Maths clubs and competitions · Maths CAS idea
Run a maths circle with a local primary school
ServiceCreativityProject-ready
With a teacher, set up a short series of hands-on maths sessions for children at a nearby primary school, built on games and puzzles rather than worksheets.
Where the maths comes in
Turning ideas such as symmetry, patterns and counting strategies into physical activities young children can explore.
Which CAS strand it fits
- Service: Unpaid, voluntary work with others that also has a learning benefit for you.
- Creativity: The arts, and other experiences that involve creative thinking.
Your CAS coordinator decides how an experience counts at your school. Strand summaries are provisional (our words, being checked).
How to run it
- Your school contacts the primary school; agree with their teacher what the children need.
- Plan sessions with your team and try them on each other.
- Run the sessions with the class teacher present.
- Ask the class teacher and children what they enjoyed and learned.
This can grow into a CAS project if your CAS coordinator agrees: see planning a maths CAS project.
How to evidence it
- Session plans and resource photos
- Notes from the class teacher
- Children's anonymous comments or drawings (with the school's permission)
Date everything and keep it in your school's CAS portfolio as you go. More on what counts as evidence.
Reflection prompts
Questions to think about, not answers to copy. Write your reflections in your own words, in whatever form your school accepts.
- How did the class teacher's advice change your plans?
- What did you learn about how young children think about numbers?
- How did you check the sessions were useful, not just fun?
Learning outcomes this often gives a chance to show
- Collaboration. What did someone else bring that you could not have done alone? Describe a disagreement or a mix-up in the team. How was it resolved?
- Initiative and planning. What did you plan, and what did you have to change once you started? Who did you need to ask for permission or help, and how did you go about it?
- Ethics. What choice in this experience had a right and a wrong way to do it? Whose interests did you have to protect (privacy, safety, fairness), and how?
Whether you meet an outcome depends on what you actually do and reflect on, not on the idea. Outcome labels are our short summaries, being checked.
Safety and ethics
- All arrangements go through your school and the primary school; never arrange contact with children yourself.
- A qualified teacher must be present; follow both schools' safeguarding rules.
Agree every plan with your CAS coordinator first. Safety and ethics for maths CAS.
Problems and strategies for a club: competition maths.