AMELIA HIGH SCHOOL
IB CAS HANDBOOK 2016 – 17
Creativity, Activity, Service
CAS is at the center of IB Diploma Program hexagon and, together with Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay, is a requirement for the IB Diploma. It is designed to help students enhance their personal and interpersonal development through experiential learning and to counterbalance the pressures of the intense academic work. It provides opportunities for self-determination, collaboration, accomplishment and enjoyment.
CAS Overview
CAS is a three-pronged requirement made of Creativity (exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance), Activity (physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle) and Service (collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need.) As such, CAS activities are expected to occur on a regular basis for at least 18 months of the junior and senior year.
CAS aims to develop students who:
1. Enjoy and find significance in a range of CAS experiences
2. Purposefully reflect upon their experiences
3. Identify goals, develop strategies and determine further actions for personal growth
4. Explore new possibilities, embrace new challenges and adapt to new roles
5. Actively participate in planned, sustained and collaborative CAS projects
6. Understand they are members of local and global communities with responsibilities towards each other and the environment.
All proposed CAS activities need to meet four criteria:
1. Fit within one or more of creativity, activity and service
2. Be based on personal interest, skill, talent or opportunity for growth
3. Provide opportunities to develop the attributes of the IB learned profile
4. Not be used or included in the student’s Diploma course requirements
All proposed CAS activities need to address one or more of seven learning outcomes. Each activity does not need to address all seven learning outcomes. A given activity may only address one or two learning outcomes, but all activities taken together must address the entire group of seven learning outcomes:
1. Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
3. Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
4. Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
5. Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
6. Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
7. Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
As CAS experiences are planned, IB recommends using the following model of five CAS stages:
1. Investigation: Students investigate what they want to do and determine the purpose of the CAS experience.
2. Preparation: Students clarify roles and responsibilities, develop a plan of action, identify resources and timelines, and acquire skills needed to engage in the CAS experience.
3. Action: Students implement their plan of action. They may work individually, with partners or in groups.
4. Reflection: Students describe what happened, express feelings, generate ideas, and raise questions. Reflection is intended to further understanding, assist with revising plans, learn from the experience, and make connections between growth, accomplishments and learning outcomes for the experience.
5. Demonstration: Students make explicit what and how they learned and what they have accomplished. They provide evidence of completion of the CAS experience.
Creativity: Creativity in CAS relates to the act of creating or developing something. It can be painting, drawing, acting, singing, playing an instrument, cooking, sewing, designing a robot, designing new software, or writing a play or story. Creative activities are expected to challenge the student to learn new things. An accomplished instrumental musician, for example, can use music as a creative activity by learning a new, particularly difficult new piece or performing a solo concert in a nursing home or teaching younger children to play the instrument. If the student is taking HL or SL Art or Music or is in the school Band or Orchestra, then the activity must go beyond the normal class work. A given piece of art, for example, cannot be used to fulfill an HL or SL Art requirement and as a CAS activity.
Activity: Activity in CAS relates only to physical activity and focuses on personal challenge. It can be school sports, fitness activities, jogging, archery, dancing, walking on a treadmill, gymnastics, and weight loss activities. A student athlete can use a school sport or community sport for a CAS activity if they focus their efforts on learning new skills, setting goals beyond those set by the coaches, or teaching skills to other students. Students do not get CAS credit for simply participating in a school sport. They must have a personal goal to improve and demonstrate the improvement while participating in the school sport.
Service: Service in CAS relates only to doing something for someone less fortunate or to help education. It is essential that the service activity have learning benefits for the students. Simply participating in routine, mundane service activities over time does not constitute a CAS activity. It must benefit others and challenge the student. If a service activity is undertaken in the context of a political activity then it must be an activity that is safe for the student, that will not increase or cause social divisions and that offers learning opportunities for the student. If a service activity is undertaken in the context of a religious activity, then it must be for the benefit of a wider community and must not involve religious devotion or proselytizing.
CAS Project: As part of the CAS requirements, students are required to complete a CAS Project. A CAS project is a collaborative, well-considered series of sequential CAS experiences. The primary purpose is for students to participate in sustained collaboration to discover the benefits of teamwork. All CAS projects should use the CAS stages as a framework for implementation to make sure the requirements are met. A minimum of one month is recommended for a CAS project, from planning to completion.
You will choose your own CAS activities and develop your own CAS program. The IB teachers and the CAS coordinator will be available to advise and support you as you design your program.
Reflection: As mentioned above in the CAS Stages, Reflection is a key element of the CAS experience. Students are expected to reflect on their CAS experiences and provide some evidence of their reflection. A high quality reflection has four elements:
1. Describing what happened. Students describe memorable moments, identify what was important or influential, what went well or was difficult, obstacles and successes
2. Expressing feelings: Students articulate emotional responses to their experiences.
3. Generating ideas: Students rethink or reexamine choices and actions they made and generate ideas for future experiences.
4. Asking questions: Students ask questions about people, processes, or issues.
A high quality reflection is intended to provide evidence that the expected learning outcomes have been achieved. Reflections are a required part of the CAS Portfolio described in the next section.
CAS Portfolio:
All students are expected to maintain and complete a CAS portfolio as evidence of their engagement in CAS and completion of the seven learning outcomes. The portfolio will include the following information for each CAS experience: Description of the experience, amount of time spent, name of sponsoring adult, learning outcomes addressed by the CAS experience, high quality reflection, evidence or demonstration of completing the experience and the learning outcomes. The CAS portfolio will be online through ManageBac.
Interviews: Students will be expected to participate in a minimum of three interviews with the CAS Coordinator where progress is discussed and advice given. The interviews will involve an individual student and the CAS Coordinator or designee. One interview will be during the Junior Year and two interviews will be during the Senior Year. Students will be expected to show their progress and portfolio documentation as well as share plans for future CAS experiences. These interviews will be scheduled by the CAS Coordinator.
In addition to the three interviews, students will meet with the CAS Coordinator on a weekly basis during their Theory of Knowledge course and biweekly when not registered in that class.
Some possible activities from other North American IB Schools
Recreational activities for elderly people
Writing for the school newspaper
Recording books on tape for the blind or elderly
Plays/drama festivals for elementary schools or community
Dance competitions
Photography club
Coaching children’s sports
Gardening in or cleaning up a local park or public area
Painting/cleaning up a school
Tutoring underprivileged children
Weekly dinner for people in need
Red Cross
Helping youth organizations
Helping with school literacy programs
School band
School Drama group
Volunteers at hospital or hospice
Helping in school library
Painting buildings, walls, ceilings for people who need help or for public buildings