How one trust is using Oak to align RSHE curricula across different primary schools and contexts

About the trustLearning in Harmony Trust

Learning in Harmony Trust, a 13-school trust across London and Southend, is using Oak’s RHE curriculum to bring greater assurance while preserving each school’s autonomy and local context.

Established in 2014, Learning in Harmony Trust now supports more than 5,000 pupils across mainstream primary schools ranging from two-form to four-form entry.

The trust’s schools serve very different pupil communities. Some schools are based in relatively affluent suburban areas in Southend, while others serve highly diverse East London communities with higher levels of disadvantage and EAL.

Across the trust, schools also support increasing numbers of pupils with special educational needs, including specialist provision such as Autism Research Bases (ARBs).

Because of these differences, the trust doesn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to curriculum. While leaders wanted to strengthen collaboration and reduce workload for colleagues, it was equally important that each school retained the flexibility to respond to its own local context.

That’s where Oak came in.

The challengeImplementing new RSHE guidance consistently across different schools

Before using Oak, Leanne Stokoe, who supports development of curriculum and assessment across the trust, found it difficult to feel confident that every school was fully covering the statutory RSHE requirements.

Schools were using a wide range of different resources, making it difficult to ensure consistent coverage, align approaches where needed and reduce duplication of effort.

After Oak was recommended by an expert at the Newham Partnership, Leanne began working closely with Geoff Wells, Oak’s RSHE and Citizenship Subject Lead. Together with a working group of leaders (Becca Owen, Mohammed Yasin Ahmed, Julie Clancy and Amber Sturgeon) from across the trust, they began implementing Oak’s RSHE curriculum. The majority of Learning in Harmony’s mainstream schools will adopt the curriculum from September, with plans to explore Oak in other subject areas as the refreshed national curriculum develops.

The impactGreater confidence in statutory coverage

Because Oak’s RSHE curriculum is fully aligned with the updated statutory guidance, leaders feel far more confident that schools are covering what they need to.

Using Oak’s curriculum map and curriculum threads, the trust has been able to identify what works best for each school while maintaining a shared structure across the trust.

As Leanne explains, “Knowing that the resources have been approved eliminated the fear of missing something from the statutory guidance. It’s made the change a lot less stressful — we’re ready for September.”

Expert support helped schools adapt the curriculum to their context

Working directly with Oak’s RSHE Subject Lead gave trust leaders confidence in how to tailor the curriculum for different schools and communities.

Geoff Wells, Oak’s RSHE and Citizenship Subject Lead, supported leaders to:

• Identify meaningful cross-curricular links
• Adapt content for different timetables and contexts
• Consider how RSHE themes could be used within assemblies
• Understand where flexibility within the curriculum was appropriate

This support helped schools maintain autonomy while still benefiting from a shared curriculum.

Improved transparency with parents and staff

Because Oak is free and openly licensed, staff and parents can easily access and review curriculum materials without paywalls or logins.

This has supported the trust’s consultation process ahead of September by making it easier for stakeholders to understand exactly what pupils will learn.

Leanne notes, “the simplicity of the website makes it really easy to navigate. It’s much easier than other providers to see links between units and to digest the curriculum.”

Increased teacher confidence and subject knowledge

The trust is also using Oak to strengthen subject knowledge for colleagues through INSET training and collaborative planning.

Leaders are working with teachers to ensure Oak is used as a flexible curriculum resource - not simply a “click-through” set of lessons, empowering staff to adapt materials to suit their pupils and school context.

If you’re considering looking at Oak’s RSHE curriculum, Leanne’s advice is simple, “Go for it. It gives you the comfort of knowing the coverage meets the statutory guidance, while still giving you the flexibility to fit it to your context.”