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Enrichment: mental health resources

Virtual Library Closure 

Our Virtual School Library has now closed

With 93% of teachers telling us they’re keen to use Oak into next year†, we’re delighted that [we can continue supporting schools as we move forward in our mission](https://www.thenational.academy/blog/oaks-future-continuing-to-support-teachers-and-pupils "Read more about our long-term future") to deliver excellent curriculum content and support teachers’ expertise.

Amongst an outpouring of support for Oak since we shared the news of our long-term future, we’ve spotted some teachers asking a fair question: sure, it helped with disruption, but what are teachers using Oak for now?

Yes, we were founded in a bid to help keep pupils learning throughout school closures – but teachers, ever innovative creatures, have found new uses for the thousands of free, high-quality resources that were born out of our pandemic partnerships. We’re still learning more about our 200,000 weekly users, but here’s what we do know about why teachers are visiting Oak…

Planning blog intro

Screenshot of tweet from EmClemEdu, saying "We've found it useful for setting cover, subject knowledge development for ITT colleagues and staff save planning time by using the ppt quizzes as their AfL. We don't use it as a prescriptive SOW but it does save time and workload."


EmClemEdu tweet

## To get a headstart on planning

We still have over 40,000 resources available for free, to support you in delivering 10,000 lessons across most subjects from EYFS to Year 11. With no logins or subscriptions required, it’s still super easy to find and download high-quality lesson materials for a vast selection of topics – with over 90% of lessons having downloadable quizzes, slides and worksheets. 

So it’s no surprise that we’re still seeing teachers dip into our Teacher Hub to save time and find inspiration. In fact, teachers have downloaded over 1.2 million resources since September 2021.


To get a headstart on planning

Screenshot of tweet saying "I think often with primary there is a lack of clarity over what a unit should/could look like in many of the foundation subjects. So useful starting point for many mapping out commonly taught topics (and may also be able to use/adapt ppts to take pressure off resourcing)."

Jon Hutchinson tweet

Schools have been using Oak to inform their curriculum structure and delivery. For each subject and key stage, [we have a curriculum map that details our fully-sequenced units and lessons](https://teachers.thenational.academy/oaks-curricula "View and download curriculum maps"). These resources can be borrowed as a source of inspiration for those teachers taking on new challenges and opportunities in the year ahead.

These maps can also be used to quickly match our resources to existing plans and see where they might fit in – which is especially useful for those that are well practised in their subject. We know that department leads have been ‘topping up’ existing banks of shared resources with Oak’s resources so colleagues can easily access and adapt them to suit their needs. And why not? As Headteacher Sam Harries says, “[Oak] is there, it's free, and from what we've seen, it's quality.”

[Head to our Teacher Hub](https://teachers.thenational.academy/ "Visit Teacher Hub") to see what resources are available to complement your upcoming lessons.

Screenshot of tweet from @AlwaysBeMarking, saying "I’ve used it for planning. E.g. prior to current school, I taught Jekyll and Hyde, rather than A Christmas Carol. It was and time-saving to have a route through teaching it, after our cold read: key themes to focus on, key extracts, and some ready-made questions/model answers."

kate-abm-tweet

Kate tweet

## To find foundations for a great lesson, in any topic

The time of teachers is incredibly precious – and creating lesson resources takes time.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, teachers are saving time by turning to Oak’s resources as a foundation to help structure their class materials. 


To find foundations for a great lesson, in any topic

Screenshot of tweet from @Deborah_maths, saying "I use it for teaching computing - a subject I'm forced to teach this year despite knowing very little about it. Oak Academy has been a huge help, and I've learnt so much about Scratch and other topics in the SOW."

Deborah-maths-tweet

Deborah tweet

All our resources have been crafted by experienced teachers, for fellow teachers, so you can rely on them to help you confidently deliver great lessons in any subject, no matter your specialism. Over 90% of our slides and sheets are downloadable in formats that allow you to directly edit, so you have ultimate flexibility in how you use them. If you’re taking on a new topic and wondering where to start, it’s always worth [taking a look at our Teacher Hub](https://teachers.thenational.academy/ "Visit Teacher Hub") to see if we’ve got existing content for you to use.

