This article outlines how a Brisbane independent school, Clayfield College, improved the ability of its Year 3 students to solve addition and subtraction word problems by utilising a schematic approach. It was observed that while students could read the words in the text of a written problem, many had difficulty identifying the core information and were unable to derive a relevant number sentence. In this article, the author briefly outlines the most pertinent research and provides a short summary of how the unit unfolded. The word problem solving unit consisted of two 40-minute lessons per week throughout an eight-week block and was undertaken in two co-educational Year 3 classes. (Contains 6 figures.)