Oak National Academy “will develop curriculum materials for RSHE,” says DfE. “No we won’t”, says Oak

Uncertainty surrounds the development of a controversial new set of resources for relationships, sex and health education after Oak National Academy offered more detail on a statement put out by the Department for Education on the subject.

Oak National, established as a non-departmental public body last year by the government, will not be “developing” curriculum materials for the subject, it said, in spite of a statement in March from the DfE that it would.

Instead, it would be “procuring” the resources from external providers, Oak said, although who will be winning this contract has yet to be decided.

The precise contents of the new resources, and in particular the extent to which they will be configured to assuage criticism of RSHE in schools led by a traditionalist backbench MP, have yet to be revealed. The controversy may again put Oak’s claim to be independent from government – a point it made in a response to this website on the issue – under the microscope.

The background

Controversy flared in March, after the Conservative MP Miriam Cates told the House of Commons that children were “being subjected to lessons that are age-inappropriate, extreme, sexualising and inaccurate, often using resources from unregulated organisations” within RSHE.