## To plan for those unplanned days

Pandemic or not, finding and setting last-minute cover for absent staff remains a consistent challenge. A sick day can mean a hurried tussle of finding cover that non-specialist staff can deliver whilst re-calculating how to keep pupils on track with your carefully sequenced plan.

Not being able to join pupils in the classroom can be frustrating, but Oak has continued to help take the pressure off, with pupils starting over 15 million lessons in our online Classroom since September 2021.

A little planning ahead before the new term can help ensure that your pupils stay on track with targeted, teacher-led lessons, regardless of what life throws at you.

Screenshot of tweet from @TweetcherT saying "I use it for cover lessons and I download the PPTs for the next lesson in the sequence for when I return so that my first day back after illness is a little easier in terms of not needing to photocopy anything! I also add links to my revision resources for student to use at home."

TweetcherT tweet

Oak’s lessons are also easy for non-specialist staff to navigate, and handing over a structured plan can help to keep pupils engaged in your absence. “Cover teachers really like Oak” says Rachel Watkins, Head of English. “The natural pauses in the video lessons leave space for questions and discussion. This is especially powerful when the person covering is non-specialist or unfamiliar with the topic and it’s definitely improved pupil engagement.”

Screenshot of tweet from @MissDunmore1 saying "We use it for emergency cover and staff absence (I’ve mapped relevant units to our curriculum already to ensure it’s purposeful) and we track which classes have covered which lessons. It’s been very useful in that sense for us. Means people aren’t having to send cover in when ill"

Joanna tweet

Of course, finding and bookmarking relevant lessons in advance can be time-consuming – which is why we’ve collated a complete lesson and resource directory for easy reference. [Download your copy to quickly search and filter by your needs](https://www.thenational.academy/lesson-and-resource-directory "Get a copy of Oak's Lesson and Resource Directory").

## We’re still learning

We exist to support teachers, and we're always looking for ways to adapt and continue doing this as best as we can.

But we can only do this with your help. Tell us what we're doing well and what we could do even better so we can keep learning. If you have any thoughts, feedback, or questions, [get in touch with us](https://www.thenational.academy/contact "How to contact Oak").

We're still learning

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---

† *93% of teachers currently using Oak, survey conducted March 2022.*

We’re still learning more about our 200,000 weekly users, but we wanted to share what we do know about why teachers are still visiting Oak.

Rachel Strom

Why are teachers still using Oak?

*At Wellington College on 7th July Matt took to the stage to speak in detail about why curriculum matters so much, and the system-wide challenges Oak will play a role in addressing in its future as an arms-length body.*

I want to start by thanking the thousands of pupils, parents, teachers, school leaders, partner organisations, volunteers, civil servants, ministers and Oak staff members who brought their energy and expertise to this project. 

Together they have created over 10,000 lessons across 24 subjects, including lessons for those who attend schools in the specialist sector. Pupils have completed just shy of 150 million Oak lessons. 

Teachers have downloaded nearly 2.5 million quizzes, slides and worksheets, and given us over 6,000 pieces of feedback on how to make them even better.

The [platform is currently ‘zero-rated’](https://support.thenational.academy/internet-access "About accessing Oak without data charges") so pupils and their families don’t get charged for data (a big thanks to the telecoms companies for that). The lessons are accessible, [including captions across all and British Sign Language across lessons for the youngest](https://support.thenational.academy/accessible-content "accessible lessons and resources on Oak"). 

The [lessons can also be auto-translated into 15 languages](https://support.thenational.academy/is-oak-available-in-other-languages "translating Oak to other languages"), including Ukrainian. And all for the annual cost of an average secondary school with the staff of an average primary school. It really is a living example of the best of our profession, and a testament to what we can do when we work together. 

I believe what has been built, and the spirit in which it was built, is too precious to just label as ‘something we did in the pandemic’ – and for some time we’ve set about trying to find a long-term home and role for Oak. I’m excited that we’re now well into the process of transferring this national asset into public ownership by becoming an independent, arms-length body of the Department for Education.

