| Creativity. Action. Service.

Island School Student CAS Handbook

The Aims of CAS

The CAS programme aims to develop students who:

enjoy and find significance in a range of CAS experiences
purposefully and critically reflect upon their experiences
identify goals, develop strategies and determine further actions for personal growth
explore new possibilities, embrace new challenges and adapt to new roles
actively participate in planned, sustained, and collaborative CAS Projects
understand they are members of local and global communities with responsibilities towards each other and the environment
offer a balanced range of activities to facilitate intellectual, physical, creative and emotional experiences.
evaluate their commitment to helping those in need and
explore the notion of advocacy

What is CAS?

CAS enables students to demonstrate attributes of the IB learner profile

in real and practical ways, to grow as unique individuals and to recognize their role in relation to others. CAS complements a challenging academic programme in a holistic way, providing opportunities for self-determination, collaboration, accomplishment and enjoyment. (2015 CAS Guide)

Creativity – provides students with the opportunity to explore their own sense of original thinking and expression and is interpreted as imaginatively as possible to cover a wide range of experiences outside the normal curriculum.

Creativity will come from the student’s talents, interests, passions, emotional responses, and imagination; the form of expression is limitless. This may include visual and performing arts, digital design, writing, film, culinary arts, crafts and composition.

If students are accomplished in a particular creative form, for example, music, painting or acting, they may choose to extend their involvement and deepen their skill level. Within their field, students can define new challenges and objectives to fulfill creativity in CAS.

Activity – must involve some element of physical recreation and should promote lifelong healthy habits related to physical well-being. Pursuits may include individual and team sports, aerobic exercise, dance, outdoor recreation, participation in expeditions, fitness training, and any other form of physical exertion that purposefully contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Students are encouraged to participate at an appropriate level and on a regular basis to provide a genuine challenge and benefit.

Students who regularly participate in suitable activity experiences are encouraged to develop and extend their participation. Students could expand personal goals, explore different training models to enhance their existing sport or become involved in a new sport. For dedicated student athletes, maintenance of a planned rigorous training programme is appropriate.

Service – Service involves an unpaid and voluntary exchange that has a learning benefit for the student. It involves collaborative and reciprocal (doing things with others) engagement with the community (on a local, regional or global level) in response to an authentic need. The rights, dignity and autonomy of all those involved are respected.

The aim of the “Service” strand is for students to understand their capacity to make a meaningful contribution to their community and society. Through service, students develop and apply personal and social skills in real-life situations involving decision-making, problem-solving, initiative, responsibility, and accountability for their actions.

Community involvement includes collaboration with others, as students investigate the need, plan and implement their idea for service.

Technology affords opportunities for networking, sharing of initiatives, partnerships and impact.

Students should also attempt to incorporate “Service learning”

What is Service learning?

Service in CAS can be approached using a service learning model. Service learning is the development and application of knowledge and skills towards meeting an identified community need. In this research-based approach, students undertake service initiatives often related to topics studied previously in the curriculum, utilizing skills, understandings and values developed in these studies. Service learning builds upon students’ prior knowledge and background, enabling them to make links between their academic disciplines and their service experiences.

For example:

Using your language skills to help refugees.

Using knowledge from Business Studies to run a school event, advertising, financing, sponsorship, quality control, supply/demand.

Working with NGOs to create a drama highlighting a community need or raising awareness.

All CAS activities (experiences) need to meet 5 criteria

Real purposeful activity with significant outcomes.
Personal challenge – extending (students) and achievable (for them.)
Thoughtful – apply the CAS Stages.
Reflection on the 7 Learning Outcomes and personal learning.
Behave appropriately and ethically in choices and behaviour.

The 7 Learning Outcomes

	7 Learning Outcomes	Descriptor
1	Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth	Students are able to see themselves as individuals with various abilities and skills, of which some are more developed than others.
2	Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process	A new challenge may be an unfamiliar experience or an extension of an existing one. The newly acquired or developed skills may be shown through experiences that the student has not previously undertaken or through increased expertise in an established area.
3	Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience	Students can articulate the stages from conceiving an idea to executing a plan for a CAS experience or series of CAS experiences. This may be accomplished in collaboration with other participants. Students may show their knowledge and awareness by building on a previous experience, or by launching a new idea or process.
4	Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences	Students demonstrate regular involvement and active engagement in CAS.
5	Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively	Students are able to identify, demonstrate and critically discuss the benefits and challenges of collaboration gained through CAS experiences.
6	Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance	Students are able to identify and demonstrate their understanding of global issues, make responsible decisions, and take appropriate action in response to the issue either locally, nationally or internationally.
7	Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions	Students show awareness of the consequences of choices and actions in planning and carrying out CAS experiences.

Student completion of CAS is based on the achievement of the seven CAS learning outcomes realized through the student’s commitment to his or her CAS programme over a period of 18 months. These learning outcomes articulate what a CAS student is able to do at any given point during his or her CAS programme.

Through meaningful and purposeful CAS experiences, students develop the necessary skills, attributes and understandings to achieve the seven CAS learning outcomes.

Some learning outcomes may be achieved many times, while others may be achieved less frequently. Not all CAS experiences lead to a CAS learning outcome. Students must provide evidence on ManageBac of having achieved each learning outcome at least once through their CAS programme. The evidence of achieving the seven CAS learning outcomes is found in students’ reflections.

What counts as CAS?

