1. Help Centre
  2. Making the most of Oak

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 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.

Did you know we are updating and improving our resources?

We have started to release new lesson planning and teaching resources for English, maths, history, and science from keys stages 1, 3, 3 & 4, and primary geography and secondary music. More subjects will follow soon.

NEW_label

Look our for the label 'New' and for slide decks, worksheets and quizzes that match the colours and logo on our new website. We've improved the design of our resources to be fresher, easier to find and use and to be more accessible.

Plus you can now explore our new interactive curriculum plans to make it even easier to plan your lessons this year!

Get updated when we release even more new teaching resources.


Using Oak for lesson planning

Lesson planning and teaching resources

From our homepage you can search our thousands of resources which have been designed to be easily adapted by you to use in your classroom. 

You can search by keyword or topic or start exploring our subjects by picking a key stage to look through.

Each lesson is made up of similar items such as quizzes, videos and worksheets and video transcripts. Many of our resources can be downloaded, edited and adapted to suit your needs.

Why not get started now with our lesson planning page. You can learn more about our resources and how to use them to support your lesson planning.

Our curriculum plans

To support your planning, our fully sequenced curriculum plans for each subject provide inspiration and a springboard for annual, termly and weekly planning for every teacher in your school.

We have provided curriculum rationale, topic outlines and information on pre-existing knowledge needed. There is a suggest sequenced order of lessons if that works for you but we expect teachers to add to, take away and adapt what they need to suit them.

Explore our new interactive curriculum plans

If you are accessing our new resources for English, maths, history, and science from keys stages 1, 2, 3 & 4, and primary geography and secondary music, you can use our interactive curriculum plans for even more help with your planning. Here you can:

  • See an explainer of each curriculum, so you can understand the thinking, structure and focus behind the plan.
  • View the full sequence, with breakdowns of prior knowledge needed for each unit and what comes next, all in one place.
  • Search a thread within a plan so you can see common themes running through key stages in the subject.

For more information about our new teaching resources see our article How do I use your new resources?


Using Oak for 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. Simply find and select a lesson and share the link.

Our new resources cannot be shared yet but this feature is coming very soon. 

NEW_labelTo help recognise our new resources, look out for the label 'New' and for slide decks, worksheets and quizzes that match the colours and logo on our new website. We've improved the design of our resources to be fresher, easier to find and use and to be more accessible.

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.”

Read more about using Oak for cover lessons


Using Oak for 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. 

Our new resources cannot be shared yet but this feature is coming very soon. 

NEW_labelTo help recognise our new resources, look out for the label 'new' and for slide decks, worksheets and quizzes that match the colours and logo on our new website. We've improved the design of our resources to be fresher, easier to find and use and to be more accessible.


Using Oak to support 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 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 new resources cannot be shared yet but this feature is coming very soon. 

NEW_labelTo help recognise our new resources, look out for the label 'new' and for slide decks, worksheets and quizzes that match the colours and logo on our new website. We've improved the design of our resources to be fresher, easier to find and use and to be more accessible.

Read more about using Oak to support absent pupils 


Using Oak for CPD

We've heard from schools that they are using the lessons in staff training as an alternative observation resource or helping new teachers see examples of how other teachers teach a particular topic.