Case Study | Boutcher Primary School

In their own words

This case study is a summary of a conversation with the class teacher, Lorna

Currently, 59 students aged 9-11-years-old take part in Topical Talk. It’s run in the curriculum by using one English lesson. Topical Talk works well as a literacy lesson so we feel we can dedicate that time. An hour and a half on average is given to Topical Talk each week.

The 'Big corp power' topic was particularly popular because it was so relevant to students – we were able to have some really interesting conversations around this. That was one that really gripped them.

One class taking part has a lot of children with SEND so when we started we felt they would need support from older students, so mixed them up. From how the class began, it is such a change now! They are as vocal as the older students and I think that’s down to regular use of Topical Talk.

The great thing about the programme is that there are so many different ways of pacing the lesson – students get used to paired work and group work and they've learnt that it’s okay to change your opinion. Their confidence has grown because there isn’t a right and wrong here. I don’t believe they would be debating the way they are – very deeply for their age – without Topical Talk.

I rave about Topical Talk – my brothers are both secondary teachers and I mention it to them. I said you need to get TT into your curriculum! I‘ve been doing it for so many years but at the very beginning I was so much more reliant on my script and now I know the ways and I really feel it has made me chase conversations that I wouldn’t have had in class before, or those that I might be more wary of having. It’s definitely something that, if I move to another school, I would be so keen to keep going as I really feel it’s important. As a teacher, it’s one of my favourite things to do. Facilitating a conversation to get students to lead a conversation among themselves is a rare thing. I love it.