As part of this work, it's proposed we’ll keep doing what we’re doing: being there in the event of any future disruption, supporting with cover, helping with lesson planning, providing catch up and homework. All of this, and anything else you might use us for, will remain an important part of our work and who we are.

But in addition, we’ve been tasked with turning our focus to supporting the system with curriculum expertise. 

This new focus means that there is lots to think about. This presentation comes at a really pivotal point in the life of Oak National Academy and I’m excited to share some of that early thinking today.

Obviously, there is quite a lot of political change happening right now.

What I know about Oak is that we are at our best when we deliver in the face of rapidly-changing circumstances. 

The decision to create an arms-length body has been made. We’re going to continue work delivering that, so I still want to lay out the thinking.  

But it's worth me being clear that final decisions on the future scope and activities of the arms-length body are not yet made. 

Over the last week, the Department for Education has held a series of webinars laying out some current proposals, seeking feedback ahead of final decisions. 

What I’m sharing with you today is in line with those proposals – so I, too, am keen to get your thoughts and feedback afterwards.

## Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment
I wrote an article in 2018 where [I argued that England was having the best conversation about education in the world](https://www.tes.com/magazine/archived/best-education-debate-world). Ever the optimist, I stand by it today. 

That conversation has been fueled by teachers and school leaders taking control of their profession, talking to each other, and making ever-better bets about what will improve outcomes and close gaps in their classrooms – built on an ever-improving body of evidence.

Of course, the pandemic has reminded us of those critically important factors beyond teachers’ control that influence pupil outcomes and the attainment gap. As a society we neglect these at our peril. But when it comes to what is in our control, it’s my strong view that we’re making excellent progress towards the goal of becoming the best at getting better.

We’re increasingly putting to bed poorly-evidenced approaches that dominated my own teacher training and early career, and we’re replacing it with a laser focus on education’s holy trinity of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, wrapped in a calm, safe environment, with excellent pastoral care. The evidence is clear: this is a great bet and where our focus should be. 

The significant and welcome professional development reform programme has put rocket boosters under this work.

## Curriculum: a vital lever
Amongst education’s holy trinity, it’s the curriculum that has had renewed focus of late. And whilst we must avoid lurching from one branch of the trinity to another - pedagogy and assessment matter too - this renewed focus, precisely because curriculum should be our starting point, has been welcome.

We know that pupils who experience success when learning are likely to spend more and more time doing it, getting better and better, while those who find it more difficult come to believe that it is not for them and do less of it (the Matthew Effect).

Applied to the curriculum, it means the more a pupil knows, the more easily they can make sense of new knowledge, contextualise it for themselves, and go on to develop a sophisticated understanding of the subject. 

It is therefore also a matter of social justice. Curriculum is a vital lever as we seek to reverse the tidal wave of a widening attainment gap, washed in by the pandemic. 

And as I’ve already mentioned the educations’ holy trinity and one of the gospels, it now seems appropriate to quote one of our Saints: Professor Dylan Wiliams argues that “the best curricula generate at least 25% more learning than the worst, irrespective of teacher quality.” 

This renewed focus has had a marked impact at the secondary school I Chair in Morecambe, where there have been big leaps forward in the way in which we think about what we teach and in what order. 

What I find most powerful about our progress is seeing teachers hypothesise that the roots of a particular student misconception might be found in how we have chosen and sequenced the actual content, rather than just how we are teaching it - which always used to be the primary hypothesis for student misconceptions.

I know what’s happening at Bay Leadership Academy in Morecambe is a story that is being replicated in many schools and school trusts across the country.

But even ‘happening in lots of places’ has never been, and will never be, good enough for our profession. That’s because we don’t believe that we are only responsible for our pupils; we believe we have a responsibility to help each other in the service of all pupils. If Oak proves anything, it’s that this belief is alive and well.

And we know that this progress in curriculum quality isn’t happening absolutely everywhere. 

The progress in my secondary school hasn’t yet been replicated in my primary school up the road in Carlisle. With more support, we’ll make that progress faster.

This situation is not uncommon. Ofsted’s research found challenges on curriculum knowledge(*1*) and concerns about curriculum planning(*2*). Ofsted’s subject reviews have had a huge amount of interest, so there is clearly a strong appetite for some help and guidance on subject-specific curriculum thinking.

Nor is it uncommon for there to be variation within schools or school trusts. I don’t know a single CEO or headteacher who thinks that they have nailed the curriculum for every subject, in every key stage. 

## You need time and expertise

Designing and developing a curriculum is both complex and time-consuming at every level - from deciding whether or not to teach perimeter and area separately, right through to identifying the best images and graphs for a lesson on glaciers.

You first need time upfront. It’s not something you can do with 30 minutes between lessons. Experienced teachers need to sit, think and collaborate. Any teacher will tell you finding that kind of time in a school day is like panning for gold. 

Once you have designed your curriculum, you then need implementation time, and even when implemented, the curriculum doesn’t stand still.

You need to have time in your back pocket because feedback loops will result in necessary or desired changes as you see what works and what doesn’t with your pupils. And when the curriculum changes, all the lesson plans and resources need to be updated in line with it.

Second, you need expertise. Expertise here comes in two forms. First is the deep subject knowledge required to build a great curriculum. Second is a deep understanding of how pupils learn, which translates into the careful selection and sequencing of knowledge and skills.

These two areas of expertise are interlinked. How you sequence a curriculum and build knowledge will, in part, depend on the specifics of your subject. An English teacher may tell you, for example, it's better to sequence knowledge around a theme of tragedy, comparing and building between different authors rather than simply focusing on Shakespeare and the tragedy found in King Lear or Macbeth.

No one teacher, however experienced or expert, can do this right across all content within a subject and all key stages. A team is required. 

## Expertise is dispersed

Without a team it is impossible to knit together subjects over time, to make the most of those cross-curricular connections. It is these connections that ensure that individual components, distributed across subjects, can come together into more complex composites. 

This team of experts exists. They’re working up and down the country. As teachers right across our 24,000 or so schools. In our brilliant collection of subject associations. Within publishers creating content for teachers. 

But it’s a dispersed team. It’s not one that every teacher can easily tap into, learn from, or draw down on. 

We have to change that - to make it so every teacher has the best curriculum thinking, the deepest subject expertise, and the smartest learning design at their fingertips. 

If we believe that curriculum matters; if we believe that creating an excellent curriculum that knits together every subject and key stage matters; if we believe all pupils marvelling at the best of what has been thought, said, sung, danced and painted matters; and if we believe it is hard to achieve because it takes more time and curriculum expertise than many schools have access to; then I think it follows that we need to do three things.

## 1. Bust a myth

Let's start with addressing the myth: that, as a profession, we have to choose between teacher and school autonomy and teacher workload and wellbeing. This just isn’t true.

It is perfectly possible for teachers to avoid creating every aspect of a curriculum from scratch, along with all the elements of every lesson - which otherwise often results in crippling teacher workload, whilst rejecting top-down centralisation, with no teacher agency and diminishing expertise.

And if we’re in any doubt about this workload burden, it’s worth remembering that teachers spend a considerable amount of time searching for lesson materials. The majority of primary [teachers spend between one to five hours online each week looking for resources](https://teachertapp.co.uk/working-hours-world-book-day-and-the-ideal-gcse-course-length/ "Teacher Tapp working hours research"), and almost half of them [say they plan a lot of lessons from scratch](https://teachertapp.co.uk/should-we-keep-the-phonics-check-and-which-subjects-won-at-advanced-info/ "Teacher Tapp research on planning lessons").

Research on teachers searching for resources

We’ve just conducted more new research on this. We asked teachers, via Teacher Tapp, what it was particularly difficult to find online. Over half said they struggled with free or affordable resources. 

Over a third said it was high-quality, evidence-based resources that were a challenge. Their next greatest challenge was resources sequenced into a full scheme of work. 

Teacher Tapp, which resources are hardest to find

Teacher tapp - which resources have been hardest to find

Teachers working in the most deprived areas, or those newest to the profession, found searching for these resources harder still(*3*).

Teachers will always need to adapt, to contextualise, to tailor to their pupils. But they need not always spend so much precious time if they don’t want or need to. 

