BACKYear 12 and 13 International Baccalaureate students took part in a CAS morning recently. The event aimed to foster a deeper understanding of the CAS framework and highlight the impact of student-led initiatives.
Central to the IB experience is the Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) component, which encourages students to engage in a variety of extracurricular activities that contribute to their growth as individuals and their role in the community.
Uniting as both cohorts, it was a great chance to interact with other students. We began with a marvellous presentation from two passionate Year 13 Ambassadors from the Student Volunteer Army. They set us the challenge of gaining more hours in service than ever before, and aiming high nationally. The pair detailed the steps on how IB students can get involved. Volunteering and serving others is important to foster a culture of collaboration, to champion a generation that aids change, and to nurture a community that is connected.
Continuing with supporting the IB Learner Profile, Mr Fear then led both cohorts outside to partake in an inter-tutor activity, supporting the communicating element. Arranging ourselves into huge circles on the field (there were quite a lot of us!) Mr Fear created some compelling conversation starters to discuss our CAS experiences. As a Year 12 student, I found it so incredibly helpful to hear from the Year 13s with their tips and tricks, advice and recommendations to support my CAS journey. Whether it was suggesting some awesome clubs, volunteering opportunities or even creative endeavours, hearing about each other’s passions and interests opened a broad horizon of the many routes you can pursue as part of the IB diploma. Rotating multiple times to gain a plethora of advice and intentional interactions, our last rotation left us with a buddy for the rest of the CAS morning.
Heading back inside with our buddies, we worked together on updating our CAS experiences on Managebac, the platform we use to track our progress. The Year 13s showed Year 12s the different functions within the platform and demonstrated how to write reflections. Many students found this beneficial as CAS involves reflections to enable students to identify their strengths and weaknesses, their points of learning and how they can use their creative, active and service experiences to meet goals and aims.
The event successfully demonstrated how CAS is not just an academic requirement, but a transformative part of the IB experience that promotes personal development, community involvement, and a deeper connection to the world around them.
As students continue with their CAS activities, the event reinforced the importance of balancing creativity, activity, and service, and inspired them to continue making a positive impact within their school and the wider community.
Anna Armitage, Year 12 International Baccalaureate Student
