CAS for the month of September

The month of September was a very hectic month and it was filled with different kinds of activities for all the students to take part in. The after-school activities had begun and the community service meetings every Thursday after school were now a common feature, The sports gala and the “hope for kids” charity concert versus cancer and the founders day assembly also took place this month. Even though I am new too this school I thought it would be a good idea to take part in everything as it would help me develop some skills,help a cause and get to know the other students better. Turns out I was right! This is a quick report on the different activities :

After-school activities :  This semester I have chosen football also knows as soccer as my after-school activity. I have been attending judiciously and am proud to say I have not missed a single session. On one afternoon the weather conditions were horrible so the activity was cancelled but still some of us who were more determined to play football roughed it out in the rain and played a usual game as if everything was perfect. This activity has helped me develop my football skills and  has earned me a place in the soccer team , atleast for now.

Our first football match : We played a football match against a team called “ The Colombo Lions” who were about on average ten years older than us and used to practice every week. We were getting beaten badly in the beginning but then we pulled it together in the second half and put up a comeback. We learnt a lot from this experience about ball control and team play. We hope to play this team and other teams in such practice matches before we go for SAISA as it will really help our teamwork.

Community Service : For this semester I have chosen the cleft palette organization which raises money for operations for children who suffer from this disease. All members of this organization meet every Thursday after school to discuss methods by which we could raise money for these children. We have set and estimate of earning 300,000 rupees through donations and holding events for our cause. Though we still don’t have any concrete plans on how to earn this money I am sure we will think of something that will work.

The Sports Gala: the sports gala was an action packed day with activities ranging from football to swimming. I chose to take part in all non-swimming activities and try and earn some points for my house the blue house . I took part in football, volleyball , kickball and basketball. We did not perform outstandingly well in these activities though in the end through our whole house’s joint effort we were able to lift the sports cup for this year!! BLUE HOUSE CONQUERED ALL!

Charity concert :  This concert was organized by one of our schools own community service organizations called “hope for kids” and it went off very well. The tickets were sold out which made us happy but also nervous because now we knew we had to perform in front of a massive audience. Me and a group of other boys and girls got together and choreographed and performed an Indian bollywood dance as our contribution to the concert. Our performance was greatly appreciated and it can be seen on this link  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_ZN61c4W-o. We were extremely satisfied with ourselves for our performance and being able to contribute something to the concert for this cause.

Founder’s Day Assembly : For the founder’s day assembly our group of dancers that performed for the charity concert was once again called upon to perform our dance as the finale for the assembly. We were honored by this offer and readily accepted and performed our dance once again in front of the entire school. This time too the performance went off without a hitch once again and left the crowd pleased. 

8 Critical Learning Outcomes

There is a list of outcomes created by the IB which we are meant to achieve through CAS. These are for our own personal reflection to see if we are doing what the IB requires of through CAS. As a result of our CAS experiences we should have completed and fulfilled the following criteria by the time we graduate so as to ensure a total experience of the aims of CAS:

• Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth: They are able to see themselves as individuals with various skills and abilities, some more developed than others, and understand they can make choices about how they wish to move forward. 

• Undertaken new challenges: A new challenge may be an unfamiliar activity, or an extension to an existing one. 
• Planned and initiated activities: Planning and initiation will often be in collaboration with others. It can be shown in activities that are part of larger projects, for example, ongoing school activities in the local community, as well as in small student-led activities. 
• Worked collaboratively with others: Collaboration can be shown in many different activities, such as team sports, playing music in a band, or helping in a kindergarten. At least one project involving collaboration and the integration of at least two of creativity, action and service, is required. 
• Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities: At a minimum, this implies attending regularly and accepting a share of the responsibility for dealing with problems that arise in the course of activities. 
• Engaged with issues of global importance: Students may be involved in international projects but there are many global issues that can be acted upon locally or nationally (for example, environmental concerns, caring for the elderly). 
• Considered the ethical implications of their actions: Ethical decisions arise in almost any CAS activity (for example, on the sports field, in musical composition, in relationships with others involved in service activities). Evidence of thinking about ethical issues can be shown in various ways, including journal entries and conversations with CAS advisers. 
• Develop new skills: As with new challenges, new skills may be shown in activities that the student has not previously undertaken, or in increased expertise in an established area.

Goals For 2010-2011

The Creativity, Action and Service programme at the overseas school of colombo is an essential part of the IB diploma which teaches students about our community inside and outside of school and how to work effectively in each community.The CAS programme also helps in developing skills,facing challeneges,making the student aware of the community outside of school who need help which the students can provide.It plays a big role in making the student an all-round achiever.To achieve these objectives of CAS i have prepared a list of goals for me to achieve this year in order to expand my horizons outside of the classroom, which are :

1)Undertake new Activities:
All the three components of CAS make us undertake new challenges and activites on almost a daily basis.The school offers so many facilities for me to try new things i thought i would never do.I plan on trying activites like Boxing which i have never thought of doing before.In the IB orientation camp we were made to climb giant ladders and absail down a 100 foot tower and also rock climb, of which i have never done any before and have never thought of doing either cause of my great fear of heights.Even though doing all these things did not help me get rid of my fear it definitely helped me in controlling my fear of heights and get through these tasks.I look forward to the rest of the year and undertaking new activities each semester.

2)Helping the community:
An integral part of CAS is for us to learn to help our community and provide our service wherever it is needed.Every week we meet after school once in support of various foundations for which we have to raise funds in order to help them.Even though its a short meet , it feels good to be giving back to the society from which we continuosly take.CAS is going to help us learn about the country we are studying and living in which is Sri Lanka.Community Service is a great way for students to help those less fortunate than themselves and try and make a difference in their lives.I have already joint the Cleft palette organisation and i look forward to joining other groups in the other semesters.

3)Learn to work co-operatively with others
CAS helps us come together in groups or teams and partake in activities which may be creativity, action or service related.It helps us build the spirit of teamwork and co-operation.I plan on joining the football team at osc and gain the trust and support of my team-mates.Also our afterschool community service group makes us work together to help a certain cause supported by all in that group.We need to work as a team in order to organize events to raise funds for our organizations.I hope these teach me to work as a team player.

4)Help the SAISA football team to a good position in this years tournament:
As i am new to the school i hope to make an impact in the football team and help the team to a better position than last year in the saisa tournament.i hope to influence the game of the team so that there is more teamwork leading to better performance.

5)Learn to be Creative
I am not really a creative person by nature and have not been very involved in artistic activites in the past.Though i have done plays and dramas in my old school i havent taken the arts as a subject at osc and im counting on CAS to give me the exposure to artistic activities to help me learn to be creative.i do play the guitar so i hope to form a band once i am more settled in school so i hope that is an artistic outlet for me.

6)Enjoy 11th Grade
11th grade is our last school year which has a little less pressure and a little more freedom.I know once i am in the 12th grade i wont have much times to enjoy some of the hobbies and activities i like to take part in now.therefore i plan to enjoy this year to the fullest so that im able to concentrate on studying next year.

Those are my plans for now but i'm sure in another month there will be more or maybe less.Only time will tell...