New ‘Maths Unmasked’ project aims to break fear of maths for students and families
Project designed to transform attitudes to maths, boost family engagement and raise attainment
A bold new programme designed to transform attitudes to maths, strengthen family engagement and raise attainment has been launched at Sunderland’s Venerable Bede CE Academy, thanks to £68,100 in funding from SHINE Sunderland.
Maths Unmasked aims to tackle one of the most persistent barriers to pupil success: the fear of maths, and the impact that fear can have on confidence, attainment and future opportunities.
At Venerable Bede, overall standards are rising and the school recently celebrated record-breaking GCSE results, placing it among the top 20 most improved schools nationally for grades 4+ and 5+ in English and maths combined.
However, leaders have identified that maths attainment still lags behind English.
For many pupils, difficulties in maths are rooted in anxiety and a lack of confidence. That fear is often mirrored at home, where parents and carers often report feeling ill-equipped to help because of their own negative experiences or unfamiliarity with current teaching methods.
As Nikki Gibb, Executive Director of Secondary at the Northern Lights Learning Trust explains, “People would never admit they can’t read, but they’ll easily say, ‘I can’t do maths.’ We need to get rid of that fear.”
Without strong foundational knowledge, pupils can lose resilience as mathematical concepts become more complex, and over time this can create a cycle of low confidence, limited parental support and reduced aspiration. Maths Unmasked is designed to break that cycle.
The central aim of the project is to strengthen family engagement in education in order to raise attainment in mathematics.
Lisa Turnbull, Acting Head of School, explains: “The main aim and vision is to strengthen family engagement in education and raise pupil attainment in mathematics. Everything we’re doing is built around that.”
Research from the Education Endowment Foundation shows that strong home–school partnerships are particularly effective in raising attainment.
In response, Maths Unmasked will deliver practical, confidence-building workshops for both pupils and parents and carers, equipping families with simple, accessible strategies to support learning at home.
By making maths feel “doable” rather than daunting, the programme will help families feel more connected, capable and confident, not only in maths, but across education more broadly.
The project will take place initially over the next three years. The first year will focus on research and development, including focus groups and surveys to understand barriers to engagement within the local community.
The school will review existing evidence and successful models, develop tailored resources such as take-home packs, online tools and parent workshops, and launch a four-week pilot with a group of Year 8 families.
In the second year, the programme will expand into a full eight-week pilot with families from Years 7 and 8, supported by a tailored communication plan to build dialogue and raise aspirations, alongside the launch of a parent forum to help co-design and refine the project.
After this, a dedicated website and digital and physical toolkit will be published, and the programme will extend to Year 6 families to support transition from primary to secondary school.
Moving forward, the focus will be on embedding the work strategically and positioning Maths Unmasked as a model of best practice that can be shared across Sunderland.
Parents will be involved at every stage, shaping workshop content, piloting resources and advising on delivery. A train-the-trainer model will build a core team of staff and parent champions so that the work can continue beyond the life of the grant.
The funding forms part of SHINE Sunderland’s wider £11 million, ten-year investment in education across the city – a unique initiative designed to improve life chances local for young people.
Nikki said, “Schools aren’t flush with money, so having the opportunity to apply and be awarded the funding through SHINE is wonderful for our school community.”
“There’s lots going on for the city at the minute – a lot of regeneration – and SHINE Sunderland is going to help the next generation to future success.”
Lisa added: “Particularly in areas of deprivation where the need is often greatest, we require additional funding to support schools in running projects like this.
“These initiatives help ensure that young people who may not have had the best start in life are given the opportunity to improve their life chances through targeted support.
“That is certainly the case with this project, as well as with the many other SHINE Sunderland projects being delivered across the city.
“It’s a unique opportunity and it’s going to put Sunderland on the map.”