THE
CAS HANDBOOK 2015 - 2017
3 Doing CAS 4 What do I need to do to complete CAS? 5 Planning CAS - The CAS profile 6 What are the 5 learning stages of CAS 7 The CAS project 8 What are your responsibilities in CAS 9 CAS – The Introductory Sessions 10 A CAS experience outline 11 Recording CAS
Part 1 Doing CAS
Part 2 Assessing CAS
14 CAS Deadlines 15 The CAS final reflection 16 Frequently asked questions 17 Choosing your question 17 CAS Final reflection titles 2015-17 18 Assessing the CAS final reflection 19 CAS final reflection assessment criteria 20 Evidencing your final reflection – the journal 21 Planning the final reflection 22 Writing and submitting the final draft 23 Final reflection cover sheet
26 FAQs 27 Contact List
Part 3 FAQs and Contact List
Part 4 NYAA Gold Award Considerations
Part 1 Doing CAS at TTS
With its holistic approach, CAS is designed to strengthen and extend your personal and interpersonal learning. As a shining beacon of our values, CAS enables you to:
The CAS programme will encourage you to know and meet the seven CAS outcomes through a variety of individual and group experiences over an 18 month time period:
• demonstrate attributes of the TTS learner profile in real and practical ways • grow as a unique individual • recognize your role in relation to others
• Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth. • Demonstrate that you have undertaken challenges, developing new skills in the process • Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience • Show commitment and perseverance in your CAS experiences • Demonstrate the skills and the benefits from working collaboratively • Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance • Recognised and considered the ethics of choice and actions
CAS is a compulsory component of the Tanglin Core and is completed by all sixthform students. It provides opportunities for experiential learning beyond the curriculum. You are required to complete experiences for each of the three strands of CAS. • Creativity - Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product • Activity - Physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle • Service-learning - Collaborative and reciprocal engagement in response to an authentic need CAS is at the core of all learning within our world. In Y12 and Y13 you have your own time and two timetabled lessons per week to engage with CAS activities. This is your opportunity to learn beyond the curriculum, to develop the intangible traits within you, often through experiential learning; make the most of it!
All seven learning outcomes must be demonstrated at some point in the course for you to successfully complete the CAS component of the Tanglin core. CAS is an individualized programme, unique to personal interests, skills, values and background. You should choose your CAS experiences to be challenging and fun! Within reasonable and logistical constraints beyond our control, you get to do what you want to do!
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What Do I Need to Do to Complete CAS at TTS?
By April of Year 13, the minimum you need to have completed is: 1. Two creative experiences 2. Two service experiences 3. Two activity experiences 4. A CAS project You must provide evidence for each experience and project you engage within. As part of these, there needs to be evidence of: • a self sourced experience • engagement with issues of global significance • worked collaboratively • an experience that combines two components – CAS Project CAS Experiences To engage at a suitably fundamental level, they will typically last for at least 20 hours each. Hours are not counted, but for you to demonstrate a good level of commitment and satisfaction of a learning outcome(s), this is usually the level of involvement that TTS students’ spend on each experience. CAS Profile To make the most of CAS, planning is essential. This is carried out through your CAS Profile.
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What is the CAS Profile?
It is important that your overall CAS experience is planned carefully at the beginning. Your introductory weeks will involve you creating your CAS Profile, this is comprised of: • Identification of your strengths and areas for personal growth • A summary plan of your CAS experiences and projects for the 18-month period • Identification of which learning outcomes are likely to be considered in which experiences It would be helpful to produce a Gant chart so that your advisor can see your expected progress. You can change your ideas as the year continues. It should look something like this exemplar below.
When you click on the ‘Timeline’ icon on the top right-hand side of your Worksheet, the Gant Chart is a useful visual representation of your planned experiences.
For every experience, you are required to follow the five CAS stages of learning.
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What are the 5 Stages of Learning in CAS?
These are adapted from the work of Cathryn Berger Kaye (Five Stages of Service Learning, 2010) and are intended to help you set up and follow through any project in a worthwhile and productive way. The skills involved should help you across many areas as they are very transferable. The five CAS stages are as follows: 1. Investigation: Identify your interests, skills and talents and how they could be best used in CAS. Also identify any skills you wish to develop. How could CAS activities help you to develop these? 2. Preparation: Clarify your roles and responsibilities. Develop a plan of action of action that identifies resources, timelines, and skills required for your CAS activity.
3. Action: Implement your idea or plan using decision-making and problem-solving skills. You may be working individually, with partners, or in groups. 4. Reflection: Think about and describe what happened in your activity. What were your feelings? What ideas occurred and what questions were raised? 5. Demonstration: You will need to show what you have learned in your CAS portfolio. By applying these stages to CAS, you have a reliable yet flexible structure which you can apply to future situations with confidence.
The inner circle has four parts as you engage in experiences. The Investigation & Preparation stages form your CAS Profile, the Action part is when you are ‘on location’. Blog journal entries occur ‘as and when’ you get that tingly feeling of something cool happening… blog journal
Investigation
Action
Final reflection focus
Demonstration blog journal
The outer circle has two parts to guide you in summarising your experience. The reflection and demonstration refers to summarising your CAS
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blog journal
Preparation
What is a CAS Project?
Your CAS project will provide an opportunity to work closely with others on a specific project that runs over at least four weeks. It may be additional to your chosen experiences but it is more likely to be included as an expansion of an existing experience. Each CAS Project should work through the five CAS learning stages and offer: • a deeper level of engagement. • the opportunity to be responsible for, or initiate, a part of an entire CAS Project. • is designed with a defined purpose and goals. • the chance to work closely in a team, with all members being contributors and exchanging ideas and abilities.
