--- title: How are schools using our lesson planning and teaching resources? description: See how teachers and schools are making the most of Oak National Academy's resources. --- [Skip to content](https://support.thenational.academy/how-schools-are-using-oaks-lessons-and-resources#main-content) [Report an issue](https://support.thenational.academy/kb-tickets/new?hsLang=en) ![flogo.png\]](https://support.thenational.academy/hs-fs/hubfs/Email/oak-template-august22/flogo.png?height=44&name=flogo.png) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Report an issue](https://support.thenational.academy/kb-tickets/new) - [Back to Oak](https://www.thenational.academy/) [Back to Oak](https://www.thenational.academy/) How can we help? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Help Centre](https://support.thenational.academy/?hsLang=en) 2. [Our teaching resources](https://support.thenational.academy/our-teaching-resources?hsLang=en) September 29, 2026 # How are schools using our lesson planning and teaching resources? ## See how teachers and schools are making the most of our resources We've designed our lesson planning and teaching resources specifically for the classroom so they can be used flexibly to complement your existing curriculum, in whichever way suits you best. Teachers have been sharing ways they’ve been supporting their pupils and staff with Oak’s resources. - [Curriculum planning](https://support.thenational.academy/how-schools-are-using-oaks-lessons-and-resources#curric-planning) - [Lesson planning](https://support.thenational.academy/how-schools-are-using-oaks-lessons-and-resources#lessonplanning) - [AI tools](https://support.thenational.academy/how-schools-are-using-oaks-lessons-and-resources#ai-tools) - [Homework and revision](https://support.thenational.academy/how-schools-are-using-oaks-lessons-and-resources#homework-revision) - [Lesson cover](https://support.thenational.academy/how-schools-are-using-oaks-lessons-and-resources#lesson-cover) - [Supporting absent pupils](https://support.thenational.academy/how-schools-are-using-oaks-lessons-and-resources#absent-pupils) --- ### Curriculum planning Our [fully sequenced curriculum plans](https://www.thenational.academy/about-us/oaks-curricula) for each national curriculum subject KS1-4, provide inspiration and a springboard for annual, termly and weekly planning for every teacher in your school. Free to download for every subject and school phase, each plan provides a curriculum rationale, an outline of all topic units available and how many lessons are in each. To help you further, we’ve provided unit information on 'why this, why now'. There is also a suggested sequenced order of lessons to support with your planning, as well as teaching resources for every lesson in the curriculum plans. **Explore our interactive curriculum plans** With our [interactive curriculum plans](https://www.thenational.academy/about-us/oaks-curricula) you can: - See an **explainer of each curriculum**,  and watch our subject lead introduce the curriculum so you can understand the thinking, structure and focus behind the plan to inspire your own approach - so you can understand the thinking, structure and focus behind the plan to inspire your own approach - View the **full sequence** and lessons we have teaching resources for - **Download** the plan to use offline including a document called **National curriculum** which explains how the Oak curriculum aligns with the national curriculum requirements. Our **implementation toolkit** helps subject and phase leads put our curriculum into practice. You'll find the first guides, Common questions and Checking pupils' understanding in our lessons , in the Download tab. We're adding more guides soon. - See the **unit descriptions** with a **'why this, why now'** and '**prior knowledge requirements**' to help you consider the sequence of your current planning For more information see our [subject specific curriculum help articles](https://support.thenational.academy/our-curriculum-plans?hsLang=en#our-subject-curriculum-plans). Go to our [curricula page](https://www.thenational.academy/about-us/oaks-curricula) to find out about the principles that underpin our curricula. ### Lesson planning We have thousands of [free lesson planning and teaching resources](https://www.thenational.academy/) which have been made to be easily adapted by you for use in your classroom. Everything is designed by subject and curriculum experts as part of a sequenced curriculum, so