The CAS Programme
Congratulations to all the 12th graders on successfully completing the demands of the CAS programme. The CAS programme is an integral part of the IB Diploma Programme and encourages students to follow and engage with their passions outside of the classroom. Their experiences must cover all three strands of CAS, namely, Creativity, Activity and Service.
In order to get the students off to the best possible start with CAS in 11th grade, the school arranges an EOTC (Education Outside The Classroom) trip to Les village in North Eastern Bali. This trip enables students to be involved in a two year service project that can hit all strands and the 7 learning outcomes of the CAS programme. Please watch the attached student made video for an overview of the coral rehabilitation, English teaching and salt farming activities that students are involved in on the trip. Many of the students believe that the trip is the highlight of the CAS programme.
“I enjoyed EOTC the most because not only was it a fun trip where I got to know my peers and the 11th graders better I also had the chance to interact more with the local community. This made me more grateful for the privileged life that I live. It also helped me with my planning as it was the first time for me to make ‘real’ plans that can have an effect on someone’s life rather than the ‘abstract’ plans we usually make in school.” – Alfonso Romero
Students were also involved in a broad range of other experiences throughout the CAS programme. Some of the most memorable were boys and girls IISSAC football with both teams winning the IISSAC tournament giving them an opportunity to write some great reflections and take some great photos as evidence. Other experiences the 12s were involved in included: starting the school’s first touch rugby and ultimate frisbee club, creating a futsal league for the local community, setting up and running the school’s first magazine, coaching football with local children as part of Taman Bacaan, leading BACI and protecting the local strays, being student leaders for GIN conference that the school hosted, teaching others how to DJ, being involved in wheelchair basketball in the local community and many other varied and worthwhile experiences.
“CAS pushed me to follow through on the plastic project I was thinking about in 10th grade. CAS encouraged me to pursue my ideas and actually take action which was a major reason in me receiving the EARCOS global citizenship award. This made me and my family cry [with joy].” – Sierra Anderson
“I am so proud of the futsal league that I organised and created. It was really difficult to arrange sponsorship and get people to sign up because it was not an existing league. Everything had to be done from scratch which was insanely hard but it has taught me to persevere in things that I am passionate about and it taught me not to rely on just one person but to always have a back-up plan.” – Jack Attwood
“CAS pushed me to do things that I enjoy but normally wouldn’t do because I don’t have the time. I enjoyed being creative and helping the community.” – Angie Liu *Apple
One of the most important, but not always enjoyable, aspects of CAS are the reflections that take place during and after the completion of each experience. Students are encouraged to reflect on each of the 7 learning outcomes they have selected prior to starting the experience. The reflections encourage students to highlight areas of growth in future experiences but also to instill a sense of pride in the successful completion of experiences. Although not universally loved it seems that most students recognized the importance of meaningful reflection, not just in CAS but in all aspects of life.
“Write them [reflections] as soon as you finish the experience. It made me feel proud of my achievements. As I spent the time to reflect honestly I can see how much I invested in my projects and how I have developed as a person and a student. That motivates me to continue improving and getting better.” – Ines Delgado Rusli
“I actually enjoyed reflecting on the ethical aspects of the EOTC trip as I am passionate about these things and it gave me a chance to vent and write my true feelings. Reflecting also highlighted areas in my personality that I would like to improve on and I feel that I have improved to a certain extent.” – Jael Lorenzen
“By spending the time to write quality reflections on each of my experiences I realised how valuable the experiences were. This meant that I stopped looking at CAS as something you ‘must’ do and started to appreciate it as a valuable experience.” – Keisuke Mafune
It has been an enjoyable experience for myself, as CAS coordinator, to conduct the exit interviews with all of our year 12s and hear in more detail about what CAS has meant to them and how it has helped them develop. It has been especially pleasing to hear the positive comments regarding CAS and the fact that none of the students saw it as a chore that was necessary to pass the diploma programme. I hope that the current year 11s will continue to learn from the experiences of the 12s and push themselves to complete their CAS experiences to the best of their abilities.
Matthew Wood
Head of Humanities / History teacher / CAS coordinator
