Today marks the end of our stewardship of Oak National Academy as it transitions into a new arm’s length body, independent of government and with a long-term, sustainable future guaranteed. 

At a time when our system has never been more fragile, Oak provides a model of collaboration and collective impact that gives me confidence we can work together to tackle the complex problems our young people, schools and communities face. The platform has had a remarkable impact over the last two years, with nearly half of teachers using it to support their work, and pupils completing 150 million lessons. 

In the aftermath of the pandemic, with significant resourcing constraints, rapid changes in political leadership and an increasingly atomised system, collaboration has never been more difficult. At the same time, these challenges require us to work together even more urgently - they cannot be addressed by a single organisation. 

Oak National Academy

The experience of Oak National Academy is a great example of that collaboration. There are lessons we take from it: firstly, it was driven by the experience and expertise of teachers and schools on the ground, but was enabled by a broad partnership facilitated by a dedicated and talented team; secondly, it was supported by, but independent of, government and part of the Reach Foundation; and thirdly, it was a rapid and coordinated response to a complex problem that did not make the perfect the enemy of the good, but constantly sought to refine and improve the quality of the solution over time. 

Seeing teachers collaborating across the country made us at Reach redouble our efforts to build partnerships, and we have found a great appetite for further collaboration. Locally, the Feltham Convening Partnership sees universities, schools, early years providers, health providers, faith organisations and others coming together with young people and parents to address the complex challenges affecting young people in our community. 

Beyond Feltham, in September we will be working with 12 Trusts nationally who are coming together to develop Cradle to Career models in their communities, while nine trusts in the South West have developed the South West 100, taking responsibility for identifying and developing the next generation of headteachers for the region. Beyond schools, we are working with UK Youth, Frontline and Dixons Academy Trust on JoinedUp, a cross-sector leadership development programme.  

Stipulations for government

The solutions to the challenges we face will, I am convinced, come from within the sector, not from the centre. They will only be solved through joint working locally, regionally and nationally. 

We have taken seriously our role as custodians of Oak over the last two years. We were pleased when the Department of Education expressed a commitment to a long-term, sustainable future for Oak.

As you would expect for an undertaking of this scale, there were countless hours of discussion on the transfer of Oak. We consulted with our partners - schools, multi-academy trusts, subject associations and others - and agreed with the Department on four principles that must be maintained in the long term: 

• For Oak to retain the “by teachers, for teachers” brand, with the production of future curriculum materials to be independent of government and validated by the sector.
• For Oak to be free, and entirely optional, for schools in England to use.
• For Oak to continue to draw on a broad range of providers.
• For Oak resources to be evidence-based, and in line with knowledge-rich curriculum principles.

We agreed to transfer the Oak assets so long as we were given confidence that these principles would be protected, and that our trustees could be confident that the Oak assets will continue to deliver education for the public benefit in the long term. 

In particular, we sought meaningful assurances around the long-term intentions of the Department with regard to the Oak assets, and we are pleased that these assurances have been embedded in the Articles of Association of the new body, which has been established by the DfE.

‘No profit’ rule

Elsewhere, the articles state that no individual will be able to profit from the activities of the new body and that if the new body were to be wound up, its assets and activities must be transferred to a charitable or not-for-profit organisation. 

We have agreed that the Reach Foundation will act as a guardian member of the new body, which means that no amendments to the clauses above can be made without the Foundation trustees’ consent. 

We are proud of the role we have played and have felt a strong sense of responsibility to secure the ongoing public benefit of the assets that have been created through this unique collaboration. Curriculum partners were able to choose whether to continue to make their resources available, and all but one have done so. At a time of significant uncertainty and volatility in the system, we are relieved that this national resource will continue to be available. 

We wish the team luck as they transfer to a new body for Oak’s next chapter, and look forward to them continuing to provide an example of meaningful collaboration that supports teachers and pupils across the country, independent of government and sustaining in the long term. 

Ed Vainker is CEO of the Reach Foundation