Creativity, activity, service (CAS) is one of the three core elements that IB students must complete as part of their Diploma Programme (DP). CAS provides students with the opportunity to: reflect on what they’ve learned, develop strategies for personal growth, and embrace new challenges and contribute to local and global communities.

What does CAS stand for?

According to IB, CAS focuses on 3 areas:

• Creativity – arts, and other experiences that involve creative thinking.
• Activity – physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle, complementing academic work elsewhere in the DP.
• Service – an unpaid and voluntary exchange that has a learning benefit for the student. The rights, dignity and autonomy of all those involved are respected.

Through such activities/projects, students are then required to demonstrate or develop the following skills:

• initiative

• perseverance

• collaboration, problem solving, decision making etc

Mural art project

To give back to the local community and contribute in a meaningful way, our MYP and DP students collaborated with Jurong Loving Heart Multi-Service Centre for a mural painting project.

Spearheaded by students, Hanqiao Z. and Ho-Yuan C. and guided by Ms Severine Fumoux, the project involved multiple steps. Students started by conceptualising suitable mural designs, followed by obtaining the necessary approvals to execute those. Once the approvals were received, they carried out weekly after-school mural painting sessions at Jurongville Secondary School. During these sessions, they also collaborated with local primary school students who joined them in painting the beautiful murals.

The vibrant murals were much appreciated and warmly embraced by the community. The CAS activity demonstrated our students' dedication to service and offered them an opportunity to collaborate outside the school and manage various aspects of a project.

Food bank committee

To raise awareness of food insecurity, a group of students set up a Food Bank committee in conjunction with the Singapore charity Foodbank. Under the guidance of Ms Melissa Sit, MYP math teacher, the club worked closely with The Singapore Foodbank through monthly volunteering sessions at its headquarters. The club also participated in the Global Issues Network (GIN) and Service fair so they could spread awareness about Foodbank’s goal and various initiatives.

Student Sheetal shared, “Our committee of 25 students from grades 7 to 9 organised a food donation with the goal of encouraging people to donate unwanted non-perishable food items instead of throwing them away.”

billionBricks

After a chance meeting with billionBricks during Social Justice Week, student Rishi decided to set up the BillionBricks service club as a part of the Global Issues Network (GIN) at school. His goals were not only to increase awareness about the issue of homelessness within the broader CIS community but also to raise funds for billionBricks so they can provide weatherHyde (an all-season life-saving tent) to homeless families and help them survive in harsh outdoor conditions as well as improve their quality of life.

Through the sale of billionBricks merchandise before and during Social Justice Week 2020, Rishi’s club managed to raise a total of $500. It might be a small achievement, but to Rishi, it was also a great opportunity for him to raise awareness of this important cause and learn valuable leadership skills.

CIS x Redress

Led by a group of students (Angelina, Ruwaida, Candice, and Vy), the CIS x Redress club is a CAS initiative in partnership with REDRESS - a Hong Kong-based environmental NGO. Their goal is to actively engage the CIS community in making informed choices about their wardrobes.

Students who join the club had the opportunity to learn about textile waste and develop their skills in clothing design for an exhibition.

Sayang Sayang

A group of students (Aryan, Elliot, Jan Martin and Xinxian) created a video and poster to raise awareness and funds for the Community Foundation of Singapore’s (CFS) Sayang Sayang Fund. CFS is an organisation supporting healthcare workers and vulnerable members of our society adversely affected by COVID-19.

CAS projects such as these enable our students to expand on their personal and interpersonal development through valuable experiences. In other words, CAS provides opportunities for students to grow not just academically, but also to learn important life skills like collaboration, creative thinking, and leadership.