红桃影视

David Thomas was one of the youngest heads in the country. He鈥檚 set up a national online academy and led on government schools policy. Now he鈥檚 on a mission to restore the reputation of maths.

Despite having already led a school, helped set up the country鈥檚 first national online academy during Covid, and led the government鈥檚 policy response to the pandemic, David Thomas still gets asked for ID in bars.

At 27, he became one of the youngest headteachers in the country when he took the hot seat at Jane Austen, a secondary free school formed three years earlier in a former Norwich shoe factory.

He鈥檇 spent the prior three years in management consulting.

There were 鈥渓ess polite words than brave鈥� for his decision to leave the corporate world for headship, he says, but he reassured himself that if he failed no one would really blame him.

鈥淭hey would blame the governors for appointing a 27-year-old who looked like a 12-year-old.鈥�

Small moments matter

Given his age, the former Teach First graduate felt he had to work harder to prove himself.

To 鈥渟how credibility鈥� at the school, he taught the borderline year 11 maths class 鈥� a subject he sees as 鈥渢he great leveller鈥�.

鈥淢aths doesn’t care where you come from, how many books you have at home or who your parents know. If you work hard and have the intelligence, you can thrive.鈥�

Thomas speaks from experience. At primary school in Bristol, he was one of five children singled out by teachers for extra study at lunchtime so they could sit the scholarship exam at the 鈥渇ancy鈥� local independent school, Colston鈥檚.

It鈥檚 an opportunity he likely would not have had if it wasn鈥檛 for the school鈥檚 intervention. Thomas鈥檚 dad worked in B&Q after losing his IT job in the dotcom crash. His mum is a former ESOL teacher who helps the elderly.

But Thomas was the only one of the five who had a parent free to get him to the exams 鈥� the others ended up not sitting it.

鈥淭hat makes me think quite a lot of education and justice. Those small moments matter.鈥�

He later got to take further maths A Level in a class of one, where he found joy in solving complex equations.

He planned to study maths at university, but made a 鈥渟nap decision鈥� to take politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford instead, after it was recommended by his career advisor鈥檚 computer test.

Despite assuming he鈥檇 become an investment banker 鈥渓ike everyone else鈥�, Thomas was 鈥渂ored out of his mind鈥� during a 10-week internship at Deutsche Bank. So, he joined Teach First and taught at Westminster Academy, a turnaround school in a 鈥済iant green cuboid鈥�.

Its maths department was 鈥渙verstaffed鈥� (鈥測ou don鈥檛 hear that often鈥�) and he got to spend a third of his timetable team-teaching borderline year 11 classes with a senior leader. 鈥淚 benefitted an insane amount from that.鈥�

But looking young was sometimes a hindrance. He once dressed in school uniform for a fancy dress day and was refused into a staff breakfast meeting by the “dinner ladies”.

Out of my depth

High turnover meant that within four years he was a maths assistant senior leader, but 鈥渜uite out of my depth鈥�. He was inspired to try a different sector by the school鈥檚 city banker-turned-business studies teacher, whose 鈥渓ife experience outside the system made him wiser. He knew when the education sector was being silly.鈥�

After almost three years at McKinsey, armed with 鈥渄iversity of experience鈥�, he took on the challenge at Jane Austin, part of then run by current children鈥檚 commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza.

When Covid hit, his management planning expertise showed. Thomas surveyed families on what IT equipment they had, stocked up on wi-fi dongles and created online lessons a month before lockdown was announced.

While some colleagues thought him 鈥榓 bit mad鈥�, they 鈥渓earned to tolerate me鈥�.

On the Friday before lockdown, Thomas told his pupils 鈥渆very generation has its crisis. We’ll worry about this one鈥�.

To staff, he said that if they wanted to 鈥渃lose the gap鈥� between their pupils and those at the fee-paying Norwich School up the road, 鈥渢hen this is the moment we鈥檝e been waiting for鈥�.

 

No honeymoon

His planned Easter honeymoon to Argentina sabotaged by Covid, Thomas instead contacted 鈥渁nyone I knew in or around government鈥� offering his services.

Department for Education civil servants took him up 鈥� asking for a plan to teach children during lockdown.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 quite what I had in mind!鈥� he admits. He worked with Matt Hood (who now leads Oak National Academy) on reaching 鈥渆veryone we could to join the effort鈥�.

They had just ten days before term started. But school leaders shared their curriculum resources, IT experts produced a website and 鈥渁 load of teachers in their bedrooms were filming lessons鈥�. Oak National Academy was born.

鈥淚’m really proud of what we did, but we shouldn鈥檛 pretend it was the greatest act of professional publishing in history.鈥� The real pressure came when the website went live, with lessons broadcast into thousands of homes.

