I have been in a school this morning where they have Mae as meaning I have. Is this correct
mae e he is, mae hi she is, mae Gareth yn y gegin - Gareth is in the kitchen. @aran, @Iestyn I donāt think mae on its own can ever be have- am I wrong?
As @henddraig pointed out, generally speaking, āmaeā is just āisā.
āI haveā is funny in Welsh. Itās a construction built using āmaeā, as in āmae gen i gathā meaning āI have a catā (literally, itās something like āwith me is a catā or āI have a cat with meā)
So āmaeā isnāt really āI haveā but itās easy to see how it might come across that way if they were teaching the āI haveā construction.
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I thought I have a cat would be Mae Cath gyda fe
The word Mae was on a separate piece of paper as part of a wall display where different Welsh words were paired with the English alternative
Mae cath gyda fi is indeed I have a cat. However, it is literally a cat is with me or, in the Welsh word order, is a cat with me. So mae is as Lewie says, is. 
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fe - he - e . fi - i so I have a dog is mae ci gyda fi or mae gen i ci. gyda fe means with him, so it would be some chap who did the owning! Or was fe a typo? I chickened on the cat as I never remember when cath becomes gath except that.I know itās y gath! i imagine if I say gath when it is really cath or vise versa folk would catch on!
mae cath gyda fi is the more Southern way of saying I have a cat, mae gen i gath is the more Northern way, but they both mean the same and are equally correct - it is the whole construction (whichever form is used, North or South) which gives the meaning of possession āhaveā, not any one word on its own.
@siaronjames, fach, am I right that if i said, in Caernarfon, mae gath gyda fi or mae gen i cathā¦ ,o, that last one sounds dreadful so i wouldnāt say it. But over-mutating has always been a besetting sin of mine, so gath when cath is correct, would it be passed off with a grin by the locals?
I doubt anyone would comment on it - theyād know what you meant either way
Iām pretty sure a lot of what I say (i.e. things where mutations should/shouldnāt be) is passed off with a grin here! 
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My understanding is that Mae = Is/ be for masculine and feminine things.
Mae gen I gath = Is with me cat = I have a cat [Northern]
Mae cath gyda fi = be cat with me = I have a cat [Southern]
After some time using the āis withā construction starts to make a lot of sense, so I donāt see the advantage of teaching that āMae = haveā at all ?
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No. Itās just confusing.
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I believe the whole point is that mae is not have!
I need the is not equal to sign = with a / across it! I believe @aran said it can be =!,.
So mae =! have
None of us understand why a school would display a sign saying, āMAE = HAVEā unless it was work in progress, and was going to end up as, āMae gen i = I haveā
As I am a new learner I was a little confused but I can now say that Mae = is
Is that right
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pretty much, but nothing is that simple. @aran can probably find some other meaning somewhere! Also the real expert on grammar @garethrking will know for sure!
The last thing I want to do is add to confusion, but yes, while mae = is, remember it can also = are.
Maeār aderyn yn y coeden = the bird is in the tree.
Maeār adar yn y coeden = the birds are in the tree.
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after āMae gen iā¦ā (and gan) youāll get a soft mutation. So ci and cath become gi and gath
Both masculine and feminine nouns?
yes, both.
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The cause of the mutation isnāt altered by the gender of the noun.
The gender of the noun mutates adjectives:
Ci bach
Cath fach
TÅ· bach
Sied fach
But it would be: Mae gen i gi bach, mae gen i gath fach