DP Newsletter CAS Focus

CAS Currents

Editors: Maryam Sultan, Sana Asif, Mira Ali

CAS is part of the core of the DP curriculum, with Ms Tania leading the program in our school. Read how the following students have used their hobbies and interests to develop their CAS experiences and projects. CAS is comprised of creativity, action, and service, where depending on the experience, it would fall under one of the CAS strands. Creativity involves originality, inventiveness, and production of a product, action is physical exertion, and service is voluntary experience. Even teachers are getting involved within their own free time!

MS. TANIA TUFT ttufft@ris.ae

CAS Coordinator

Moervica A. Prashant Centre of Excellence

CAS Strand: Service

This year, I took the role of Co-Director of the COE (Centre of Excellence) with Aarushi Nandan. For this CAS project, we provide tutoring for MYP students from DP students, where G11s and 12s help the students in subjects of their choice through weekly after school one-on-one lessons through Teams calls. I enjoy managerial and leadership roles which is why I had chosen to apply for Assistant Director last year, having gotten promoted to Co-Director this year. The goal of this project is to provide a tutoring service to MYP students in need within Raha. At times students struggle in their studies, but don't know who to go to - this service caters to their needs. We have 30 students and 39 tutors so far within the COE! The learning outcomes commitment & perseverance and collaborative skills have been chosen due to the engagement required to do this project. I must collaborate with my co-director, Aarushi; we must regularly communicate and work together to assign tutors with students, advertise for the COE, and send out messages to the tutors and students. Perseverance is also necessary as this is a 2-year long project; a large part of my time must be allocated to this project, as there is a lot of administration and management work to be done. You (DP students) can get involved by joining the COE as tutors: contact me on Teams if interested or sign up: https://forms.office.com/r/tUjVU0QHn1! If you know of students in MYP who want help with any of their subjects, you can refer them to me.

CAS Currents

Shinju Kimuraphalon

Book Swap for MYP

CAS Strand: Service

A book swap is considered a form of service as well as creativity I am organising an event that is for the benefit of the younger grades, not myself. At the moment I am organising a book swap for grades 3 to 5. The reason why I decided to organise such an event is because some of my most memorable moments from primary school were during book swap day. It was an incredibly fun experience, and everyone in my school looked forward to this event. This is because it was a time where you got to share something you loved with your friends, and you then had the opportunity to experience something that they enjoyed; it was both a creative and different way to get to know those around you, so I want the younger grades of Raha to also experience this. I also believe that an event like this is extremely important because at a time like now, where technology is becoming more prevalent in our everyday lives, we must ensure that the younger generation are encouraged to continue reading and to not allow themselves to be consumed by technology.

Through organising this event I am addressing the learning outcome of initiative & planning because for this to go successfully it is crucial for me to create a fully developed plan of the exact resources I will need, as well as I must create a timetable so that I can keep track of what is going on and remain organised. I am still in the early stages of planning, and I am talking to the necessary teachers to ensure that I can carry out this event to the best of my ability. I do hope that this event is a success as it would be a nice annual tradition to continue for each of the grades.

Anjelica Homann + Daniella Homman

EY2 and Grade One Production Play

CAS Strand: Service

Over the course of 3 months (September to November) several students took part in helping with the EY2 and grade 1 play, called There’s a Sunflower in my Supper. At the start of September, we helped the children become more motivated and invested with the singing and dancing, and as it became closer to the final play performances, we helped with the rehearsals in the auditorium and managing the children on stage. (Anjelica) My personal interest for doing this CAS was because it stood out to me when I first heard about it as I love working with children and I thought it was exciting that they would create a very happy play for parents and our school community after the pandemic. (Daniella) My personal interest in completing this CAS was mainly the opportunity to become part of the community and being able to have the opportunity and experience to work with the children in that community. Throughout this CAS experience the learning outcomes demonstrating skills and recognizing the benefits of working collaboratively were addressed, this is because it was commitment, perseverance and was crucial that we showed up on the required days when practice or rehearsals were happening to show our dedication and commitment. It was also necessary to work collaboratively and make our presence useful, even if it was as simple as motivating the children to be brave but also make sure that they were behaving.The play was a success and I think the students who helped had a major impact on the outcome. We were able to successfully be a part of the process in creating the final play for an audience to watch.

Thank you, Anjelica, and Daniella

Aarushi Nandan School Dance Team

CAS Strand: Activity

The school’s competitive dance team was relaunched again this year after a gap due to the pandemic. It is led by two G11 students Kashmira Deshpande and Aanya Arya under the guidance of Ms Kerry and Ms Meredith. The auditions were held in September from which a team of 8 proficient dancers were chosen to represent our school.