you can clearly see how your lesson fits into the bigger picture. This helps you to save time planning your next topic, knowing you're building your pupils' knowledge step by step. You can access these in a number of ways. From our [homepage](https://www.thenational.academy/) select your subject and school phase. Then use the buttons to filter by year group or thread (a common theme or topic that provides coherence as it weaves its way through the curriculum), and click into a unit to find more detail about that unit and the lessons within it. You can also search by keyword or topic using the search box at the top right of the page. See our [help article: How do I use your teaching resources to plan and teach great lessons](https://support.thenational.academy/using-oaks-new-teaching-resources?hsLang=en). Why not get started now with our [lesson planning page](https://www.thenational.academy/lesson-planning). You can learn more about our resources and how to use them to support your lesson planning. ### AI tools Our AI tools are designed to help you create lesson resources efficiently, saving you valuable time to focus on bringing the lesson to life and supporting pupils.  All our tools draw on our high-quality curriculum resources, which have been designed by expert teachers and are national curriculum aligned.  - Use **Aila, our AI lesson assistant** to quickly adapt Oak lessons for your class and context or create something you need that you can’t find in our existing resources. Read our [help article: How to use Aila, our AI lesson assistant](https://support.thenational.academy/using-aila?hsLang=en) for more help on getting started. - **Create teaching materials with AI** to enhance your lessons further by helping you to create a range of teaching materials, including glossaries, comprehension tasks and quizzes. This can be accessed from Aila or look out for the 'Create more with AI' button at the top of a lesson page. ![Create more with AI button ](https://support.thenational.academy/hs-fs/hubfs/Knowledge%20Base/Integrated%20journey%2026/create-more-with-ai-button.png?width=277&height=61&name=create-more-with-ai-button.png) As Avril, a Deputy Headteacher says: ***“Using AI to support my planning and teaching wasn’t something I’d really considered until I came across Aila. To say I was blown away would be an understatement!”*** --- ### Homework and revision Teacher workloads are stretched far enough without spending hours creating topical homework, revision booklets and after-school sessions from scratch. For building skills and knowledge outside of the classroom, explore and share our lessons with your classes.  #### Share lesson with pupils ![Location of Share lesson with pupils button on a lesson page](https://support.thenational.academy/hs-fs/hubfs/Knowledge%20Base/Integrated%20journey%2026/share-lesson-with-pupils-ij.png?width=670&height=320&name=share-lesson-with-pupils-ij.png) Want to share lesson activities such as quizzes and worksheets with your pupils? Click on the 'Share lessons with pupils' button on a lesson page. ![Share you lesson screen including Hide year group option](https://support.thenational.academy/hs-fs/hubfs/Knowledge%20Base/Article%20images/Share%20you%20lesson%20screen%20including%20Hide%20year%20group%20option.png?width=670&height=544&name=Share%20you%20lesson%20screen%20including%20Hide%20year%20group%20option.png) You can choose what you share, either the full set of activities (lesson video, worksheet and starter and exit quizzes) or individual activities, ensuring the learning is personalised and relevant. Also, choose whether to show or hide the year group of the lesson. This can help when pupils are working on lessons from a different year group, for example, to catch up, to revisit earlier learning or to stretch themselves, so they can focus on the learning rather than the year label.  ![Ways to share lesson activities with pupils - Copy link, Share via Microsoft Teams, Share via Google Classroom.](https://support.thenational.academy/hs-fs/hubfs/share_with_pupils_ways_to_sahre_example.png?width=670&height=169&name=share_with_pupils_ways_to_sahre_example.png) Once you have decided what to share you can share via: - 'Copy link' to share directly with colleagues or with your classes - 'Google Classroom' or 'Microsoft Teams' to post lesson resources directly to your VLE --- ### Lesson cover Oak is the ace up your sleeve when it comes to setting cover. Our thousands of resources are there to take the pressure off, especially when there’s a requirement for a colleague or supply teacher to cover a subject or key stage that isn’t a specialism. As Donna Lewis, head of Broken Cross Primary in Macclesfield says: ***“I’m increasingly aware that I could well end up in a position where it’s a class teacher who is out of school, and that’s when Oak will really come into its own again. I did some cover myself during lockdown and used the Oak resources to teach number work to Reception.”