A key principle of the Oak Trees MAT is that each school has autonomy on its curriculum intent. i.e. the planned knowledge it wants its pupils to learn.Â
Central to the core values of Oak Trees is that collaboration is at the heart of school improvement and for this reason, each school will implement its curriculum according to the following agreed principles:Â
1.Learning is a change to long term memory and if nothing has been altered in long term memory, nothing has been learned;
2.Each school’s curriculum will:
 Link strongly to the Oak Trees values above;                                                                               Be progressive, knowledge-rich and based on ideas from cognitive science;                                                      Be based on key concepts which allow pupils to make links and put their understanding into context;                                     Be delivered creatively, to engage and excite pupils;                                                                     Provide high challenge, repeated practice and low stakes testing;                                                              Be underpinned by purposeful assessment which guides teaching;                                                     Â
3. Teaching staff will have the pedagogical understanding and subject knowledge to deliver the curriculum effectively.