Examples of CAS Projects that have been carried out at TTS: • Students planning aspects of the Year 12 Travel & Adventure CAS experience • Planning and delivering the annual CAS Celebration (assembly) • Students identifying and acting upon an initiative within an existing CAS experience. - A long-term service-learning experience may be teaching children in the local community to read. You could choose for your CAS Project to create a one-off drama with your CAS Peers and the local community staff that the children could perform using their new reading skills. Risk Assessment Planning
Examples of possible CAS Projects: Creativity: A student group plans, designs and creates a mural. Activity: Students organize (and participate in) a sports team including training sessions and matches against other teams. Service: Students set up and conduct tutoring for people in need.
It is essential that you are prepared for CAS and that you stay safe while doing them. For this reason you will have to show evidence of some risk assessment planning for each CAS experience. We encourage you to be risk-takers; however, this does not mean that you should take unnecessary risks or place yourself in danger. The key to safely taking risks is having the ability to fully understand the nature of the risk being taken and how to mitigate potentially dangerous outcomes where necessary. As such, we need to strike the right balance between protecting you from risk whilst also allowing you to participate in CAS experiences.
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What are your responsibilities in CAS?
It is important to recognise that CAS is intended to develop a sense of independence and responsibility. You are in charge of your CAS programme and you should be mature enough to recognise that it is your responsibility to commit to it. The paragraphs below from employers emphasise just how important what you learn in CAS is.
Skills Employers Look For While certain hard skills are necessary for any position, employers are looking increasingly for any position, employers are looking increasingly for job applicants with particular soft skills. This is because, while it is easy for an employer to train a new employee in a particular hard skill (such as how to use a certain computer program), it is much more difficult to train an employee in a soft skill (such as patience). Emphasize Both Hard and Soft Skills During the job application process, you should therefore be sure to emphasize both your hard and soft skills. This way, even if you lack a particular hard skill required by the company, you can emphasize a particular soft skill that you know would be valuable in the position. For example, if the job involves working on a number of group projects, be sure to emphasize your experience and skill as a team player and your ability to communicate with team members. http://jobsearch.about.com/od/skills/qt/hard-soft-skills.htm
In CAS, you will be expected to: • familiarise yourself with the handbook and the timelines • attend regularly and commit yourself fully to activities • stay motivated and challenge yourself • reflect meaningfully and most of all………. • ENJOY YOURSELF!
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Recording CAS – Using ManageBac. com
We will ONLY be working within the main
tab, and the
: This is your personal CAS homepage, where you
complete the
within each Activity, until you
are ready to
and have your experience .
tab within that.
and then
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For each CAS experience you must: 1. Choose potential experiences and plan what you hope to get out of it. • “Create a new Experience” and complete every section 2. start doing it, being mindful of the reasons that you chose to do it. Write about the experiences and emotions you encounter along the journey (part of the investigation-preparation-action reflection inner cycle), as often as you consider appropriate, after reading this handbook! At the end of the experience, your reflections need to demonstrate which CAS learning outcomes you have improved upon (the reflection-demonstration outer cycle), and then get your experience signed off by your CAS supervisor on a sign-off sheet. Hand this sheet to your CAS adviser. Write worthwhile reflections about your CAS experiences. You are allocated two hours per week for CAS so there is an expectation that you will reflect regularly during the time that is allocated to you. Reflections may be in the form of accounts, journals, blogs, video evidence, photographs, etc but they must be completed to a worthwhile standard. They will provide the basis for your final reflection which will be a 1500 word response produced during CAS lessons in term 2 of Year 13.
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The CAS Portfolio – A Collection of Meaningful Reflections
It is important to say that there is no one way to reflect in CAS. You can choose a number of methods but it is essential that your reflections show that you have thought and identified what you have actually learned in CAS. You might like to use the following questions to get you started: What successes did you enjoy during the CAS activity? What difficulties did you face, and how did you cope with these? What was the most important thing you learned when carrying out a CAS experience? What might you do differently if you were going to do the CAS experience again? What advice would you give a Year 12 student starting out on their CAS experience? Which of your strengths did this type of CAS experience really play to? What skills might you look to improve in the future? Which aspect of your CAS experiences did you particularly enjoy? What sorts of changes did you make during your CAS experiences as a result of advice? What skills do you feel you have developed through your CAS experiences? How do you intend to use/continue your CAS experiences in the future? It is also very important that you can use your reflections at a later date to draw meaningful conclusions about what you have learned across the whole CAS programme and how you have developed learner profile attributes within yourself and also met the seven CAS learner outcomes. Appendix 2 gives advice to help you with this (book 4 p46). For this reason it is important that you keep all reflections together in tts.managebac.com. The extract below is an example of appropriate reflective blogging within the inner cycle of the five stages of learning. • It is regularly updated with fresh reflections • It details specific learning and the relevance to CAS outcomes are noted in brackets. Genesis School 20 September 2015 I arrived at Genesis with some trepidation as I had not done anything like this before (LO2: Challenge & new skills). As somebody that prepares fully for everything I do, it was strange to go in on the first week as I did not feel very prepared. I had enjoyed the introductory session in school the week before, but this had only been a discussion and was not facing the children face to face. I was allocated a group of four boys who were working on the development of phonics. I was glad I had been placed with my friend Sarah. It gave me someone to support
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me and we were able to help each other formulate ideas (LO5: Collaboration). To be honest, I had no clue at first. What had TTS put me into? The children with cerebral palsy were difficult to understand and there were more of them than with other mental handicaps (LO6: global significance locally). The teacher could not focus much on Sarah and I because she was involved with the children. It was interesting how quickly my ear adapted to listening to them though. I was aware that I was changing the way I conversed. I found I was much more aware of facial movements as well as sound. If I watched them talk and watched their facial movements as they pronounced words I found it much easier to understand them. I found I also had to be very aware of pace (LO2: New skills). They found reading difficult not just because of learning the phonic blends (is this the word when words are sounded together?), but also because for some pronunciation was difficult. If I’m honest you also have to get over the desire to sympathise. Is it wrong or not? (LO7: ethical choices) 27 September 2015 Flashcards were successful and students appreciated the bright designs we had made. Feel I am becoming more aware of the role I have to play and becoming very used to their disabilities which makes me much more capable. Sarah and I talked to the teacher to discuss the plan for the next five or six weeks so we can plan what we will be doing each week. (LO3: five stages) (My planning concerns are being helped). 4 October 2015 Sarah away today – It was much tougher. Didn’t realise how much easier it is when there is a team of two of you. Learned you have to be always ultra positive at Genesis and this isn`t always easy (LO1: area for growth). Feel bad that I really didn`t want to be there today and felt that I didn’t perform as well as I should have done. Writing this in the evening and feel a little guilty that I was affected by other things. Need to be aware that they are relying on me. Hopefully I will feel better next week.
