As you know IB diploma candidates are required to participate in creative, physical and service activities during their two years of study. There are good reasons for this requirement:

• to complement the academic disciplines of the curriculum

• to challenge and extend the individual student by developing a spirit of discovery and self-reliance

• to encourage individual skills and interests

• to provide opportunities for service

The activities have been grouped:

• Creative Activities

• Actions

• Service

Creative Options

This can be interpreted as imaginatively as possible to cover the widest range of arts and other activities.

Action Options

This may include physical activities, both team and individual.

Service Options

This does not mean exclusively social service but can include environmental and international projects.

A programme in which creativity, action and service are seperate activities is just as valid as a programme in which all three are integrated into a single project. However, it is a requirement that each activity has an approximately equal proportion of time allocation to maintain the overall programme balance.

These activities do not have to be based at the school.

You cannot do the activities all by yourself, you need a supervisor (a fellow student cannot be a supervisor unless she/he is over 23 years).

The CAS program as described above is a compulsory requirement for obtaining the IB diploma and therefore the program is an exam requirement for you. Should an IB candidate fail to fulfill the CAS requirement we will have to report this and it will normally result in no diploma being awarded.

What counts for CAS

The question that is asked most in the beginning of the CAS program is: "Does this count for CAS?"

If you have read the previous remarks about what it is and what the aim is, it should not be hard to find out by yourself. But you can ask the CAS coordinator any time.

Action: Jogging with your brother-in-law (if he is over 23 years) is a CAS activity. Darts is not a CAS activity nor is snooker.

Creativity: Either use your own creativity and imagination to produce a more or less great piece of personal product, or explore new worlds and new civilizations.

Service: Does anybody call for help?

I think there is hardly any need to say that it is not allowed to receive any financial compensation for the service you give.

There are lots of activities that are CAS combined. These are the best activities you can think of. Here are a few examples:

• Producing, editing the school yearbook

• Coaching/training of a junior sports team

• Scouting

• Arranging a trip for the mentally handicapped.

Communication with your CAS coordinator

There are a few ways of getting in contact with the coordinator:

• scheduled appointments

• during breaks

Contact is needed because:

• the coordinator needs to check the progress regularly

• the students need help or information

• the student found a special activity without an adult supervisor

Reports

The students have to write reports of their activities.

• You have to fill in your CAS diary regularly. This CAS diary has to be handed in every third month. SEE MESSAGES ON CAS BOARD and CAS homepage!!

• You can get copies of CAS diary from the CAS coordinator or it can be downloded from the CAS homepage, too.

• You and the supervisor of the project have to fill in an evaluation form for those activities which involved many CAS hours (more or equal to ten). Futher details will be given by the CAS coordinator.

• At the end of each school year you have to add up the hours spent on C, A, S ! If two elements are involved in a project you have to split the given time into two equal parts. If all the elements are involved divide it into three parts. Then find the total for each element.

• Each student should write CAS evaluation about the overall CAS activities at the end of his/her IB studies.

Help

To help you getting started with the CAS program you can consider the following remarks.

If you have a hobby, could that count as a CAS activity. If you have a hobby, it might be possible to shape it in such a form that it becomes a high quality major CAS activity (you like playing chess, and you start a successful chess club at school).

If you have a certain subject where you are good in, you might be able to tutor another student of a lower form.

Are you interested in environmental things, choose one from the list of such Foundations.

If you do a sport in a club perhaps you can volunteer to train and /or coach a junior team.