*** ### Supporting absent pupils There are many reasons a pupil may be absent from lessons or from school. Our ready-made resources mean you only have to plan your lessons once, no matter where your pupils are learning. [Download resources](https://www.thenational.academy/) for your in-class teaching, whilst sending the same lesson to any pupil at home via Google Classroom, Teams or any other platforms. To help you quickly understand progress, pupils can share their quiz results with you including a breakdown of results. Our PE programmes for KS1 to KS4 also include **'Remote learning' units**. These need minimal space and equipment and are ideal for pupils learning from hospital or other healthcare settings, those temporarily unable to attend school, or those in alternative provision. Read more in our [blog: Moving beyond the classroom: Oak's new remote PE resources](https://www.thenational.academy/blog/moving-beyond-the-classroom-oak-s-new-remote-pe-resources).  #### Tracking work To help assess pupils progress, your class can share their results back with you once they have completed a lesson. This means you can track pupils’ progress even if they’re completing it independently.  How it works: - Pupils complete a lesson in our [pupil area](https://www.thenational.academy/pupils). - The quizzes are automatically marked and pupils are shown a final score. - Pupils can then share results via a link or print them out. - Teachers are able to see a breakdown of the pupil's answers by question, attempts made, the final score, whether they downloaded the worksheet and how much of the video they watched. Seeing quiz results is a good starting point to show how pupils are progressing and to identify areas where they may need further support.  See our help article: [Using our pupil area](https://support.thenational.academy/using-our-improved-pupil-area?hsLang=en). - [Our curriculum plans](https://support.thenational.academy/our-curriculum-plans?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Our subject curriculum plans](https://support.thenational.academy/our-curriculum-plans?hsLang=en#our-subject-curriculum-plans) - [Our teaching resources](https://support.thenational.academy/our-teaching-resources?hsLang=en) - [Our AI tools](https://support.thenational.academy/our-ai-tools?hsLang=en) - [Our pupil area](https://support.thenational.academy/our-pupil-area?hsLang=en) - [Technical support](https://support.thenational.academy/technical-support?hsLang=en) - [More about us](https://support.thenational.academy/more-about-us?hsLang=en) - Oak - [Report an issue](https://support.thenational.academy/kb-tickets/new) - [Back to homepage](https://www.thenational.academy/) - [About us](https://www.thenational.academy/about-us/who-we-are) - [Careers](https://jobs.thenational.academy/) - [Contact us](https://www.thenational.academy/contact-us) - [Blog](https://www.thenational.academy/blog) - [Webinars](https://www.thenational.academy/webinars) - [Status](https://status.thenational.academy/) - Legal - [Terms & conditions](https://www.thenational.academy/legal/terms-and-conditions) - [Privacy policy](https://www.thenational.academy/legal/privacy-policy) - [Copyright notice](https://www.thenational.academy/legal/copyright-notice) - [Accessibility statement](https://www.thenational.academy/legal/accessibility-statement) - [Safeguarding statement](https://www.thenational.academy/legal/safeguarding-statement) - [Physical activity disclaimer](https://www.thenational.academy/legal/physical-activity-disclaimer) - [Complaints](https://www.thenational.academy/legal/complaints) - [Freedom of information requests](https://www.thenational.academy/legal/freedom-of-information-requests) [![Oak National Academy](https://support.thenational.academy/hs-fs/hubfs/Oak_SmallUseSymbol_RGB-1.png?width=17&height=24&name=Oak_SmallUseSymbol_RGB-1.png "Oak National Academy")](https://www.thenational.academy/) © Oak National Academy Limited, No 14174888 Oak National Academy 1 Scott Place, 2 Hardman Street, Manchester, M3 3AA