From Stuck to Successful: Building Problem-Solving Classrooms with Phil Herd

In this episode, Jon sits down with Phil Herd -, maths specialist, and long-time champion of teaching for understanding - to unpick what problem solving really means in primary maths, and why it remains one of the most misunderstood strands of our curriculum.

Together they explore why problem solving is far more than a final question on a worksheet, why pupils struggle to get started on unfamiliar tasks, and how teachers can build a classroom culture where getting stuck is expected rather than feared.

This conversation goes deep into the practicalities: the curriculum pressures, misconceptions about “challenge”, and how to elevate reasoning, conjecture, and strategic thinking so that pupils become flexible, resilient mathematicians.

✨ What We Cover

• What problem solving is (and what it absolutely isn’t)
• Why routine and non-routine problems demand different kinds of thinking
• How current curriculum structures shape pupils’ approaches to unfamiliar tasks
• Creating lessons where success is defined by learning, not just correct answers
• Strategies that build resilience, metacognition, and “stickability”
• How to explicitly teach problem-solving strategies without turning them into a checklist
• The role of discussion, conjecture, and classroom talk in deepening understanding
• Why procedural fluency, reasoning and problem solving must be seen as connected but distinct
• What assessment can (and can’t) tell us about a child’s problem-solving capability
• How to design lessons and tasks that invite exploration rather than anxiety

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Problem solving is central to mathematical thinking, not an add-on.
• Confusion between routine tasks and genuine problem solving leads to poor classroom practice.
• Pupils need explicit modelling of strategies — and lots of opportunities to try them.
• Resilience is not fixed; it grows when classrooms normalise “being stuck”.
• Conceptual understanding is the foundation for true independence in problem solving.
• Assessment needs to reflect problem-solving behaviours, not just recall and speed.
• Non-routine problems must appear regularly, not once a term as a novelty exercise.
• The aim of a lesson should be about learning something mathematical, not scoring a correct answer.

Share your thoughts on today's episode by emailing primarymathspodcast@twinkl.co.uk