CAS at Kristin

Creativity, activity, service (CAS) commitments enrich the Kristin experience for our IB Diploma students, and provide opportunities to unwind from academic endeavours and focus on mental and physical wellbeing.

I am a firm believer in the importance of the diverse learning opportunities CAS commitments provide. Whether it be explorations into creativity through visual or performing arts or physical exertions that push their limits, these activities play a vital role in a student’s learning journey. In this regard, Kristin is a wonderful place to be in, with a wealth of physical and creative opportunities available for students, in which they are strongly encouraged to participate. These not only include obvious examples of sports teams or performing arts but also lots of outdoor activities such as tramping, and various different club activities which provide students with outlets to share their creative passion.

Kristin School is a strong advocate for service learning: students utilising their talents and what they have learnt in classrooms to offer a helping hand in and around the school, and to go out to the community to serve those who need help. This provides a very unique reciprocal learning experience for the students and fantastic opportunities to see their learning in action, which can create a reflective positive feedback loop between motivation to learn and motivation to share, serve and help. As usual, there have been so many wonderful service commitments both in the school and out in the community that we cannot possibly cover in this limited space.

Recent trends in CAS have also indicated that students will pursue these commitments in a wide variety of ways, which has become particularly more important as the world adapts to the new landscape the ongoing pandemic is imposing. Ironically, the pandemic led students to look to tools such as the internet to expand their scope of learning and sharing. There are many interesting podcasts, YouTube channels and Instagram pages that students run to raise awareness of social issues and share their interest with people from all around the world, most of which are fascinatingly insightful and reflective.

These commitments are just a tip of what these students will achieve for the rest of the year in CAS. In this time of great uncertainty, one thing is for certain: we will marvel with open mouths at their achievements.

Caption: Top: Upcyclers Club working on a piece of recycled fabric. Middle: Sachet stitching from Stitch by Stitch Club. Bottom: Participants of Run Your Future summer run.