"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
Creativity
Creative activities should have a definite goal or outcome. They should be planned and evaluated like all CAS activities. Tasks must extend you and be achievable in scope. This can be interpreted as imaginatively as possible to cover a wide range of arts and other activities outside the normal curriculum which include creative thinking in the design and carrying out of service projects. Appropriate CAS activities are not merely "more of the same" – more practice, more concerts with the school band, and so on. They should involve deliberate action towards a predetermined learning objective, achieved by planning and reflecting throughout the process that results in personal growth and fulfillment.
Action activities can include participation in expeditions, individual and team sports, and physical activities outside the normal curriculum; it also includes physical activity involved in carrying out creative and service projects – such as digging trenches to lay water pipes to bring fresh water to a village. You should undertake group and team activities and take on new roles, but individual commitment is acceptable where the general requirements of CAS are met. For those who have a chosen sport that is entirely individual, perhaps you should try a team game to experience the different pleasures and rewards of this type of sport. "Extending" yourself can be in the form of passing on your skill and knowledge to others. Some excellent action activities are not sporting or competitive but involve physical challenges that demand endurance (such as long-distance trekking) or the conquest of personal fears (for example, rock climbing).
Service
It is essential that service activities foster experiential learning – this rules out mundane, repetitive activities, as well as "service" without real responsibility. Service activities involve interaction, such as the building of links with individuals or groups in the community. They should not only involve doing things for others but also doing things with others and developing a real commitment with the people you work with. The relationship should therefore show respect for the dignity and self-respect of others. This means, among other things, that determining the needs of a service activity should involve prior communication and full consultation with the community or individuals you plan to work with. This maximizes the potential benefits to the recipients and the learning opportunities for you.
Things to note:
During Year 1, make sure to take part in a wide variety of activities that cover creativity, action, & service. This is when you do the bulk of your CAS work for the program. A good source for some of your activities could be those initiated by the school, like our after-school clubs.
By Year 2, you should be focusing on much fewer CAS activities, particularly those that you have initiated. (One creativity, one action, and two service activities would be a good guide to follow. Remember that activities can, and should be, combinations of these core values whenever appropriate.)
Activities should vary in length and in the amount of commitment required from you, but none should be trivial.
You should be involved in at least one project involving collaboration/teamwork that integrates two or more of creativity, action and service and is of significant duration.
8-10 good CAS activities over your two years in the program would be commendable, with one or two (recommended) of them being long-term projects.
Activities with a community aspect weighs more than something that is purely individual, so take this into consideration when you plan out the year.
Activities with a community aspect weighs more than something that is purely individual, so take this into consideration when you plan out the year.
You may not get ALL your credit for any of Creativity, Action, or Service from just one activity.
If an activity is of considerable duration and provides a quality learning experience, then it can earn you half the credit necessary for one of the three core values.
If an activity is of considerable duration and provides a quality learning experience, then it can earn you half the credit necessary for one of the three core values.
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