Closing the disadvantage gap and strengthening maths department leadership

The Secondary Maths Subject Leaders Community enables leaders to connect with peers, see what’s working in other schools, and apply good practice in their own departments. We find out how Jesmond Park Academy is using this outward-looking approach to strengthen teaching, CPD and outcomes for students.

Jesmond Park Academy is a large, comprehensive secondary school in Heaton, Newcastle. Its students come from a wide catchment area which spans regions of relative affluence and significant disadvantage. 

In March 2023, Jon Thornton, head of department, first became involved with Great North Maths Hub when he attended a Secondary Maths Subject Leaders Community session at a local secondary school. The community helps leaders deepen their understanding of maths leadership and effective teaching approaches, and to consider how they can work with colleagues to strengthen secondary maths learning.

One of the first sessions Jon attended focused on thinking mathematically and was led by Ofsted’s former maths subject lead, Steve Wren. 

‘As a direct result of that session, I reflected on what we were doing in our department in terms of CPD and how much maths we actually do.’

From then on, Jon opted to start department meetings with maths rather than administration. The team explored problems together, discussed misconceptions and debated how best to model reasoning. For Jon, if the aim was for students to reason, to solve problems and to think flexibly, then teachers needed the opportunity to develop those habits too.

Making problem solving part of everyday teaching

Following that session, problem solving quickly became a key focus for the department. Like many maths departments, Jesmond Park Academy had ensured that fluency was well planned and practised. The challenge now was to ensure that reasoning and problem solving were not just left to the most confident students.

The department restructured its shared lesson resources so that fluency, reasoning and problem solving sat side by side. Teachers embed core skills first, then spend time explicitly exploring how to approach unfamiliar problems. The intention is not to leave problem solving to those who finish early, but to make it an explicit and planned part of every lesson.

Sharing good practice across secondary schools

Another change in departmental practice came from a Secondary Maths Subject Leaders Community session at St Mary's Catholic School which featured a learning walk. During the visit, he noticed that St Mary’s had structured Year 11 so that the curriculum was completed much earlier in the year. This meant that, following the mock exams, staff had a substantial period dedicated to working on the specific gaps students still had.

Jon brought the idea back to colleagues and the department decided to bring forward the end of curriculum teaching in Year 11. The adjustment created the space to analyse mock papers carefully, adapt homework booklets in response to common weaknesses, and work more closely with students on the areas that were costing them marks. 

Developing proportional reasoning across the school

Classroom practice has also been influenced by one colleague’s participation in the Secondary Mastery Specialist Programme through the Maths Hub. Following the sessions he attended, a sustained focus on ratio tables was introduced into department CPD, developing teachers’ understanding of proportional reasoning and how it can be modelled explicitly in lessons.

Jon recently saw the impact while marking mock examinations. A student had chosen to use a ratio table in a question where it was not strictly required, but where it clarified their thinking. ‘It helped them use it as a tool for their proportional reasoning,’ he recalls.

Growing staff and building capacity

The partnership with the Maths Hub has not only influenced pedagogy, but it has also provided development opportunities for staff.

One Early Career Teacher completed the Secondary Mastery Specialist Programme at a time when there were no internal leadership roles available. The programme gave him the chance to lead aspects of CPD within the department and, later, to take on responsibility for a new project. The Mastery Specialist will be leading the school’s Axiom Maths Circles group, an initiative aimed at boosting confidence, engagement and long-term participation in high-attaining students from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Another colleague is part of a Developing A level Pedagogy Work Group and has begun work linked to Key Stage 5 development, focusing on students who are several grades below their target in Year 13. Even at an early stage, having a defined focus and external stimulus has renewed her professional energy.

In a staffing structure where formal roles are limited, Maths Hub engagement can offer a stepping stone, helping to retain talented maths teachers who can grow professionally without needing to leave the school.

Narrowing the disadvantage gap

Jesmond Park Academy serves a wide and diverse catchment area, and there has historically been some correlation between disadvantage and lower attainment, particularly at A level.

However, over the past five years, the school’s work with disadvantaged students has strengthened considerably. ‘We recently had a message from the Department for Education (DfE) showing that the gap is narrowing. Compared with national figures, we’re now in a really strong position with our disadvantaged pupils.’

Jon does not attribute this to a single initiative. Instead, he points to the coherence of the department’s approach: structured homework, explicit reasoning, earlier intervention and consistent modelling of mathematical thinking. 

‘You can’t ever win these things. You’ve got to constantly review how you do them and try to develop them.’ 

A journey of sustained improvement

Looking ahead, Jon is keen to build on his partnership with Great North Maths Hub through engagement with a Years 5-8 Continuity Work Group, aimed at strengthening transition between Key Stages 2 and 3. 

For Jesmond Park Academy, the next step is not a change of direction but a continuation of the same approach: collaboration with others, looking carefully at practice, and refining it so that students experience greater coherence as they move into secondary mathematics.