We should trust and support teachers to make informed decisions, so they know when drawing on shared resources might be helpful, and when, and what, they need to design themselves.

It is particularly frustrating when it’s presented as a zero-sum game: that what teachers might gain by accessing shared expertise, they’ll lose in autonomy. 

This isn’t how teachers see it themselves. The data shows day-to-day teachers are happy to draw on a wide range of tools and resources from others. 92% of them use more than one major online resource provider(*4*). 

And as I’ll explain, seeing others’ work and seeing models can inspire and *increase* expertise. 

This polarisation - complete autonomy vs total centralisation - is unhelpful. It risks stymying sector-wide attempts to find and share the best curriculum expertise in the system.

## 2. Create a new national collaboration to share models
The second thing we need to do is to establish a new national collaboration to create more curriculum models.

At Oak, asking teachers what they want and need from us is the start of everything that we do. 

That list I presented earlier - the 10,000 lessons, zero-rating, British Sign Language, Ukrainian translation – alongside all of the ‘day-to-day things’, like resizing our downloadable quizzes to keep photocopying costs down – all came about because we asked teachers what they wanted and needed and then built from there. 

The curriculum question is no different, and so we’ve asked again. New research we commissioned, again via TeacherTapp, tells us that teachers want two things to support them with their curriculum work: almost two-thirds said they wanted to see good examples, and just under half wanted to collaborate with experts from outside of their school(*5*).

Teacher Tapp research, how to develop and improve curriculum

Teacher Tapp research, curriculum

Teacher tapp graph 2

It’s not just teachers telling us that this is what they need that gives us confidence that we’re on solid ground. The literature and our experience points us there too. 

We know that seeing good examples, or models, is a good bet. We know that they aid learning for both pupils and adults, and we know that teachers often find it hard to find them.

In the [evaluation of Oak carried out by ImpactEd last year](https://www.thenational.academy/annual-report-2020-21 "Oak Annual Report 2020/21") 56% of our teachers told us that we’d helped them improve their curriculum thinking and the conversations they have about curriculum in their school.

And as we know, it’s not just that collaboration is a good bet. It’s essential because our experts are distributed far and wide across the system.

## 3. Put some clear guardrails in place

The third and final thing that we need to do is to establish a number of guard rails that prevent any unhelpful mutations of this work - either now or in the future. 

That’s why it will be written into our founding documents that Oak National Academy will always be:

- __independent of government__ - so that Oak’s roots as by teachers, for teachers, are protected, and our work isn’t buffeted by the political winds of the day;
- __optional__ - because it’s up to schools to always decide what their curriculum will look like;
- __adaptable__ - because no model can suit every teacher in every context; 
- __free__ - because access to this work shouldn’t be based on who can afford to pay.

Independent. Optional. Adaptable. Free.

As well as these fundamentals of how Oak *will* operate, I think it’s important to be crystal clear on what it won’t look like. Ever the teacher, I want to give you a non-example. 

The solution will not be found in:

- a narrative where teachers and school leaders are told we need to do this because we’re not good enough. We need a narrative of doing this because we know we can be even better - that’s what being the best at getting better means;
- something that is top-down, small tent, inflexible or mandatory;
- something that is rushed, ill-thought through and not by teachers for teachers.

## The proposal

So this is where we are. Creating a great curriculum requires time, deep subject knowledge, and design expertise. It’s all there in the system. It’s happening in schools, trusts, subject associations, and publishers. 

But it’s dispersed, hard to share and access, and still developing. We can’t hand on heart say this is consistent across every subject area and accessible to every school and every teacher (yet).

But that’s got to be the goal. For us truly to deliver better pupil outcomes and to close gaps, we need it in every school.

We are therefore laying out a proposal to deliver on this. As I say, this is currently out for feedback before any final decisions are taken.

