Creativity, Action and Service
Please see this year's CAS week choices ... here
WHAT IS CAS?
The name CAS applies to the three main categories of non-academic involvement which are seen to be part of a balanced education. These categories are:
CREATIVITY including artistic expression and personal initiative.
ACTION including physical involvement, sports and training.
SERVICE including charity work, community service and organized volunteer help for others.
WHAT DOES THE CAS PROGRAMME AIM TO ACHIEVE?
Aims
Within the IB Diploma Programme, CAS provides the main opportunity to develop many of the attributes described in the IB Learner Profile. For this reason, the aims of CAS have been written in a form that highlights their connections with the IB Learner Profile.
The CAS programme aims to develop students who are:
- Reflective thinkers - they understand their own strengths and limitations, identify goals and Identify strategies for growth;
- Willing to accept new challenges and roles;
- Aware of themselves as members of communities with responsibilities towards each other and the environment;
- Active participants in sustained and collaborative projects;
- Balanced - they enjoy and find significance in arrange of activities involving intellectual, physical and creative and emotional experiences
WHY HAS A CAS PROGRAMME BEEN INTRODUCED?
The elements of CAS are not new at Island School. We have always had a strong tradition of creative, action and service elements. The Diploma Programmes we offer in our Sixth Form require CAS to be completed formally and documented.
WHY IS THE CAS PROGRAMME COMPULSORY?
Our school has always had pride in its students and their achievements. Many of our students earn fantastic examination results and receive recognition and rewards such as scholarships and prizes for excellence.
However we feel that measuring in terms of what our students give is as important as it is in terms of what they receive. We feel that truly successful people are those who are caring towards others and who are interested in helping to make the community a better place. The CAS programme can contribute towards making our students better citizens.
WHAT TYPES OF ACTIVITIES CAN RECEIVE RECOGNITION?
The CAS programme aims to recognize any genuine commitment where students challenge themselves.
| Creativity | Action | Service |
|---|---|---|
| Orchestra | Helping to coach a school or community team | Helping coach a school or community sports team |
| Choir | HKAYP | Fundraising commitments |
| Debating | Walkathon | English camp helpers |
| Photography club | Hikes | Visiting/volunteering at hospitals |
| Explorer | Sports days | Tutoring lower school students |
| Editorial teams | Swimming gala | Homework club |
| Student newspaper | Training and playing in school, and inter-house teams. | Mother’s Choice volunteer |
| Learning a musical instrument | Learning and playing a new sport. | Crossroads volunteer |
| Dance | ||
| Fashion shows | ||
| Planning and doing displays | ||
| Marketing campaigns | ||
| Camp prefect | Camp prefect | Camp prefect |
| Rainbow trek | Rainbow trek | Rainbow trek |
| Environmental groups | Environmental groups | Environmental groups |
TYPES OF CAS AT ISLAND SCHOOL
STRUCTURED CAS
This is based on the activities programme and could include activities such as learning to referee or umpire, taking and running school clubs/teams. This will be completed on a regular basis, perhaps for a term or a year.
CAS WEEK (FORMERLY INTERIM WEEK)
This week will allow students in Year 12/13 to specialize in areas of interest or tackle a new skill or experience. All activities will reflect CAS in one or more aspects. Students must be committed and reflect upon all activities they have participated in.
PERSONAL CAS
This involves activities or projects which students can organize themselves. This is probably the most valuable and fulfilling form of CAS. This will be monitored by their form tutor/CAS adviser. Students are expected to keep a record of their CAS activities on the Gateway, keep it up to date, collect evidence and reflect upon and evaluate their commitments.
CAS – BASIC REQUIREMENTS
150 HOURS OF CAS IS COMPLETED DURING THE COURSE (ROUGHLY SPLIT BETWEEN C A AND S)
A PROJECT IS COMPLETED - SOMETHING THAT YOU DO THAT COMBINES TWO ELEMENTS OF C A OR S AND IS MAJOR (I.E. OVER 12 HOURS)
YOU HAVE ACHIEVED THE 8 LEARNING OUTCOMES AT LEAST ONCE
YOU HAVE PLANNED AND EVALUATED AND EVIDENCED YOUR ACTIVITIES ON THE GATEWAY
YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE FINAL CAS COMPLETION FORM - IN THE FEBRUARY OF YEAR 13
EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: CAS LEARNING OUTCOMES
As a result of their CAS experience as a whole, including their reflections, there should be evidence that students have:
- Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth
They are able to see themselves as individuals with various skills and abilities, some more developed than others, and understand that they can make choices about how they wish to move forward. - Undertaken new challenges
A new challenge may be an unfamiliar activity, or an extension to an existing one. - Planned and initiated activities
Planning and initiation will often be in collaboration with others. It can be shown in activities that are part of larger projects, for example, ongoing school activities in the local community, as well as in small student-led activities. - Worked collaboratively with others
Collaboration can be shown in many different activities, such as team sports, playing music in a band, or helping in a kindergarten. At least one project, involving collaboration and the integration of at least two of creativity, action and service, is required. - Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
At a minimum, this implies attending regularly and accepting a share of the responsibility for dealing with problems that arise in the course of activities. - Engaged with issues of global importance
Students may be involved in international projects but there are many global issues that can be acted upon locally or nationally (for example, environmental concerns, caring for the elderly). - Considered the ethical implications of their actions
Ethical decisions arise in almost any CAS activity (for example, on the sports field, in musical composition, in relationships with others involved in service activities). Evidence of thinking about ethical issues can be shown in various ways, including journal entries and conversations with CAS advisers. - Developed new skills
As with new challenges, new skills may be shown in activities that the student has not previously undertaken, or in increased expertise in an established area.
All eight outcomes must be present for a student to complete the CAS requirement.
Some may be demonstrated many times, in a variety of activities, but completion requires only that there is some evidence for every outcome. This focus on learning outcomes emphasizes that it is the quality of a CAS activity (its contribution to the student’s development) that is of most importance. The guideline for the minimum amount of CAS activity is approximately the equivalent of half a day per school week (three to four hours per week), or approximately 150 hours in total, with a reasonable balance between creativity, action and service. “Hour counting”, however, is not encouraged.