Primary Maths Conference: Problem Solving? No Problem!

Brief Overview

This year’s conference will focus on problem solving; one of the key aims of the Maths National Curriculum, yet one of the least well understood aspects of maths teaching and learning. Why do pupils struggle to problem solve? Why do teachers find problem solving such a challenge to teach? This conference will explore these questions and unpick the research around problem solving from the Ofsted Research Review of Mathematics (May 2021), namely:

• teachers teach useful, topic-specific strategies to pupils, as well as how to match them to types of problem
• pupils are confident using linked facts and methods that are the building blocks of strategies, before strategies are taught
• teachers encourage pupils to use core, systematic strategies rather than resorting to guesswork or unstructured trial and error.