The proposal is:

- An independent organisation, with teachers on its board
- Working with a diverse range of experts to assess the evidence, and agree rigorous quality standards, specific for each subject 
- Identifying brilliant models and expertise from across the system to create curriculum maps, lesson materials (such as slides, quizzes and worksheets), and video lessons
- Supporting a broad range of subjects, with the first tranche being in English, Maths, Science, Geography, History and RE
- Doing this through an open and collaborative approach - likely via an open procurement from Autumn 2022
- Consistently listen to teachers - including road testing resources in schools before iterating and improving them

We then envisage schools and teachers using the resources in a variety of ways:  

- To support curriculum and lesson planning 
- To support the development of new and early career teachers
- For homework, tutoring or catch up
- Or, to have a remote-education contingency ready, should God forbid, we ever need it again.


## Conclusion 
Getting this approach right means that Oak must only ever be seen as a starting, and never an end, point. 

Schools and teachers know their pupils best. They rightly feel a great responsibility towards them. Planning their curriculum and lessons is a vital and valued part of being a teacher. 

Schools and teachers will, and must, continue to think deeply and carefully about what is best for them, their pupils, and their context. Choosing if and how they use Oak, just as they do now with a range of other support, tools and resources. 

And they will, and must, consider how this is brought to life. As John Tomsett said recently, “Whatever the scheme [of work] is, teachers have to be able to make it their own. Children have got to learn, know, understand and apply this content. That depends on the pedagogy of the teacher to make it interesting for them.”

But we know teachers want support. 

They’re struggling to find good-quality, sequenced, affordable resources. Our research shows it.

They want more examples of curricula, and access to external experts to help. 

So we intend to bust this myth. You *can* protect autonomy whilst tackling one of the greatest causes of crippling workload. 

This new national collaboration, sharing the expertise currently spread across our system; putting it on tap for every school in the country. Access to quality lessons, resources and models.

But it will be done with important guardrails in place: Independent. Optional. Adaptable. Free.

## We want to hear from you

Before I finish, I just want to make one final request. 

Just like in April 2020, this only works if we all lean in. So if you’ve been reading and thinking, ‘we’ve been working hard on our curriculum’ or ‘we’ve got a great sequence and set of resources’ – brilliant. We want to hear from you. 

Whether it's in one subject or spanning many. Whether you’re a big organisation, or a small standalone school. I believe there is so much great work in the system. 

Our role is to help to share it. And whatever you put in, I know we’ll all get more out if we all work together. 

[So talk to us. Help us shape this](https://www.thenational.academy/contact "How to contact Oak"). Ultimately, it will be pupils up and down the country who benefit. 

##### Footnotes

(1) Amanda Spielman, “Recent Primary and Secondary Curriculum Research”, in HMCI’s commentaries, (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED), 2017), (p. 3)

(2) ‘Education inspection framework: overview of research’ (January 2019), p.6, Ofsted

(3) Oak survey conducted via Teacher Tapp, 5,140 respondents, June 2022

(4) Based on survey with 629 teachers, asked about their use of BBC Bitesize, Twinkl, TES, Seneca and Oak National Academy over the past 6 months (March 2022)

(5) Oak survey conducted via Teacher Tapp, 5108 respondents, June 2022

Matt Hood

Curriculum matters: Matt Hood’s keynote session at The Festival of Education

With 93% of teachers planning to use Oak National Academy beyond this school year[^1] we are delighted to confirm that Oak will continue to support teachers, schools and pupils for the long-term.

Oak’s resources remain free and available for you to use in and outside the classroom in preparation for the next academic year.

In March, the Secretary of State for Education announced [Oak will be established as a new, operationally independent, arms-length body of Government](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/education-secretary-promises-to-harness-energy-and-expertise-of-teachers "Read more on gov.uk"). Our role will be to support teachers in delivering excellent curriculum content and improving curriculum expertise.

With this news, we wanted to share a little more on the thinking behind this, and some early information on what the new body is going to do (although much is still to be confirmed).

## The need to support teachers with curriculum implementation

Designing and continuously improving a curriculum, and creating resources for lessons (often from scratch), is both time consuming and requires significant expertise.

Since the introduction of the more rigorous National Curriculum, the expectations on teachers here have only further increased. We know there is clear evidence that we can, and should, better support teachers in this area.

Just in the last few weeks, Teacher Tapp has found the majority of primary [teachers spend between one to five hours online each week looking for resources](https://teachertapp.co.uk/working-hours-world-book-day-and-the-ideal-gcse-course-length/ "Read more on Teacher Tapp's website"). 