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Part 2 Assessing CAS
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CAS Deadlines
The below table shows what needs to be completed by when to stay on track.
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STEP
DETAILS
Year 12 DEADLINES
1
CAS Profile completed, which includes 1st interview
October
2
1st experience signed-off by CAS Advisor
December
3
3 experiences in total signed-off by CAS Advisor
March
4
4 experiences in total signed-off by CAS Advisor
June
5
Interview 2 completed, including CAS Project plan
June
STEP
DETAILS
Year 13 DEADLINES
6
5 experiences in total signed-off by CAS Advisor
October
7
6 experiences in total signed-off by CAS Advisor
December
8
Collate relevant information for summative reflection from source reflections
January
9
Summative reflection plan agreed with CAS Adviser
January
10
Submission of CAS Portfolio
February/March
11
Final CAS Interview completed
March
√
√
The CAS Final Reflection Focus
The Final reflection will be a personal response. If you have completed reflections within the five stages of learning as you carry out experiences, you should not find this difficult and you should be able to comfortably finish the reflection in the time allocated in school. It should not create any additional pressure on your examination studies. This final reflection will provide you with an insightful piece of writing that you will be able to use as evidence that you have important soft skills. It will be an invaluable document to refer to in future discussions and interviews. The Aims of The Final Reflection • To give you the opportunity to reflect on your CAS programme. • To help you to see the value of experiential learning. • To produce a piece of work totally your own, which you can be proud of. • To develop and improve your abilities as a critical, reflective and independent learner. • To help you understand your own priorities and values. • To support and strengthen your university application. The CAS Final Reflection Requirements 1. 1500 words in length. 2. It must be submitted with the CAS cover sheet. 3. It must refer in some detail to your CAS experience. 4. It must include evidence of achieving the CAS objectives. 5. You can use accompanying photos. 6. You must reference any website, article or book that has been consulted during the completion of the final reflection. Harvard APA 5th referencing must be used
Source: http://jacksmumontherun.wordpress.com
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Frequently Asked Questions about the Final Reflection
When will I write the final reflection?
When is the final deadline?
From January to March of Year 13 during CAS lessons, you will be in a classroom with other CAS students and your CAS adviser. You will plan and write the 1500 word final reflection in these lessons. The time will also be spent ensuring that you have signed off all your activities and met all of the requirements of the CAS programme.
The final deadline for submission will be mid the Friday of the penultimate week of term 2.
Will I receive any help with the final reflection? Throughout your CAS programme you should consider the learning processes you have experienced and how they impact on your learning outcomes. This is what your blogs/ regular reflections should be about. It is up to you to consider how your CAS activity could be used to inform your response to the final reflection title. It is essential that you consider the value of your experiential learning and how you used the CAS 5 Stages. Who will mark the final reflection? The final reflections will be assessed by a CAS advisors. The final reflection together with 6 sign off sheets will be the only paper that you will formally need to produce for CAS. The final reflection grade will be marked as a distinction, pass or fail. All six sign off sheets and a final reflection pass confirmation must be submitted to the school by the penultimate week of term 2 in Year 13 for the CAS element of the core to be completed.
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How will I complete my final reflection? In total, we would expect you to spend about 10 hours on your final reflection and ensuring all requirements regarding sign off are completed. You will be required to work independently, but will be able to consult your CAS adviser for advice. Given the amount of time allocated in class, there should be no reason for not completing the final reflection by Mid March.
Choosing Your Question
Your choice of question is very important. It is important to note that some questions are more challenging than others. All questions will allow you to reflect in a worthwhile way on your CAS experience, but some questions allow you to explore issues in more depth. If you tackle one of the more difficult questions it will allow you to question your own beliefs, values and priorities more closely. This will be an extremely worthwhile exercise. NB. Before you begin, make sure that your CAS experiential evidence will fit the question you want to do. It should do because you should have been thinking about the question from the beginning. Source: www.ilcnsw.au
THE CAS FINAL REFLECTION TITLES FOR 2015-17 1. From your CAS experience do you consider service learning to be of value? 2. From your experiences in CAS comment on the importance of one or more of the following to your learning experience: a. Planning b. Observation c. Setting goals d. Practice e. The collection of evidence 3. From your CAS experience is doing it yourself more beneficial to learning than being taught?
