Creativity, Action and Service
Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) is one of the core requirements for the IB Diploma Programme. For most, this will involve music, drama, sport and service. While students must complete a minimum number of hours in each area, the emphasis should not be on counting hours but learning through meaningful experiences.
For many students, this is the most enjoyable area of school life; it is here they spend much of their time and make many of their friends.
It is also in these areas that students develop many of the attributes that are vital in later life: leadership, the ability to work as part of a team, confidence and resilience.
Creative activities include art, design, drama, photography, music, working on the school magazine, theatre design, and initiating and planning service projects.
Action must involve physical activity and is usually a sport such as hockey, squash, rowing, sailing, tennis or athletics. These activities should be focused on achieving a personal goal. Service activities may count as action if they are physical, such as environmental work or sports clubs in primary schools, or for the disabled or disadvantaged.
Service activities might be helping the elderly, working with adults with learning disabilities, hospital visiting, environmental work, helping in charity shops, involvement with Amnesty International, helping run school activities, or gaining first aid qualifications. Some service activities might be large projects such as PROMO where the students spend a week running a summer programme of activities for disabled schoolchildren. They also plan, raise funds and correspond throughout the year.
The CAS programme gives the students a broad and balanced education for life. It allows them to explore their talents and discover their strengths outside the classroom. It encourages them to try new activities and it develops their cooperation and leadership skills.