鈥淚 had some fancy pants title [curriculum director], but I wasn’t the person putting my lesson out to the whole country to judge.鈥�

Some criticised the lessons on social media, which Thomas said was 鈥渞eally unfair. It wasn’t the time, it was very exposing for them.鈥�

By the end of the summer term, Oak鈥檚 online classes had been viewed 鈥渘orth of 25 million鈥� times.

Trust central team concerns

After the Oak adventure, Thomas returned to Inspiration in a new strategy director role before joining Astrea Academy Trust in Cambridgeshire as a regional director.

But he found it 鈥渆motionally very difficult鈥�. He used to have 鈥�1,100 children and families I knew鈥� down to the shopping centre security guards who told me if they were naughty at the weekend鈥�.

Now it was 鈥�5,000 kids, and you don鈥檛 know any of their names and families鈥�.

鈥淵ou think it’s going to be similar [to headship] and it’s not at all. The last thing you should do is walk in and start deciding what to do, because you can’t undermine headteachers. It’s not clear how you add value to them.鈥�

He also had a 鈥渉uge crisis of how I justify my salary鈥�. While these types of academy trust central team roles are 鈥渟till quite new鈥�, Thomas doesn鈥檛 think the sector has 鈥渘ailed that model collectively. I don’t think we’ve yet got as much out of those jobs as we could.鈥�

He instead moved into policy: joining the DfE on secondment in 2021 as an adviser to the then education secretary Nadhim Zahawi (later made permanent). Asked during his interview what the sector鈥檚 biggest challenge was, Thomas said attendance 鈥� and was tasked with solving it.

Zahawi鈥檚 business background meant he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 want fluff and flowery documents, he wanted a data dashboard to sort out the actions needed鈥�.

Two years on, persistent absenteeism is just over 20 per cent. While still 鈥渧ery high鈥�, Thomas says it鈥檚 鈥渁 hell of a lot better than many other countries right now鈥� 鈥� pointing out that more than half of all children in New Zealand don鈥檛 attend school regularly.

Thomas also worked on DfE鈥檚 SEND and alternative provision reforms, culminating in the SEND improvement plan promising new national standards and funding tariffs.

He doesn鈥檛 believe the two sectors should be 鈥渟eparated the way we do鈥� and questions why one child with SEND could end up in a social, emotional mental health school while another studies in AP.

鈥淭here should be one system for children who need additional support beyond what their school can offer them, including SEND and AP, that is treated with the same levels of funding and respect for professionalism and expertise.鈥�

Maths pupils 鈥榟iding their talent鈥�

He left DfE last year to become the first permanent chief executive of The Mathematics Education for Social Mobility and Excellence charity (MESME), since rebranded to Axiom Maths.

The charity was founded by billionaire Alex Gerko, whose algorithmic trading company XTX Markets has given over 拢20 million to maths projects since 2020.

The key focus is 鈥榤aths circles鈥� 鈥� free state school maths clubs to nurture a love of the subject in promising pupils, with the aim of 10,000 new pupils a year joining a nationwide network. The concept, also championed by Dominic Cummings, is popular in Gerko鈥檚 native country of Russia.

While many see the biggest barrier as recruiting maths mentors for pupils, Thomas says a bigger issue is 鈥渢he cultural challenge鈥�.

He鈥檚 horrified by recent national newspaper articles on maths, pointing out a recent opinion piece linking the subject to being flogged. Another likened prime minister Rishi Sunak鈥檚 maths-to-18 policy to a move from authoritarian China鈥檚 playbook. (While he reads newspapers, he points out his Cambridge home with his wife and two-year-old son does not include a television).

鈥淲e live in a country where you gain social credit from saying you’re bad at maths. If you talk at a dinner party about [it], your social status increases.鈥�

This stigma is making budding mathematicians 鈥渇eel like they have to hide their talent to fit in鈥�. Maths circles would provide them 鈥渁 space to feel valued and cared for鈥�.

Axiom鈥檚 research found that half of disadvantaged pupils who are top attainers in maths at the end of Year 6 don鈥檛 go on to get a top GCSE grade.

Thomas feels he 鈥渃ould so easily have been one of those children鈥� but was 鈥渇ortunate鈥� to attend a school 鈥渨here they did loads to counteract the social pressures that talk down maths鈥�.

Thomas was recently selected to be the Conservative party candidate in Norwich South 鈥� a seat the party has not held since the 1980s.

He admits it is an 鈥渋nteresting time [in politics] to be doing that鈥�. Selected on a pledge to 鈥渋ncrease social mobility鈥�, he says he wants to 鈥渕ake a bigger difference for the pupils I served鈥� 鈥� but is reluctant to say more.

Whether he becomes an MP or not, he does hope to return to headship one day. 鈥淚’d be disappointed if I don’t. It’s a wonderful job.鈥