5. Can we apply learning from one environment to another? Comment on this statement in the light of your CAS experience. 6. How useful is failure in the learning process? Comment on this statement in the light of your CAS experience. 7. Do we learn better on our own or with others? Comment on this statement in the light of your CAS experience. 8. Identify how an experience of a different culture has changed your thinking and learning.
4. How do we learn to overcome our limitations? Comment on this statement in the light of your CAS experience.
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Assessing the CAS Final Reflection
It is important that you are aware of how the CAS final reflection will be assessed. The marker of the reflection will use the assessment criteria to award you your mark at the END OF THE PROCESS. The assessment criteria are as follows: AO 1 - Relevance of argument to the question and clarity of organisation of thought, structure and communication AO 2 - Interaction with the CAS experience AO 3 - Reference to CAS outcomes AO 4 - Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the CAS experience You should aim for the highest mark band for each of the assessment objectives.
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CAS Final Reflection Assessment Criteria These criteria may also be used for individual students who submit a presentation-based analysis ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES AO 1 • Relevance of argument to the question • Clarity of organisation of thoughts, structure and communication
AO 2 Interaction with the CAS experience
AO 3 CAS Learning Outcomes •Increase your awareness of your own strengths and areas for growth •Undertake new challenges •Plan and initiate activities •Work collaboratively with others •Shown perseverance and commitment in activities •Engage with issues of global importance •Considered the ethical implications of your actions •Develop new skills Not all outcomes need to be referenced. AO 4 Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the CAS experience.
MARK BAND
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
8–10 marks
DIST
4–7 marks
PASS
1–3 marks
FAIL
8–10 marks
DIST
4–6 marks
PASS
1–3 marks
FAIL
8–10 marks
DIST
4–7 marks
PASS
1–3 marks
FAIL
8–10 marks
DIST
4–7 marks
PASS
1–3 marks
FAIL
Student answer is relevant and focussed on the question throughout. Organisation of thought, structure and communication is clear. Student answer is largely relevant. Some digression may occur in places. Organisation of thought, structure and communication is mostly clear. Student answer is incoherent and there is little attempt to address the question. Organisation of thought, structure and communication is unclear. Detailed presentation of the CAS project/s throughout. Evidence of engagement, commitment and development throughout. Some reference to the CAS project/s. Evidence of engagement with their CAS project. Little or no evidence of engagement with their CAS project. Student discusses the learning outcomes derived from their own CAS experience. There is strong evidence of decisionmaking, planning and implementation, problem-solving, global/ cultural understanding and creative thinking to achieve planned outcomes. Student discusses the learning outcomes derived from their own CAS experience. There is some evidence of decisionmaking, planning and implementation, problem-solving, global/ cultural understanding and creative thinking to achieve planned outcomes. Very little awareness of the learning outcomes derived from their own CAS experience. There is no evidence of decisionmaking, planning and implementation, problem-solving, global/ cultural understanding or creative thinking to achieve planned outcomes.
Clear evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the CAS experience. Some evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the CAS experience. No evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the CAS experience.
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Evidencing Your Final Reflection The Journal
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The Final Reflection – What Should Guide Your Thinking? Using your journal entries, you can prepare for the final reflection itself. You have to attempt to communicate what you have learnt through the ‘experiential knowledge’ gained from your CAS activity; a largely descriptive final reflection will not pass. A good final reflection contains ‘passion’ and enthusiasm in terms of learning experiences, not dry facts and summaries. Your choice of CAS activities must constitute these personal traits.
Compiling The Final Reflection Plan The best way to ensure success in your final reflection is to plan it carefully first. Once you have your plan, speak to your CAS adviser and make sure that they think you are on the right track before you begin to write the final reflection itself. There will be time allocated in the lessons to do this. An example of the final reflection plan is below. It is important to note the Assessment Objectives are referenced; plan with these in mind and you really cannot go wrong. CAS final reflection question: The experiential learning in CAS is as valuable as the academic learning encountered through curriculum subjects? To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Intro Paragraph
• Yes CAS is as valuable as academic learning. A01 – if you keep to this argument • Academic subjects foster development of academic skills. throughout you will answer the question • CAS allows development of (soft) skills linked to the CAS and pass objectives. How do these develop us? AO1
Section 1
• Brief exploration of the learning obtained and thought processes used in the curriculum subjects. • Exploration of what I learned in CAS by developing the skills linked to the CAS objectives during your CAS experiences. • Increase your awareness of your own strengths and areas for growth/ Undertake new challenges/ Plan and initiate experiences/ Work collaboratively with others/ Shown perseverance and commitment in experiences/ Engage with issues of global importance/Considered the ethical implications of your actions/Develop new skills • Give a wider overview of CAS experiences. All of the evidence should be in your CAS blogs. • Identify one CAS experience and explain the learning from my experience in depth saying why it was important to me. • Link to how I developed as person and comment on how it changed my thoughts and perceptions of the world I live in.
AO1
Section 2
AO2 – You are revealing interaction by commenting on the examples. A03 – You are discussing the CAS outcomes.
AO3 – You are referring to specific outcomes in depth in your close discussion of your experience. AO2 – Presentation of CAS experience in detail.
Section 3
Conclusion
• Look critically at my CAS experiences. AO4 – You are evaluating the strengths and • Compare to how I measure my development in curriculum weaknesses of your CAS programme and subjects. your position within it. • What would I have done differently to make my CAS learning even more beneficial? • Don`t restate the introduction. • Look forward and say how I might use the knowledge acquired in CAS in the future.