The rehearsals are held after school from 3 to 4pm on Thursdays. Dance is something I am highly passionate about and love; this team was an opportunity to collaborate and showcase our talents on a competitive platform. Our competition is most likely to be in March for which we have started selecting songs and choreographing routines. The learning outcomes of this activity is chosen to be challenge & skills and collaborative skills because of the commitment towards the project. To be successful, I have to collaborate with the team captains as well as the rest of the team and work towards the same goal. It incorporates a challenge because of the fact that we must all agree with each other while choreographing different routines. Other obstacles we have and we might face in the future is coordination in routines between the team members, availability of all members in order to set a routine and also challenge ourselves to ensure our choreography is to the highest degree. To overcome and improve from these challenges we must communicate effectively and be honest with each other regarding our likes and dislikes.

The auditions for this term have already closed but there might be another round of auditions next term so students should look out for that!

Thank you

Aarushi Nandan

Rahul Unakal

Donating Old Clothes and Shoes

CAS Strand: Service

This year I aim to start my CAS project to recycle/donate old clothes partnering up with an NGO based in Abu Dhabi. I will be setting up recycling boxes around the campus for anyone at Raha interested in donating their old clothes. The clothes collected will be sent to an NGO for them to sort and donate, at the end of every month. Personally, I have been recycling/donating my old clothes ever since I can remember because I truly believe in living a sustainable life, reducing my carbon footprint, and helping everyone live in a prosperous society. Through this project, I aim to develop my strengths and areas for growth by conducting these recycling rounds effectively and trying to maximize the number of clothes we collect; I will regularly check up on the boxes and even look to set up a team to sustain perseverance and commitment towards this project. Additionally, as this project will be in collaboration with a local NGO I will have to effectively use my collaboration skills to communicate with their team effectively, making this project harmonious. We are looking to set up these boxes by next week near the second-hand uniform shop, located near the basketball pitch (close to F block). I request everyone to get involved by putting their old clothes to good use.

Thank you,

Rahul Unakal

Dhruv Kejriwal CAS Currents EcoMission Eco Club

CAS Strands: Creativity, Action, Service

In term 2, I (Dhruv Kejriwal) started my CAS project which is the EcoMission Eco Club. By collaborating with teachers and peers, I successfully got the approval to host activities, debates, and plan future events with participants who decided to join my club. The purpose for this club is to further engage the Raha community as well as the public in Abu Dhabi and UAE by hosting recycling events, fundraising for the environment, and making our school a more eco-friendly place.

In the first few meetings, we started planning for beach cleanups, fundraisers, and just brainstormed other ideas to engage the community. It was great to see so that the youth was passionate about saving the planet.

Taking these small steps by inspiring a small group of people will definitely have a domino effect as they will go on to inspire their family, friends, and individual communities they belong to. This CAS project has helped me develop and strengthen my leadership skills as I have to lead a group of 25+ students as well as my public speaking skills since I give speeches and regularly give presentations.

If you want to get involved please contact me at dhruv.kejriwal@ris.ae

Thank you,

Dhruv Kejriwal

Jena Elhammady

CAS Strands: Creativity and Service

PsychPod is a student-led podcast discussing a variety of topics on Psychology and how different people, events, or things can cause a change in behavior or cognition. Throughout term two, there will be four episodes, each with three new guests. Psych-Pod is a safe space for teenagers to share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences and allow others to tune in when in need of a couple of friends!

PsychPod

In the first episode the host, Sara Gonzalez Pineiro, is joined with three other 11 graders, Zayyana, Suhaila, and Rocio, to discuss how social media affects human cognition. They discuss the implications of high beauty standards, spreading of false news, and pressure to always publicise one ’ s life. Throughout the production of the podcast, students take on the challenge of proving their point and developing their knowledge through research to back up their opinions with statistics and facts. Students show commitment to participate in two meetings that take place on two Monday lunches, one for research, and another for recording. Students are also able to recognize the benefits of collaborating by sharing ideas, experiences, and perspectives, thereby allowing for a well-rounded discussion. Students can encourage others to look at a topic through a different lens and change their way of thinking. The podcast discusses topics that students may shy away from, thereby raising awareness on common teen problems that often go unaddressed such as societal pressure. Check out the first podcast episode and keep a look out for more to come! https://anchor.fm/psychpodris.

Teacher CAS!

Training for and completing the RAK half marathon.

Activity - Training for and completing the RAK half marathon.

Ms Tania – Activity

Mr Vaughan and Mr Paul Activity – Completing a 95 km bike race

Mr Gary Service – Football Coaching

Mr Walter Service – Basketball Coaching

Creativity – Enjoys creating scrap books of photographs. Her family enjoy looking through them and being reminded of all the special memories.

Ms Naomi Activity – Kite Surfing

Ms Carol

Ms Melanie

Activity – Muay Thai training

Mr Elliot

Creativity – Learning how to draw

Activity – Early morning bike rides

Duke of Edinburgh International Award

We would like to congratulate all our Silver Award participants upon completing their practice adventurous journey. Students were in Ras Al Khaimah and completed two nights, three days hiking and camping. Each day students completed a challenging hike whilst being completely self-sufficient. Students selfnavigated their route, carried all their equipment, and supported each other through physical and mental challenges!

A special thank you to Ms Ro

your weeken