You need to speak to your tutor or the CAS Coordinator to confirm if something counts as CAS but below are some guidelines to get you started:

Its not CAS if:

You are not meaningfully engaged in the activity/experience and or the community in some way.
You do not find the activity/experience personally challenging and rewarding.
You are in a passive role.
You are being paid.
The activity/experience is a family duty.

You are getting credit for another class – CAS experiences must be distinct from, and may not be included or used, in the student’s Diploma course requirements or as a part of their normal Btec requirements.

You are proselytizing (trying to convert or attempt to convert someone from one religion, belief, or opinion to another.)

What is or is not CAS?:

Students can undertake CAS experiences through participation in faith-based, cultural, or political events. For example, they might help organize a faith-based charity event or learn to play a musical instrument for faith-based celebrations. Politically-based organizations, such as human rights advocacy groups, can provide a good platform for participation in campaign activities, while working with dance or music groups may facilitate an excellent opportunity for deeper understanding of cultural traditions.

Students’ personal engagement with faith-based, cultural, or political events can add great value to individual CAS programmes as long as they don’t contradict the values of the IB mission and/or the requirements of CAS.

Students need to make principled decisions about whether an activity/experience qualifies as CAS.

The following questions are a guideline but ultimately you will make the decision with your tutor or the CAS Co-ordinator:

What attributes of the learner profile can be emphasized in the proposed experience? What may be left out? Why?
Does the event or organization respect the differences of other individuals and groups?
Will the event or organization increase your understanding of language, culture, other perspectives, and/or international-mindedness?
What are the stated goals of the organization with which you would be undertaking the experience? How do these goals relate to the mission statement of the IB or the attributes of the IB learner profile?
Does the event have the potential to impact the environment?
How have you considered the legal or health and safety implications of your CAS experience?

What are the 2 types of CAS – reflected and non-reflected

Reflected CAS – Projects

The reflections must cover all 7 Learning Outcomes.

CAS emphasizes reflection which is central to building a deep and rich experience in CAS. Reflection informs students’ learning and growth by allowing students to explore ideas, skills, strengths, limitations and areas for further development and consider how they may use prior learning in new contexts.

What is a ‘Project’?

Must be Self initiated and involve sustained collaboration
Be planned and a regular commitment over a period of at least 1 month. Please note that if your Project lasts one month it will need SERIOUS involvement and time commitment over the month.
For the duration of the Project there must be a series of sequential CAS experiences eg each experience should be building upon the previous in some way – they must be linked.
The shorter the Project duration the greater the frequency of involvement must be.
It must develop skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, and

decision-making (you must be able to demonstrate this in your reflections)

It must show initiative and demonstrate perseverance (you must be able to demonstrate this in your reflections)
The Project must be recorded on ManageBac and be evidenced.
It must be marked with the ‘CAS Project Icon’ on ManageBac.
The CAS project can address any single strand of CAS, or combine two or all three strands.
NB AYP Silver, if started after you begin Yr 12, NOT before, will count as your CAS Project

What must be evidenced and reflected on and where?

What?

Projects and Majors must be evidenced and reflected on.

Where?

Everything is done in ManageBac

What is ‘evidence’?

Evidence includes things like:

photos
link to a blog
certificates of completion/appreciation
copies of emails
letters of appreciation
video extracts
timetables/running schedules
newspaper cuttings/online media links which mention the student
flyers for events

What is ‘reflection’?

Reflection is the way you show that you have met the 7 Learning outcomes. It must be an ongoing process, and not be done only at the end of your CAS experience. By reflecting at various points DURING your Projects and Majors this will make you think about what the experience means to you, and give you time to go back and change parts of what and how you are doing your CAS. This, we hope, will make CAS more meaningful for you and help you develop greater self (and community) awareness.

Reflection does not have to take the written form (see list below) but it must be recorded and accessible through ManageBac. If you are unsure you can check with the CAS Co-ordinator.

Reflections need to be recorded 4 times, on set dates, and are done during Tutor Period, supported by tutors and materials provided by the CAS co-ordinator.

Reflection MUST refer to the CAS Experiences

Types of Reflections

Reflection can appear in countless forms. CAS students should be able to identify forms of expression that have personal meaning and best enable them to explore their experiences.

For example:

A student might take photographs while hiking and use these to reflect in writing.
Two students could compose a song describing how they helped children.
A student might dramatize a poem to capture a feeling of creative endeavour.
A student could produce a short video summarizing a CAS experience.
A group of students create a poster highlighting aspects of a shared experience.

Written reflections (often referred to as a journal)

Do not need to be written in formal prose, but may be point form
Short Twitter style comments can provide for powerful reflections
A written dialogue
A letter

Oral reflections (must be recorded and uploaded in Managebac)

During interviews with your CAS Advisor.
During discussions with your activity supervisor
Discussions with other group members (where applicable)
Record your own podcast and upload in Managebac

Visual

Murals
Creative design
Sculpture
Collage

Creative

A comic strip
A drama performance
Poetry
A letter to the editor / an editorial
A word cloud (wordle)
A video / short film
Photographs (often with a written or recorded commentary to accompany them)
Animation
Dance

What is the Tutor’s role?

“provide personal advice and support to individual students.” CAS Guide

To guide and advise
Monitor the range and balance
Decide if something is a CAS Experience.
Encourage and support
Conduct 2 interviews (1 in Year 12 as a part of TFL – may also be done by House Staff – and 1 Exit Interview in Year 13.) The Exit Interview must be recorded and uploaded on to Managebac.

IN SUMMARY:

What is necessary to fulfill your CAS requirement at Island School