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When writing the final draft make sure that you:
Writing the Final Draft
• Include mature and subject specific vocabulary. • Use effective topic sentences: the beginning of every paragraph must focus on the question. • Analyse. You should not narrate or just tell stories. • Include one point per paragraph. • Present a logical flow to follow: stay to the point/message you are relaying. • Use specific evidence from experiences; avoid generalisations, waffle and repetition. • Use appendices. • Use diagrams and photos that are appropriately labeled and referenced.
Submitting the Final Draft
Check that you have all of these and in the correct order! 1. Cover sheet (see appendix) 2. turnitin.com report print out 3. Final reflection plan 4. Introduction: it should give the reader a good sense of the direction of the whole work. 5. Main body of final reflection: this is where the marks come from! 6. Conclusion: thoughtful judgment backed by evidence from within the final reflection! Nb. Do not bring any new information into your conclusion. 7. Bibliography – see LibGuides for guidance (5. Citations and References).
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CAS TOK EPQ Reflective Final reflection 2016 Cover Sheet
Name: ________________________________________ Tutor: ________________________ Class: ____________ TOK / Critical Thinking Teacher: ________________________________ Final reflection Title: ___________________________________________________________ Word Count (excluding title and appendixes): _______________________________________
Please confirm the following by ticking the box: √ Final reflection has been carefully proof read NO spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes Cover sheet is at the front Turnitin.com report attached Includes four photographs A clear opening paragraph that outlines the central argument of your final reflection AO1 Content covered Relevance of argument to the question Clarity of organisation of thoughts, structure and communication AO2 Content covered Interaction with the CAS experience AO3 Content covered Reference to CAS outcomes AO4 Content covered Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the CAS experience. Nb. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE PRINTED THIS DOUBLE SIDED SO THAT THERE IS A MARKING SHEET OVERLEAF FOR YOUR EXAMINER TO RECORD YOUR MARKS.
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For Marker’s Use Only
Mark out of 10
AO 1 Relevance of argument to the question Clarity of organisation of thoughts, structure and communication
AO 2 Interaction with the CAS experience
AO 3 Reference to CAS outcomes
AO 4 Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the CAS experience.
Total Mark/40
Final Assessment awarded* Distinction (32-40 marks) Pass (16-31 Marks) Fail (0-15 Marks) *Please circle as appropriate Name of Assessor _____________________________________________________
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0-3 Fail 4-7 pass 8-10 distinction
Part 3 FAQs
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A summary of the usual questions that baffle and bemuse with some answers!
Can I complete all my CAS experiences in the first year of sixth form, so I have more free time during my second year? No, The ethos of CAS is for you to develop as an individual throughout your time as a sixth form student. You need to participate in the CAS programme during both years of sixth form study. If I do a creative experience for a charity can I count that as service and creative time?
I have been playing basketball for 5 years, Can I count this towards CAS? A CAS experience should ideally be a new experience for you. You may already have many active pursuits, but if you want these to count towards CAS you need to set yourself clear new goals within the experience. This will allow you the opportunity to gain new skills and reflect upon your achievements. If it’s not challenging, it’s not CAS! What is the CAS elective programme?
Yes, you can. It is necessary to be involved in some CAS experiences that include more than one aspect of CAS. Can I get paid for a CAS experience? No, a CAS experience should have no financial rewards. Can I do lots of small short-term projects rather than long-term projects for my CAS? CAS is about personal growth over a period of time so you may find it more rewarding to experience a long-term project. At least one project must show continual development over at least 6 months.
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This runs for two hours at some point between 1pm and 5pm on Wednesdays. You need to spend three to four hours per week on CAS to meet the requirements of the Tanglin core. The TTS CAS electives have been designed as a way to get you started. It is important to note that the CAS electives contribute to the completion of CAS but you must carry out individual CAS experiences on top. The CAS electives on their own do not meet all CAS requirements. The CAS elective session will take place on Wednesday afternoons from 145 to 345 during terms one and two. If you are involved in a service experience it may be possible for you to be involved for some of term 3 too. As soon as CAS begins you will need to give careful consideration to which elective you wish to choose.
How do I find my own CAS experiences and how do I know if they are acceptable?
