Oak National Academy will no longer refer to its resources as “complete” or “finished” lessons, in what a school leaders’ union has branded an attempt to “deflect criticism of government centralisation of the curriculum”.
Oak’s three-year strategy published today, sets out its aim to provide schools with new lesson planning and teaching resources, which it says “will not be a finished lesson”.
Oak has said today that its “new role” will be to help teachers to lower their workload through help with lesson planning and increasing curriculum expertise.
The strategy document says: “Oak’s new in-class teaching resources will not be a finished lesson; only teachers can plan how to use them, how to design and how deliver their lessons. We’ll actively encourage teachers to consider different methods.”
Jonathan Dando, Oak’s director of school support and external relations, told Tes that teaching resources would be grouped into sequenced units and lessons. “As we want teachers to have total freedom to use as much or as little they need, we’ve moved away from referring to them as complete lessons,” he said.
Oak’s newer videos will instead “act as inspiration” for new teachers or for those teaching new topics and “will be a starting point” to help workload “while respecting teacher’s professional autonomy”, he said.
This reflects listening to input from a range of teachers, unions and experts, he added.
Oak resources “will be highly adaptable so teachers can build on them and combine them with their own materials with ease to suit their school context and their pupils”, Mr Dando said.
Full videos will be accessible for emergencies - for pupils to watch online for remote education back-up in time of disruption, such as snow days or strike action, or to support homework and cover.
However, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It appears that Oak is trying to deflect criticism of government centralisation of the curriculum by saying that it isn’t creating off-the-shelf lessons but resources that can be incorporated into lessons. It is a fine distinction.”
The arms-length body (ALB) has come under fire from teachers’ and headteachers’ leaders who are sceptical about the organisation’s claim to be “by teachers for teachers”, since it was taken over by the Department for Education.
The DfE is also facing the threat of a legal challenge over its decision to establish Oak National Academy as an ALB.
Mr Barton said that teachers “can already get such resources from textbooks and other providers, and the government could save itself £40 million”.
Last year, Oak announced it would receive £43 million in public funding over the next three years.
How Oak will judge its performance
Oak’s three-year strategy and annual business plan for 2023-24, published today, also reveal its key performance indicators.
The ALB has revealed it will aim to have half of its curriculum packages launched for the first six subjects by March 2024.
It then aims to have full curriculum packages, which include curriculum sequencing, guidance and teaching resources, under way by September 2024.
Oak has also revealed its “three strategic goals”, one of which is for more teachers and pupils to choose to use its products more often.
The ALB has said it also wants to “contribute to improvements in the curriculum in schools” and “become a high-performing, well-respected part of the sector”.
In 2023-2024, Oak is to receive £15.2 million in funding.
