11 March 2025
Oak National Academy's new resources - CAS Secondary online event
If you were unable to join us for the "Oak’s New Resources" thematic community meeting, don't worry! You can catch up on all the content and a recording of the session below.
Evolving with Oak: What the New Curriculum Resources Mean for Computing Teachers
Key Takeaways
- Oak National Academy’s new computing resources are free, flexible, and open source under an Open Government Licence.
- Developed in collaboration with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the materials are research-informed and accessible by design.
- The new curriculum builds upon Teach Computing content, offering updated lesson structures, consistent unit lengths, and revised sequencing.
- Each unit comes with detailed teacher guidance, quizzes, editable slide decks, and student-facing resources.
- Teachers are encouraged to adapt the materials and share feedback to help shape ongoing improvements.
What Was Covered in the Session
This session, led by Stuart Davison (Oak National Academy) and Laura Holborow (Raspberry Pi Foundation), gave us a comprehensive walkthrough of Oak’s new and evolving computing curriculum. The resources are designed to support teachers with fully planned, editable lessons while reducing workload and aligning to both the National Curriculum and major exam boards such as AQA and OCR.
Stuart kicked off by highlighting Oak’s core curriculum principles: coherent sequencing from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 4, age-appropriate progression of vocabulary and knowledge, accessibility, diversity, and flexibility. Every resource is released under an Open Government Licence—meaning it’s freely available for teachers to copy, adapt, and use however they see fit.
We then got a closer look at the subject-specific principles driving the computing curriculum. These include developing understanding of networks, data, algorithms, and the societal impact of technology—key concepts that are revisited and built upon across year groups.
Laura then demonstrated how the resources have been updated from the Teach Computing Curriculum (TCC). Notable changes include:
- Consistent lesson lengths across units.
- Integration of accessibility features (e.g. high-contrast Scratch blocks, screen-reader friendly materials).
- The embedding of "Impacts of Technology" themes throughout the curriculum rather than treating it as a standalone unit.
- Use of Oak's structured “learning cycles” within lessons, which allow for flexible planning and easier adaptation.
For Key Stage 3 and GCSE, the team showcased how the platform allows navigation by year group, unit, or curriculum thread. Resources include starter and exit quizzes, downloadable worksheets, editable slide decks (with and without embedded videos), and lesson-specific guidance on key vocabulary and misconceptions.
We were also shown how Oak’s new content integrates seamlessly with the Raspberry Pi Code Editor for Python programming tasks—allowing students to open starter files directly and view solutions in an environment consistent with the slides.
Finally, the roadmap: Oak aims to release all content by the end of the current academic year, with rolling updates every fortnight. There's also a push toward incorporating AI tools—like Aila, an AI lesson planning assistant that will eventually allow teachers to adjust tasks in real time or generate new content aligned with Oak’s resources.
Next Steps
If you're reflecting on your own curriculum offer, here are some useful questions to consider:
- How do I currently sequence computing knowledge from Key Stage 3 into Key Stage 4?
- Are my teaching materials inclusive, accessible, and flexible enough to support diverse learners?
- Could I adapt Oak’s resources to address gaps in my current scheme or reduce planning time?
To get started, you might:
- Try one of Oak’s new Year 8 Python lessons and evaluate its structure with your pupils.
- Use the vocabulary slides to reinforce key terminology across multiple lessons.
- Compare one of Oak’s updated units to your existing planning and trial a blended approach.
Oak is actively seeking feedback from practising teachers—so your insights could shape how these resources evolve.
Further Resources