Contact List
This is the last answer because it’s a very long one! Hopefully though you will find it useful! Please note that the activities below are intended as a guide only. It is essential that you carry out research into the organisations yourself and that you complete a risk assessment and submit it to your advisor prior to beginning any activity. No Risk Assessment = No activity. Creativity This aspect of CAS is interpreted as imaginatively as possible to cover a wide range of arts and other activities outside the normal curriculum which include creative thinking in the design and carrying out of service projects. What is a good creativity activity: • Dance – learning a new dance form • Theatre – joining a local theatre group • Music – learning a new instrument • Art – learning a new style, taking a class • Drama productions • Making crafts for a charity sale • Starting a dance group for younger students • Pottery • Prepare and teach a series of language lessons to others (includes making resources) • Photography – perhaps to maintain a record of CAS programmes • Newsletter – write and edit a school newsletter • Make a video for a local charity • Design a website • Interpret a composition in a new and innovative way What is NOT a good creativity activity? • Anything you already do as part of your curriculum in lessons. • Playing an instrument you have already been playing for 5 years each evening without improvement • Making crafts and selling them for personal gain • Painting your bedroom • Watching a movie or going to the theatre
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Creativity – places to start in Singapore
You may find that you are able to combine creativity with your service or action components of CAS. For example you may be able to go to an old people’s home and play violin each week, or you may organise a musical concert or art exhibition and raise funds for your community service. Sometimes finding creative pursuits can be challenging as this is often the more expensive part of the CAS programme. There are many creative classes taking place all over Singapore, and one of the best places to start looking is your local community centre (listings for contacts are available on http://www.cdc.org.sg/MungoBlobs/954/980/cc-list111206.pdf); they run all kinds of courses. Below are a few organizations or contacts that you may also find useful. These are just ideas, the websites may be inactive or you may find these unsuitable for you. The school will run a selection of electives that you will be able to take up during the CAS period that will be given to you. You may also be able to get further contacts from Heads of Department and the CAS staff. There are also many external organisations which offer tuition and training in all sorts of things. If you look into the classified section of ‘The Straits Times’ you will find these advertised. If you are interested in dance, the company Jitterbugs Swingapore offers Salsa, Hip-hop, Tango and Jazz dance etc… Check out their website for class fees and times http://www.jitterbugs. com or you can also try Singapore Dance Theatre Tel: 6 338 0611 http://www.singaporedancetheatre.com If you are interested in cooking then you will find Singapore has many great cookery schools; Shermay’s Cooking School website: http://www.shermay.com/ Palate Sensations website : http://www.palatesensations.com/ Coriander leaf cooking studio website: http://www.corianderleaf.com. Cookery magic website: http://www.cookerymagic.com You will also find most of the big hotels, like Raffles and the Grand Copthorne Waterfront run many interesting cookery courses at reasonable prices. You will need to check out their websites for details. If you are looking for a more long-term cooking experience check out some of the local community centres which offer 5-10 week courses in Asian-style cookery.
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If you wish to participate in dramatic events you may want to contact one of the many performing arts groups in Singapore. You may want to take a background role; theatre groups are often looking for writers, and creative talents to build stage props, make costumes and paint backgrounds for scenes. • Wild Rice - http://www.wildrice.com.sg/ • Action Theatre - http://www.action.org.sg/ • Singapore Repertory Theatre - http://www.srt.com.sg/ • TheatreWorks - http://www.theatreworks.org.sg/ • The Necessary Stage - http://www.necessary.org/ • Toy Factory Productions - http://www.toyfactory.com.sg/ • iTheatre - http://www.itheatre.org/ • ACT3 - http://www.act3international.com.sg/ You will find photography and film courses as part of the elective period. They are also available at Objectifs, which is located near Bugis Junction. You can find out more about their courses and fees on their website at http://www.objectifs.com.sg/ . If you are more interested in nature photography try http://www.naturephotosociety.org.sg/ ASP/Main.asp For a place that offers lots of creative workshops – including photography and fine art try The Substation website: http://www.substation.org/courses/ If you are interested in art or creative design then some of the following may be useful; There are a variety of interesting and creative classes taking place at Creative Hands: http://www.creativehands.com.sg/main/courses.htm Adult art classes take place at The Red Sea Gallery website: http://www.redseagallery.com/ There are Pottery classes available for adults in both wheel and hand pottery. For details and class times visit either http://www.contemporaryclaystudio.com/pottery_classes.html or a cheaper place is http://www.clay-street.com/classes.shtml
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If you fancy a try at dress-making there is a dress-making course over at spotlight which is located at Level 5, Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road. Call 6384 5977 for information. There is also a course at a shop called Kadomay. Tel is 65359033. Kadomay is located at #03-29, Furama City Centre, 60 Eu Tong Sen Street. Another place to check is Creative Escape which offers lots of different craft courses. Creative Escape is located at 306 River Valley Road. Call 6732 4262 for information, or visit www.creative-escape.com.sg. There are also quite a few shops which offer craft courses in Tanglin Mall – quilting, card making, and Christmas crafts etc... Action This aspect of CAS can include participation in expeditions, individual and team sports, and physical activities outside the normal curriculum; it also includes physical activity involved in carrying out creative and service projects. Action may involve participation in sport or other activities requiring physical exertion – such as expeditions and camping trips. What is a good action activity: • Any physical activity • Yoga • Gym training • Cross – country running • Becoming a qualified sub-aqua diver • Gymnastics • Developing skills and keeping fit • Teaching children with a disability to swim • Softball coach • Participating in marathons • Helping at a rugby club What is NOT considered an action activity: • Participating in a sport that you have been playing for a few years already without any clear goals for new achievements. • Participating in any physical activity for personal gain such as medals and money. • Painting a wall • Any physical activity that is already part of your curriculum.
