How a school is transforming English teaching with Oak’s curriculum

Great English teaching helps pupils find their voice - as readers, writers and speakers. That’s why our complete English curriculum for key stages 1 to 4 is designed to build confident communicators from the very start of school life through to GCSEs.

Whether you’re laying strong foundations in phonics and handwriting, or exploring Shakespeare and modern texts, the new curriculum plans and adaptable lesson resources bring coherence, clarity and creativity to your teaching.

Across primary and secondary, teachers are using Oak to strengthen subject knowledge, streamline planning and ensure every pupil develops the skills to express themselves with accuracy and flair.

Oak in action

Wavendon Gate School has seen a remarkable transformation in teaching since adopting the new Oak English curriculum across key stage 1 and key stage 2.

Teachers at the school report that the comprehensive, high-quality resources have significantly reduced their planning workload.

“The best thing about Oak resources is the time they save,” said one teacher. “As a teacher and a mum, it’s given me my evenings back – I can actually put my children to bed, which is really important.”

Show transcript

Show transcript

(bright music)

Using the Oak resources enables the teachers

to really focus on their delivery

and bring back their love of teaching and their spark,

and that's something that I've been able to see.

It became really clear

that sequential learning is embedded within it,

so that gave me a really good starting point

and a direction to map out the units across the year

for the entire school.

The children have really adapted well

to the change in curriculum.

They like the structure of the lessons.

It gives them lots of opportunity,

and it allows us to get them into a routine

of how the lessons are delivered.

The vocabulary and the lesson resources

that are provided are really high quality,

so the children then are speaking

with lots of the vocabulary they've been taught.

We found that pupils have responded really,

really well to using Oak.

For example, we focused on just identifying

where you would put the brackets, the commas,

and the dashes to identify parenthesis, but next door,

dashes are used to add drama, brackets used to add facts.

I left all that in for them to use,

whereas my class was able to focus on just identifying it,

but it was all there in the slides originally.

We could just easily choose what we wanted

to focus on for each of us.

When we had the director of English

from a secondary feeder school come in last term,

she said, "I look at this work,

and it looks like the children are excited to write it.

How do I get my children to write like this?"

My answer was, use Oak.

Before I started using Oak,

I did have a preconception that,

oh, it must have been developed because of COVID.

It's brilliant.

I feel a little bit cross with myself

that I hadn't considered using it before.

The best thing about Oak resources is saving you time.

As a teacher and as a mum, it's given me my evenings back,

which means that I can then put my children to bed,

which is really, really important.

Reigniting teaching passion

By providing fully resourced, sequential units, aligned to the national curriculum, Oak has enabled staff to focus on their teaching. Deputy Headteacher Sally Sheridan explained, “Using the Oak resources allows teachers to really focus on their delivery and bring back their love of teaching – it’s reignited their creative drive.”

Pupils, too, have responded positively. The clear structure and routines of Oak’s lessons help students feel confident and engaged. “They’ve adapted really well. They like the structure, and it helps them settle into a rhythm of learning,” one teacher noted.

The resources also support strong vocabulary development and writing skills. Sally highlighted, “When the director of English from our secondary feeder school visited, she said, ‘These children look excited to write – how do I get mine to write like this?’ My answer was simple: use Oak.”

Curriculum designed for today’s classrooms

Teachers at Wavendon appreciate the adaptability of the curriculum, which allows them to select only what’s needed for each lesson and tailor it to different pupil needs, including SEND pupils.

While some were initially concerned that Oak’s content might be limited to pandemic-era remote learning, they’ve been impressed by how the platform has evolved. “It’s completely different now – not just home learning from five years ago, but a creative, adaptable classroom resource.”

Across the school, the impact is clear: improved pupil outcomes, empowered teachers and a renewed joy in teaching.

A complete curriculum for every stage of learning

Wavendon Gate’s story reflects what’s possible when you implement a complete, expertly sequenced English curriculum that empowers both staff and pupils. From the first sentences written in year 1 to analytical essays in year 11, Oak’s key stage 1–4 curriculum helps teachers nurture confident writers, critical readers and articulate speakers.

With flexible resources that cover the breadth of the English curriculum – from classic and contemporary literature to oracy and disciplinary literacy – schools can build consistency, raise ambition and inspire a love of language at every stage.