Maths clubs and competitions · Maths CAS idea
Run a competition training group
ServiceProject-ready
Lead a weekly group that prepares younger students for a national maths challenge or olympiad, working through problem-solving strategies together.
Where the maths comes in
Problem-solving strategies (working backwards, parity, invariants, drawing a diagram) explained to others, with your own practice problems.
Which CAS strand it fits
- Service: Unpaid, voluntary work with others that also has a learning benefit for you.
Your CAS coordinator decides how an experience counts at your school. Strand summaries are provisional (our words, being checked).
How to run it
- Check with the maths department which competitions the school enters and when.
- Write or adapt your own practice problems; link students to the competition's official past papers rather than copying them.
- Run sessions that teach one strategy each time, then mix them.
- After the competition, review with the group what helped.
This can grow into a CAS project if your CAS coordinator agrees: see planning a maths CAS project.
How to evidence it
- Your strategy handouts
- A log of sessions and topics
- Students' feedback before and after the competition
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 you decide which strategy to teach first?
- What did you learn about explaining a solution compared with finding one?
- How did you keep less confident students involved?
Learning outcomes this often gives a chance to show
- Challenge and new skills. What could you not do at the start that you can do now? Which moment felt most uncomfortable, and what did you do next?
- Commitment and perseverance. When did you feel like stopping, and what kept you going? What does your record of sessions or meetings show about how regularly you took part?
- 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?
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
- Only share official past papers by linking to the organiser's site; do not copy or redistribute them.
- Work under a named teacher.
Agree every plan with your CAS coordinator first. Safety and ethics for maths CAS.
Problems and strategies for a club: competition maths.