Almost half of primary school teachers (46%) say they need to plan a lot of lessons from scratch and 30% do not have access to existing lesson plans. And research [in recent months from BESA](https://www.besa.org.uk/insights/resources-in-english-maintained-schools-2022/ "Read more on BESA's website") found that schools want more resources than they can afford.

Meanwhile, we’ve been delighted that teachers and schools have found the support from Oak National Academy in this area to be highly valuable.

Whilst many used our [teacher-created resources](https://teachers.thenational.academy/ "Teacher Hub") to support the response to the pandemic, this has now shifted to it being used to support lesson planning, in-class delivery and curriculum design. These are now the biggest use cases for teachers using Oak post pandemic with, on average, more than 40,000 teachers and 225,000 pupils using Oak each week in 2022.

Alongside assessing our usage data, we’ve placed significant focus on research and evaluation to make sure we’re making a positive impact and meeting teachers’ needs.

Last year ImpactEd completed an [independent evaluation of our work (pdf)](https://assets.ctfassets.net/ygggx3rcdvia/71qzpQA2MqlkvDs5OEDCv4/1d3ba8ab1743e40c167d6cdab3fc398c/Oak_Evaluation_Report_-_FINAL_Sept_2021.pdf "Read the full PDF report here"). Comparing Oak-user teachers to non-user teachers, it showed early signs that Oak had a positive impact on teacher workload and wellbeing. 

Most Oak users also stated that it improved their quality of teaching, both remotely and in-class, and increased their confidence in curriculum design. And in their latest research from February 2022, Teacher Tapp found 79% of Oak’s users recommend it.

## What will we do in the future?

From this solid foundation, we want to do more.

Guided by the National Curriculum, we’ll work with a diverse range of teachers, schools, bodies and experts from across the sector to facilitate the development of curriculum maps and thousands of downloadable lessons and digital resources.

These will all be freely available to teachers and children and will support a whole variety of use cases.

We will continue our focus on making sure the most disadvantaged children can benefit and be supported, given those from the poorest backgrounds have suffered most during the pandemic.

We’ll [continue to support students with SEND](https://teachers.thenational.academy/specialist "Explore our SEND lessons"), and offer materials and lessons that stretch pupils beyond the National Curriculum too.

The resources and curricula will be totally optional, fully adaptable and have a range of choices and approaches for teachers to pick from.

Teachers know their pupils best so will be free to use whatever fits in with their existing approach, take inspiration from evidence-based examples, or edit and adapt them to meet their needs.

Ofsted will not mandate the curriculum maps and materials, and they will not be 'pre-approved' in any way. If our products and support are not helpful to a particular school’s context, they can and should entirely ignore us!

Oak’s success to date has been grounded in our ‘by teachers, for teachers’ approach. Over 500 teachers from 50 schools and partners came together to create our existing resources.

This open, collaborative approach will be even more important going forward. As we become a national body, we want to gather and reflect views from across the sector.

We are committed to bringing together expertise from across the sector to develop and agree our approach in an open process. And we will involve thousands of teachers up and down the country in the planning, testing and ongoing improvement of our work.

We are also committed to sharing what we learn, supporting the development of strong subject communities and facilitating the ongoing development of curriculum expertise.

We hope all of this means we can support teachers so they can spend more time focused on directly supporting their pupils.

## Next steps 

As Oak moves into its next phase, we’re particularly grateful to the [Reach Foundation](https://www.reach-c2c.org/ "Visit the Reach Foundation's website"), who have incubated us to date, and have agreed to transfer all of Oak’s assets, including our platform and data, to the arms-length body.

As you can imagine, there are many more details still to confirm. In the coming weeks and months I hope we can engage with as many of you as possible to shape these, so the new body truly supports pupils and teachers. We’ll share more news as soon as possible.

Lastly, thank-you again for all the support you and our incredible partners have given Oak since we launched. It's been a privilege to play a small role in the incredible efforts of the education community over the last two challenging years.

[^1]: *93% of teachers currently using Oak*

Following recent announcements, we wanted to share a little more information on what the new body is going to do.