of a live course, complete with videos and supporting materials. Choose when to start, then play, pause, rewind, reflect and discuss with colleagues.

The expertise of our live courses. The convenience of learning when it suits you.

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Most schools recognise the importance of oracy. Pupils are encouraged to discuss, explain, question, debate and present their ideas. But creating opportunities for talk is not the same as teaching pupils how to become more effective speakers and listeners.Oracy is the disciplined art of speaking and listening, where thinking, language, expression and collaboration come together to shape understanding and communication. It includes both verbal and non-verbal elements and spans a variety of interactions, from formal presentations to collaborative discussions.This practical, evidence-informed course explores how to move beyond individual activities and develop a coherent, progressive, whole-school approach to oracy from EYFS to KS3. Chris introduces the principles of a structured oracy system, including the explicit teaching of speaking and listening, progression, different purposes for talk and practical approaches to implementation across the curriculum.The aim is not simply to get pupils talking more, but to help every pupil become better at speaking, listening and communicating.
Inclusion is rightly a major priority for schools. But effective inclusion involves more than policies, interventions and additional support. It depends on what happens in classrooms every day.Drawing on research from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), this highly practical course explores five evidence-informed approaches that can support pupils with additional needs while benefiting their classmates too.Chris demonstrates how explicit instruction, cognitive and metacognitive strategies, scaffolding, flexible grouping and the appropriate use of technology can be incorporated into everyday teaching. With examples from across the primary curriculum, the course helps teachers consider how to make learning more accessible without creating entirely separate approaches for different groups of pupils.The aim is to make inclusive teaching part of everyday classroom practice, not something additional that teachers are expected to do.
Lesson observations can provide valuable insights into the quality of teaching, but what should we actually be looking for? And how can we use what we observe to help teachers improve?Too often, observations rely on general impressions or lengthy checklists rather than a clear understanding of effective teaching. A more productive approach is to focus on specific aspects of classroom practice, informed by research into how pupils learn.This evidence-informed course explores 12 principles of effective teaching and provides 30 practical areas of focus that school leaders can use when observing lessons. Chris examines the implications of cognitive science, including prior knowledge, memory, cognitive load, assessment, feedback and adaptive teaching, with examples of what these principles might look like in the classroom.The course also explores how observation findings can inform professional development, helping leaders move beyond identifying strengths and weaknesses towards developing teachers' expertise.The aim is to make lesson observations more purposeful, more precise and more useful for improving teaching.
Teaching something doesn't necessarily mean that pupils will remember it. Even when lessons appear successful, important knowledge can quickly be forgotten if teachers don't plan carefully for how learning is understood, organised, practised and retrieved.This highly practical, evidence-informed course explores how memory works and what teachers can do to help pupils remember more of the curriculum over time.Chris introduces eight approaches, including dual coding, graphic organisers, page layout, sketch notes, retrieval practice, metacognition and writing to learn. Through examples and practical applications, the course explores how these approaches can help pupils connect new learning to what they already know, organise information and develop more secure understanding.Rather than treating these strategies as isolated activities, the course encourages teachers to consider when and why to use them as part of effective classroom teaching.The aim is not simply to help pupils recall more information, but to build knowledge they can understand, connect and use.
This course offers an in-depth exploration of integrating substantive and disciplinary knowledge within the English primary National Curriculum.
Metacognition—monitoring and controlling one's thought processes—is a powerful tool that can transform learning, helping students make substantially improved progress. This course provides a practical toolkit of strategies applicable from Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to Key Stage 3. SUBSCRIBE TO TONGUE FU TALKING TO SAVE ON THIS COURSE
This two-day course outlines how senior leaders can improve the quality of assessment in Foundation Subjects by using the curriculum as a progression model.
This course helps school leaders to answer two questions: How effective is your curriculum? How do you know? 
In this session, Chris will explore Paivio’s Dual Coding Theory and how it can be used to make learning stick.
Find out about long-term memory and the cognitive principles involved in planning and delivering a curriculum designed for long-term memory
This highly practical, evidence-based course will help you to teach your students to write effectively across the curriculum and, in doing so, help them to develop a deep understanding of the topics they write about.
This course will help you to design and implement a curriculum that leads to students’ long-term retention and deep understanding of the subjects studied.
This short practical course will help you to consider how best to meet these challenges whilst keeping teacher workload in mind.
Develop a whole-school vocabulary spine based on ambitious, rich, academic language
This course outlines the changes to the EYFS framework for September 2021 and gives a clear overview of what this means for curriculum design.
We will show you how Cultural Capital can be used to help determine the breadth of your curriculum.
This course is a practical guide to what we mean by retrieval practice, the evidence that supports its use and 40 practical strategies that can be used in the classroom.
This short course is for schools who use, or are considering using, our Essentials Curriculum and need a refresher on its key principles.
This course will help science leaders to review the intent and implementation of their science curriculum.

