CAS

[cricketcrazynerd]

I've heard a lot about CAS but I have no clue what's it about? What to do have to do?

[GirlwiththeBlueBox]

CAS are basically service hours; they are divided into 3 different categories: creativity, action and service. You have to have 150 hours total, so that means about 50 hours for each.

Creativity hours can include painting or being part of a play or something, while activity hours can come from being on a sports team or attending a dance class, etc. Service is obviously community service hours. After you complete an activity for CAS, you have to do a short reflection that is catalogued in the form of a blog, scrapbook or other means.

You have 18 months to do these hours, from your first day of IB1 to halfway through IB2, and there is also a long-term project that should include at least two of the three CAS divisions and should last around 2 months. (For example my long-term project was to organise a music concert as a fundraiser for my school's music department, which included creativity and service)

[carpediem]

CAS is a requirement for the IB Diploma programme, and if you don't do it you fail your diploma. It requires you to do activities in three fields: Creativity (e.g. painting), Action (e.g. running) and Service (e.g. volunteer work at your local SPCA). You must fill out your CAS reflections (tips can be found here: http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/12308-cas-planning-and-reflectingwriting/), but specific guidelines on how you pass CAS is dependent on your CAS supervisor at the school you attend. Most schools though have dropped the 150 hour rule (50 hours per activity of C, A and S) because many students just completed it during their first year, but some schools still use it as a general guideline.

Requirements of CAS:

• need one long-term project
  
• CAS has to last 18 months (instead of just filling the 150 hours)
  
• you have to do at least one activity that covers two disciplines (e.g. sponsored running to raise money for charity = A + S)
  

[funny10sport]

Exactly what everyone else said above! Just to add a little to their explanation.

CAS is divided in 2 parts:

• CAS Activities
  
• CAS Project
  

Activities

CAS program has a range of many activities. (Not including the project) All of these require planning and evaluation.

• Creativity : Personal challenge/goal in which you take part in a new creative activity. Ex: A new dance course, playing the flute for the first time, painting etc...
  
• Activity : An athletic and physical activity. Basically its sports. Ex: Going further in training a sport like volleyball, trying out a new sport etc..
  
• Service :You should have learned something from doing this activity. Responsibility. As taken from the guide, it is : "A learning benefit that enriches the student personally is in no way inconsistent with the requirement that service be unpaid and voluntary." (Ex: Serving an organization or community like volunteering at the Library or a Hospital).
  

Project

Organize and Initialize a project that consists of 2 out of the 3 activities listed above. So they can be either: Creativity + Activity, Activity + Service or Creativity + Service.

For example : Creativity + Service

Create a one day event where you do arts and crafts for children in a unprivileged community. So here yyou would do a creative activity while volunteering as well.

For more info, check out the CAS IB guide here : http://cas.tssnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IB-CAS-Guide-2010.pdf

Hope that helps!

[IB231997]

Creativity, action, service (CAS)

The CAS requirement is a fundamental part of the programme and takes seriously the importance of life outside the world of scholarship, providing a refreshing counterbalance to academic studies.

• Creativity is interpreted broadly to include a wide range of arts activities as well as the creativity students demonstrate in designing and implementing service projects.
  
• Action can include not only participation in individual and team sports but also taking part in expeditions and in local or international projects.
  
• Service encompasses a host of community and social service activities. Some examples include helping children with special needs, visiting hospitals and working with refugees or homeless people.
  

Students are expected to be involved in CAS activities for the equivalent of at least three hours each week during the two years of the programme.

Each school appoints a CAS supervisor who is responsible for providing a varied choice of activities for students. Programmes are monitored by IB regional offices.

A system of self-evaluation encourages students to reflect on the benefits of CAS participation to themselves and to others, and to evaluate the understanding and insights acquired.