A new independent government body will be created to support
teachers in delivering excellent curriculum content as part of
world class lessons, the Education Secretary will confirm today
(Friday 11 March) as he sets out plans to help every child in the
country reach the true height of their potential.
Under its mission to level up standards across the school system,
the government is targeting 90% of children leaving primary
school having achieved the expected standard in reading, writing
and maths by 2030, up from 65% in 2019.
Speaking at the Association of School and College Leaders
Conference the Education Secretary will set out how the upcoming
launch of the first Schools White Paper since 2016 will deliver
on this vision for excellent teaching, through:
- The conversion of Oak National Academy into an entirely new
Arm’s Length Body to the Department for Education – focused on
supporting teachers to deliver excellent lessons and building on
Oak’s success;
- Strengthening the support system in place for teachers
throughout their career – by re-endowing the Education Endowment
Foundation to continue researching and developing best practice
in teaching methods and re-committing to delivering 500,000
teacher training opportunities by 2024 for teachers from trainee
to head level; and
- Delivering £30,000 starting salaries and offering retention
payments for teachers in priority subjects in areas currently
with lower attainment to attract and retain the best teachers.
Speaking about the evolution of Oak National Academy at the
conference, the Secretary of State is expected to say:
The biggest asset we have in changing the lives of children for
generations to come is the energy and expertise of our teachers
and school leaders.
You can’t have a great education if you don’t have a great
teacher. But of course, great teachers need great support.
Oak National Academy has certainly been one of our great
achievements. It was created by teachers, for teachers, and
showed brilliantly what the profession was capable of in the hour
of need.
Building on the nearly 3,500 hours of video lesson content it
provided during the pandemic, we will now establish Oak as a new
arms-length curriculum body.
This is important because the data shows 46% of primary teachers
plan lessons from scratch. This is a drain on teachers’ time and
we’re going to fix it.
Curriculum design is complex and we want to share the very best
practice so teachers can draw inspiration from evidence based,
carefully sequenced examples.
Instead of each teacher reinventing the wheel, they will be able
to access content, for free, that continuously evolves and gets
better and better on the back of feedback from teachers across
the country - saving time and improving lessons immeasurably.
At the heart of this body will be collaboration and partnership,
and I am committed to building on the “by teachers, for teachers”
approach that has been a key success factor for Oak National
Academy.
Ed Vainker, CEO of the Reach Foundation, the organisation that
established Oak National Academy, said:
The Reach Foundation is proud of the role it has played
stewarding Oak National Academy and is grateful to partner
organisations for their immense voluntary contribution.
We are pleased that the government has committed to sustaining
Oak in perpetuity and have agreed to transfer it to the DfE, on
the basis that it will be fully independent and will always
remain free and in public ownership.
Under the framework already provided by the national curriculum,
the new curriculum body will work with a diverse range of
teachers and experts from across the sector to facilitate the
creation of curriculum maps and thousands of downloadable lessons
and resources, which will be made freely available to all
teachers, parents and children.
Its use will be entirely optional for teachers, with the
intention of supporting those who use it to cut down on the
workload pressure caused by lesson planning and curriculum
design.
The new body is expected to become fully operational from Autumn
following a transition phase, with its final name to be
confirmed, and its first new products available to teachers in
September 2023.
It will work with the Education Endowment Foundation to ensure
its activity is informed by the best available evidence and
aligns with best practice.
The Schools White Paper is expected to be published later in
March, and will set out a plan for every child to get a great
education and the right support, in the right place, and at the
right time.
