Board Strategy Day Minutes - 18 March 2025

Oct 21, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob

Board Strategy Day minutes for the meeting held on 18 March 2025 at 3 pm via Zoom, documenting attendees, apologies, and official declarations. The agenda covers welcome matters, 2025-26 strategy with approved decision for DfE sign-off, review of the 2025-26 annual plan and associated KPIs/OKRs, discussion and approval of the 2025-26 budget including key savings areas and risks, and future policy scenarios with actions and considerations for aligning with government education strategy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Welcome, apologies and declarations

2025-26 Strategy

2025-26 Annual Plan

2025-26 Budget

Future policy

Board Strategy Day Minutes 18 March 2025 Time and venue 3 pm, Zoom Date 18 March 2025 Attendees Board/committee member Ian Bauckham CBE IB Chair Hardip Begol HB Cassie Buchanan CB Henry de Zoete HdZ Annie Gardner AG Sean Harford SH Matt Hood MH Chief Executive Emma Beatty EB Operations Director Oak National Academy Jonathan Dando-Laing Will Gayne Tom Rose John Roberts Ellie Ball JDL WG TR JR El B School Support and External Relations Director Director of Product Strategy and Impact Education Director Product and Engineering Director Board Secretary Observers Jenny Oldroyd Apologies Conor Ryan JO CR Department for Education Official | Sensitive 2 1. Welcome, apologies and declarations 1.1. Attendees were welcomed to the meeting by the Board Chair, noting apologies from Conor Ryan 1.2. There were no declarations of interest to declare beyond those already recorded in the register. 2. 2025-26 Strategy 2.1. MH introduced the item, providing context and outlining the ongoing strategic work from the previous period and the new pillars for 2025/26 . This included a focus on growth, supporting disadvantaged pupils, and the integration of AI. 2.2. The Board discussed the strategy document, noting some minor amends DECISION: The Board approved the strategy for ﬁ nal sign-off by DfE 3. 2025-26 Annual Plan 3.1. The Board discussed the proposed annual plan for 2025-26, noting that the DfE had fed into the proposed KPIs. JO entered the meeting at 15. 19 3.2. MH explained the different role played by KPIs and OKRs to help provide accountability and stretching targets, noting the restrictions on being agile with yearly targets 3.3. The Board recommended adding context to the plan to note the reduction in budget for the 2025-25 year compared to previous years 3.4. The Board discussed the project work not explicitly mentioned in the plan, including signposting, support for the content store and curriculum assessment review and the judicial review. DECISION: The Board approved the annual plan for ﬁ nal sign-off by DfE 4. 2025-26 Budget 4.1. EB introduced the budget, highlighting the organisation’s strong ﬁ nancial position and the key savings areas: 4.1.1. Media library 4.1.2. Non-committed staff expenditure 4.1.3. Hosting and streaming 4.1.4. Error correction 4.2. The Board discussed the proposed budget. CB queried whether the hosting and streaming budget could be topped up in the event of extended national strike action. EB conﬁ rmed this could be discussed at P6 . Official | Sensitive 3 4.3. HdZ raised concern about cutting hosting costs while aiming for user growth. Suggested seeking upfront agreement with the DfE on additional funding if growth occurs. 4.4. JO noted an upfront agreement is not possible but conﬁ rmed DfE support in principle. 4.5. Risks relating to capital spend at P6 were acknowledged. 4.6. It was noted that the budget was constructed from different scenarios, which affected its intended approach. DECISION: The Board approved the budget for 2025-26 5. Future policy 5.1. JD introduced the future policy paper, outlining various strategic scenarios. 5.2. JO stressed the importance of engaging the Minister early to help narrow the strategic options. 5.3. CB suggested articulating how Oak could ﬁll gaps left by subject hubs (option 5) . 5.4. HB noted the importance of ensuring Oak’s direction aligns with the government’s overall education strategy, cautioned against becoming a government contractor. IB: Noted the opportunity to support schools with curriculum changes resulting from CAR. 5.5. HdZ asked what teachers are most requesting 5.6. MH highlighted the importance of evidence-building for high-quality curriculum models and incremental tweaks (KS1–3) in line with CAR. 5.7. AG asked for c lariﬁcation on lead times and the impact on staff morale. 5.8. JO underscored the need to manage this

FAQs

When and where was the meeting held?

The meeting took place on 18 March 2025 at 3 pm via Zoom.

What strategic priorities were discussed for 2025-26?

The Board discussed growth, support for disadvantaged pupils, and integrating AI, along with context from the previous period.

What decisions did the Board approve during the meeting?

The Board approved the 2025-26 strategy, the 2025-26 annual plan for final sign-off by DfE, and the 2025-26 budget for approval.

Oct 21, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob