A short written plan can keep a pupil focused on the required outcome, constraints and order of steps. This is lighter support than modelling the whole problem-solving process. Use it when the pupil can proceed once the structure has been brought to mind.

A concise prompt is: Need. Know. Represent. Steps. Check.

Pause before calculation

Ask the pupil to annotate:

• what needs to be found;

• relevant quantities and units;

• the main relationship;

• a suitable representation;

• the order of steps;

• a rough expected range.

The plan may be two or three lines. It should not become an essay.

Avoid operation keywords

Words such as total, difference, per or more can appear in varied structures. Ask how the quantities relate.

For a proportional problem, per may indicate a rate, but the pupil still needs to identify which values are being scaled and whether the relationship is direct.

Use a concise example

Problem: A recipe for 6 people uses 450 g of flour. The recipe is increased for 14 people. Flour is sold in 1 kg bags. How many bags are needed?

Plan:

• Need: bags for 14 people.

• Know: 450 g for 6.

• Represent: scale 450 by 14 ÷ 6.

• Steps: find flour required, convert to kilograms, round bags up.

• Check: more than 1 kg but less than 2 kg is expected.

The calculation gives 1,050 g, so two bags are needed. The context determines that 1.05 bags must be rounded up.

Label intermediate results

Ask the pupil to name each value:

• flour for one person;

• flour for 14 people;

• number of kilograms;

• number of bags.

This prevents a result from being used without understanding what it represents.

Prompt only the missing decision

If the pupil has a correct equation and step order, do not require every heading to be rewritten. Ask only what remains unclear.

Useful prompts include:

• “Which condition has not been used?”

• “What does this result represent?”

• “What needs to happen before that step?”

• “Will the final answer require interpretation?”

Fade the plan

Progress from a visible five-part prompt to:

• a short margin annotation;

• a verbal cue to identify the goal and steps;

• a pause before calculation;

• independent planning.

If the pupil repeatedly cannot form a plan, return to a complete worked model rather than expanding the prompt list indefinitely.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using keywords to select operations.

• Writing a long plan that duplicates the solution.

• Treating an intermediate value as the final answer.

• Failing to label units.

• Prompting stages the pupil already manages.

• Keeping the same planning template for every problem.

• Using light prompts when full modelling is still needed.

Evidence and further reading

The Education Endowment Foundation’s article on mathematical problem-solving and metacognition explains planning, monitoring and evaluating. Its Improving Mathematics in Key Stages 2 and 3 report provides the wider guidance.