Maths clubs and competitions · Maths CAS idea
Start a lower-school maths club
ServiceCreativityProject-ready
Set up and run a weekly lunchtime or after-school maths club for younger students, with a small team of DP students sharing the planning.
Where the maths comes in
Choosing problems at the right level, sequencing them over a term and explaining ideas without the formal notation you are used to.
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
- Ask the head of maths whether there is demand and which year group would benefit most.
- Recruit two or three co-leaders and agree a room, a time and a supervising teacher.
- Plan the first half-term of sessions with a mix of puzzles, games and one bigger investigation.
- Collect short feedback from members every few weeks and change the plan.
This can grow into a CAS project if your CAS coordinator agrees: see planning a maths CAS project.
How to evidence it
- Session plans with your notes on what worked
- Attendance register (first names or initials only)
- Anonymous member feedback and how you acted on it
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.
- Why did you think the club was needed, and who confirmed it?
- Which session flopped, and what did you change afterwards?
- How did the team share the work, and was it fair?
Learning outcomes this often gives a chance to show
- 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?
- 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
- A member of staff must be responsible for the session; follow your school's safeguarding rules for working with younger students.
- Keep any contact with members through school channels only.
Agree every plan with your CAS coordinator first. Safety and ethics for maths CAS.
Problems and strategies for a club: competition maths.