Listening & speaking (communication)

The skill of listening and speaking (communication) is fundamental to pupils’ development, in education and beyond.  It’s key to start building from an early age as global societal and technological trends will continue to shape the future workplace as pupils move through education.  These changes are brought about by AI, automation and as the world looks to reduce the impacts of climate change. Core transferable skills such as listening and speaking (communication) are becoming increasingly valuable to employers and can transfer across different roles and industries. 

Listening and speaking, or communication, is a fundamental skill which enables young people to work well with others, solve problems and develop leadership. Teaching pupils’ communication skills from a young age will empower them to receive, retain and transmit information and ideas, influencer others, and use critical thinking skills to evaluate different perspectives.

This lesson helps 7–11-year-old pupils grow in confidence when sharing their ideas, listening to others, and adjusting how they communicate depending on who they are talking to and the situation they are in. 

Teaching resources:

• Listening and speaking (communication): Lesson plan and presentation slides - for use with a group of pupils in the classroom
• Listening and speaking (communication): Pupil worksheet – worksheet that ask pupils to reflect on their listening and speaking skills that they’ve learned in this lesson
• Primary school: Skills tracker – an optional resource to support pupils keep track of the skills they have developed and plan how they can practise them
• Listening and speaking icon: available to download and incorporate in your wider teaching materials to help students recognise other contexts where they are learning and utilising listening and speaking skills. 

Lesson learning outcomes

By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Define listening and speaking (communication)
• Understand how good listening and speaking (communication) skills are helpful in the world of work
• Discuss how they can show this skill at home, school or after school clubs.

Support pupils’ ongoing progression 

This lesson features in the employability skills scheme of learning for 7–11-year-olds. They provide a ready-made sequence of curriculum linked resources to help you build progression in your learners' knowledge over time. Visit the Scheme of learning homepage to support with your planning