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Action – places to start in Singapore
Many people find the action component of CAS easily fulfilled with the Sports CCAs that we run as a school. But if you wanted to try something a bit new or outside of school, these may be good starting points; Dance - can be used as creativity or action (see creativity section for details) Horse riding - http://www.btsc.org.sg/ Yoga - http://www.yogadirectory.sg/, www.whatever.com.sg Pilates - www.whatever.com.sg, http://www.pilates.com.sg/, http://www.jitterbugs.com Climbing - http://www.climbadventure.com/ , http://www.nusclimb.com/ Bowling - http://www.singaporebowling.org.sg/ Fencing - www.fencingsingapore.org.sg Martial Arts and Tai Chi - www.holisticliving.com, www.creativebody.com.sg, www.rchongtaichi.com/classes.html, www.wustyle.com.sg/learning.htm Running - http://www.mr25.org.sg/AbtUs.html (Running club) or if you are over 16 you can join the Hash House Harriers at http://www.hash.org.sg/ Marathon participations • http://www.singaporemarathon.com/en/ • http://www.triathlon.sg/ • http://www.triathlonsingapore.org/ General sporting information To find out about Sporting events (basketball, badminton, swimming, running, table tennis, tennis, rugby and football) , clubs and coaching all over Singapore the best website is; http:// www.singaporesports.sg/
“if you believe in something, you must not just think or talk or write but you must act.” Peterson (2003)
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Servicelearning
Service-learning learning programme activities are often the most transforming element of the CAS programme for the individual student; service-learning projects have the potential to nurture and mould the global citizen. Service-learning involves interaction, such as the building of links with individuals or groups in the community. Service-learning activities should not only involve doing things for others but also doing things with others and developing a real commitment to them. What is a good service-learning project? • Assisting victims of natural disasters • Clearing a beach of oil, pollution and litter • Exchanging skills with a disadvantaged group of children • Working with disabled children on a project • Constructing a simple house for street children in Vietnam • Organising an open air camp for younger students • Planting trees in areas of deforestation • Giving up time to work with animal welfare organisations • Organising a “walkathon” to raise money for a charity What is NOT a good service-learning activity: • Any activity for which you are personally rewarded, being paid or awarded • Doing simple repetitive work e.g. painting a wall • Helping a friend with their homework Your service-learning work must be a learning experience for you, That’s why you are not encouraged to include or shaking a tin can to raise funds on Orchard road (known as Flag days) to be a part of your service-learning experience. You will find it easier to meet the learning outcomes of the CAS programme if you make a genuine commitment to a long-term community service-learning project. A good place to start looking for community servicelearning and volunteering projects is the NVPC website, as this is where many organizations sign up to request volunteers. The NVPC website can be found at: http://www.nvpc.org.sg Combining with creativity or action You may find it rewarding to also combine service-learning with one of the other aspects of CAS. If you have a particular skill such as ICT, why not find one of the smaller organizations and help out with the website. If you have an artistic talent, why not contact an organisation that needs your help and share your talent over a number of lessons. If you need some funds to buy materials for such a project talk to your CAS coordinator about getting some funding for your work. Your commitment If you volunteer with a community organisation you will probably be asked to give a set time of commitment. If for any reason you are unwell and cannot attend please make sure you notify the organisation directly as soon as possible (not at the last minute) beforehand. The school will not be doing this for you.
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Servicelearning – places to start in Singapore Guides
If you fancy doing something a little different for your service-learning how about becoming a trained guide otherwise known as a docent and offering your services as a volunteer to one of the museums or public information centres around Singapore. You may also be able to combine this with creativity. Previous students with a particular interest in History have volunteered as guides at one of the Singapore museums; you can become involved in this by looking at the Friends of the Museums website http://www.fom.sg/ You can also volunteer to help out at the Singapore Science centre; they take volunteers to staff their community outreach programs and their scientific education classes, which are both aimed at raising awareness of scientific ideas. You will have to fill in the online application form and email it back to them at volunteers@science.edu.sg. If you go on the website http:// www.science.edu.sg/ssc/ for the Science Centre and then search volunteers you will find the relevant page. Animal Welfare Many CAS students express a desire to work with wildlife, however this is not always so easy, You can volunteer at the zoo only once you are over 21 years of age. Details are available at http://www.zoo.com.sg/education/volunteer/docents.html . A really good way to get involved in service-learning work for the benefit of animals is to get on the mailing list for the organisations listed below, they often have events at weekends which require volunteers for fundraising or raising awareness of animal welfare issues and once, you are on their mailing lists they will email you whenever they need volunteers for these one-off events. • SPCA - www.spca.org.sg • Action for Singapore Dogs - www.asdsingapore.com • Cat Welfare Society - www.catwelfare.org • ACRES - www.acres.org.sg • House Rabbit Society - www.hrss.net • Nature Society - www.nss.org.sg To work at the SPCA facility you need to be able to commit to volunteering with the SPCA for at least 4 consecutive months on a weekly or fortnightly basis. You will have to go to their website and fill in the application form. To work with the animals there are certain age restrictions. www.spca.org.sg
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ACRES (Animal Concerns and Research Education Society) is a fantastic facility based in the Mandai Gardens area in north Singapore. As a charitable organization with limited staff resources and funds, ACRES is in constant need of volunteers to help with all aspects of their work, including fundraising. They have lots of different teams set up with foci on different areas of wildlife concern. www.acres.org.sg Working with People H.O.M.E In response to the growing concern over the plight of some foreign workers in Singapore , a civic movement known as TWC2 (The Working Committee 2) began to campaign against the abuse of foreign domestic workers. The public empathy generated created the conditions for the birth of H.O.M.E. in 2004. H.O.M.E. or the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics was registered as a society under the Societies Act on 6th September, 2004 to respond to the special needs of foreign communities. They need volunteers who can help at the shelter – which currently houses 140 migrant female workers in one house. If you have a talent you can share, perhaps you can make a difference. Website: http://www.home. org.sg/index.asp Habitat For Humanity is a non-profit, Christian housing ministry. HFH seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. http://www.habitat.org.sg Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN) aims to equip persons with special needs through best