'SLT did the Online, On-Demand Judging the Quality of Education through Lesson Observations Course and found it really helpful. We would therefore like to be able to deliver the whole training, to all staff, over 4 staff meetings. What we liked about the course was that it reinforced adaptive teaching and good pedagogies as well as illustrating these through what we would be looking for in observations of teaching and learning.' 

Jonathan Mason, Headteacher
Belton Lane Primary School, Lincs

Our Headteacher, Emma Pepper, and I are retiring at the end of this school year. We wanted to pass on our thanks to you, your team and to Chris. It has been great working with you over the years and we especially enjoyed attending the courses. We always came away inspired!

You have helped us to shape our curriculum into something we are proud of.

Ally Lawley, Deputy Head
St Botolph's C of E Primary School, Leicestershire

Having watched the Five a Day course, I realise that we need all our staff to be able to access this material. I didn't realise how beneficial this would be for all our teachers. It's so good.

Lynette Searle, Head Teacher
Harrow Lodge Primary School, Hornchurch

Just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for your excellent CPD over the past 8 years which has led to us gaining 'Outstanding' in all areas in our May 24 inspection. No AFIs either! The meticulously planned curriculum is all down to Chris's fab CPD!

 The curriculum is meticulously planned. The curriculum in each subject is designed so that pupils revisit important concepts. This helps pupils build on what they know. The school prioritises language and communication in the curriculum. Pupils learn subject-specific vocabulary so that they can understand and talk about what they are learning…. The curriculum is delivered by skilled staff. They receive high-quality training and use the latest research further to enhance their teaching…. Lessons have been carefully structured so that feedback and retrieval activities are at the start of all lessons.

Inspection of St George’s Catholic Voluntary Academy 8 and 9 May 2024

 

Rachael Snowdon-Poole
Headteacher - St George's Catholic Voluntary Academy, Derby
What does an on-demand course involve?

On-Demand Courses are distance learning, meaning you can complete the course in your own time. The courses are accompanied by videos and course notes. A certificate is issued on completion so that a record of online-C.P.D. can be kept. All the resources can be saved and downloaded for future use (apart from the videos which are embedded). Please do this during the access period, which lasts for 14 days, as once the course expires, the resources can't be accessed.

How many people can do an on-demand course?

You pay for the number of delegates wishing to access an On Demand Course. If you have 4 delegates wishing to access a course you would be in the 1-5 user bracket. All users accessing the course must pay for access. 

May I present the videos full screen to my staff?

You can present the videos full screen to the number of delegates you have paid for.  To show the videos and share the course with delegates who have not paid for a place is expressly forbidden by ourselves and by the Online Platform hosting company.

How do I pay to access an on-demand course?

Select your course and the number of users, along with their names and your preferred start date. We will then send you an invoice which should be paid within 30 days. Please see our terms and conditions. 

How long do I have to access an on-demand course?

Once enrolled users have 14 days to access the course. We enrol you starting on a day of your choice. Courses can be stopped, started and rewound during the access period as required. Courses don't need to be completed all in one sitting. Users can also go back and watch parts again during the access period.

Copyright

Please note that the course and materials are for use by the named users on the order only. It is expressly forbidden to share any of the videos or materials with those not registered to take the course.

How quickly can I access an On-Demand course?

You can choose the start date for your 14-day enrollment on a course.  This can be any time from the day after your order onwards.  Remember, you will be invoiced once your order is confirmed, but you have 30 days to pay.

Latest from the Blog

Why Schools Should Stop Searching for Oracy Activities
Why Schools Should Stop Searching for Oracy Activities
25th Jun 2026
This article argues that schools should stop searching for oracy activities and start building an oracy curriculum. Activities alone do not define what students should learn, how their learning should develop over time, or how teachers can determine whether learning has taken place. The article draws a comparison with mathematics: schools do not begin by looking for mathematics activities, but by identifying the knowledge and skills students need to learn. It suggests that spoken language should be approached in the same way, with a clearly defined curriculum that specifies content, progression and assessment.
The Six Tests of a Serious Oracy Curriculum
The Six Tests of a Serious Oracy Curriculum
14th Jun 2026
Much of the current discussion about oracy focuses on creating a culture of talk, increasing discussion opportunities and encouraging student participation. This article argues that these are not curricula. A serious oracy curriculum must first specify what students are expected to learn. It proposes six tests: defining a body of communication knowledge, rooting talk in meaningful content, teaching knowledge about communication itself, developing metacognition, specifying progression and making assessment possible through exemplification. Using Tongue Fu Talking® as an example, the article argues that effective oracy education depends not on more talk, but on a clearly defined, progressive and assessable communication curriculum.
Does your school have a planned vocabulary spine?
Does your school have a planned vocabulary spine?
19th May 2026
A planned vocabulary spine can transform the way students think, speak and learn.This blog explores why carefully sequenced vocabulary teaching matters, how Tongue Fu Talking® brings vocabulary, metacognition and oracy together through the Five-a-Week Vocabulary Spine, and how students can move beyond simply learning definitions to using words to reason, explain and communicate with increasing precision.
Tongue Fu Brand Mark