practices in education, training and support services, for open employment and life- long learning, in partnership with stakeholders and the community. The website is: http:// www.apsn.org.sg/ . The Riding for the Disabled Association of Singapore (RDA) provides free, therapeutic horse riding lessons to children and adults with disabilities from all over Singapore. It aims to teach people with disabilities to ride to the best of their ability. They offer fantastic training and all of the previous students who have participated in volunteering with the RDA have really enjoyed it. You will need to fill in an application/waiver form. Website : http://www.rdasingapore.org/ Singapore Disability Sports Council aim to reach out to the best disabled sportsmen and sportswomen, facilitate their participation in the international sports events. If you are interested in linking action with service-learning this may be something to look into; the volunteer programme information and the application form are both available online at; http://www.sdsc.org.sg Singapore Action For AIDS whose objectives are to provide support and assistance to persons living with HIV and AIDS (PWAs); to increase awareness, education and understanding of AIDS and HIV infection; to combat discrimination and stigmatisation of (PWAs) and their loved ones; and to encourage AIDS-related research activities in Singapore. http://www.afa.org.sg/
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Beyond Social Services
The Reach programme provides support and guidance for latchkey children from disadvantaged backgrounds, between the ages of 7 to 14 years. Mission and Vision To equip young people with the resources, courage and will to move beyond their problemfilled situation. By 2025, every child and youth in Singapore, despite a disadvantaged background, has the opportunity to refuse a lifestyle of delinquency and welfare dependency. Beyond Social Service-learnings works towards ensuring children receive the basic care and education necessary for their development. You may have the opportunity to help with: • Supervision of homework • Reading • General interaction and games (if free period) Melrose Children’s Home-Children’s Aid Society Melrose provides residential care for up to 60 children, between the ages of 4 to 12 years. Goal To work with the child, the parents, and community resources, in order that the child can be discharged from care as soon as possible to return to the parents or family. Melrose offers support to children requiring care and/or protection, whose parents or family members are unable to provide care or supervision. MINDS - Clementi Training & Development Centre Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore, caters for adults with an IQ of 50 and below, who do not qualify for employment. Mission and Objectives To train intellectually disabled adults of a lower functioning level to achieve the following: • Become independent in their daily living. • Upgrade adaptive skills to allow for a quality life with social interaction and recreation. • If possible, prepare them for performance of contract work at sheltered workshops You may have the opportunity to help with: • Homeliving Skills:- cooking, food preparation, table manners, basic cleaning and laundry. • Recreational Activities:- games, music, dance, karaoke, sport, arts and craft and neighbourhood walks.
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Tan Tock Seng Hospital – Patient Care Centre Safe haven and support for HIV/AIDS patients. You may have the opportunity to help with some of the following: • Counselling • Befriending • Handicrafts • Pushcart • Food Ration Distribution • Exercise • Skills Training • Home Visits St Joseph’s Home Residential Home and Hospice providing nursing and care for the elderly. Philosophy To give the best quality of life to hospice patients and support for their caregivers, through: • Physiotherapy and occupational therapy • Music- percussion band and singing • Massage and acupuncture • Speech therapy • Board and group-centred games • Pet therapy You may have the opportunity to get involved in some of the above activities on a weekly basis. APEX Club of Singapore. Community Service-learning Organisation providing support in the following areas: • Programmes for the Elderly • Programmes for Youths and Children • Environment • Cultural & Community Awareness You may have the opportunity to help with: • Food Distribution Project
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Environmental
If you want to get involved in an environmental based service-learning project try the Singapore environmental council website at: http://www.sec.org.sg/ . You can also access a calendar of green events on www.wildsingapore.com/events/greenday.htm There may also be voluntary work available with national parks; check out their website at www.nparks.gov.sg/ Other places to try are: Society for the Physically Disabled - http://www.spd.org.sg/volunteers/opportunities.html Very Special Art Singapore requires volunteers and sponsors for various projects including art workshops, classes and exhibitions. Please call 346-9032/34. http://www.vsa.org.sg/content/ view/66/3/ Child at street 11 - http://www.street11.org.sg/ Asian Film Archive - http://www.asianfilmarchive.org/BeInvolved/ The school also works with a number of overseas organisations including the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation (http://www.bdcf.org/) in Vietnam and Kais Kids, an orphanage in Cambodia. You would be more than welcome to take the initiative and fundraise/plan your service-learning with a focus on one of these. There are also a number of other local organisations that often welcome volunteers: ANZA Athletics / TTS Beavers & Cub Scouts TTS Clubs: Chess Club, Mad Scientist Club, I.C.T. Club, etc – It may be that you could use skills used in these clubs or members of these clubs to help others. Perhaps you could provide basic IT classes for foreign workers?
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Part 4 NYAA Gold Award Considerations
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It should be emphasised that almost all CAS experiences that are completed can be counted towards the National Youth Achievement Award qualification and we do strongly advise that you consider enrolling for the Gold Award. If you wish to complete the award while you are still at TTS, It can be done, but the timescale is tight. It is very important that your activities are planned out carefully in terms of time considerations, and you commence the skill and service sections ASAP.
A possible dual pathway: Gold NYAA direct entrant and CAS Portfolio
Year 12
CAS
PROJECT
update periodically & when
Final Submit diary, reflection record & I/ & when elective action is focus & I/view summary view cancelled
Investigate & Prepare (& Action)
T&A Independent Elective Independent
Investigate & Prepare (& Action)
playing a musical instrument?
Elective
your own arangement training
NYAA
update periodically & when elective action is cancelled
Independent CREATIVE
SERVICE
Year 13
Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
5-stages Cas Intro learning Profile/ I/ outer Portfolio view cycle
ACTIVITY
Holiday
practice
RES 1+ PROJ months SKILL
18 months
Cooking assessment
ADV clusters JOUR of days
your own arangement
fitness gym
PHY REC
any service-learning elective
carry it on
SER12 VICE months
your own arangement
12 weeks
your own arangement
When you turned 16 years old, or set-up your tts email account when you joined the school (whichever is later), you received an email from us wishing you a happy birthday and we provided information as well as invited you to register for your Gold Award. If you are now interested in joining the fun, you need to follow the steps in that email, or go to http://seniors.tts.edu.sg/creativity-action-and-service/nyaa-1
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