Emily's CAS Journey

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The End is Here

It’s finally here, my 15 years at the overseas school of Colombo is coming to an end. As we begin to wind down and move into exam mode my CAS responsibilities are doing the same. Since August of 2019, I have been given so many opportunities in activity, service, and creativity. I have been a part of the football, swimming and basketball teams over the two years as well as the production of Oliver! lastly, my service group has made a lot of progress under the current circumstances and I hope they continue to achieve without me there. I have done a lot in the past 18 months but unfortunately, it is all going to come to an end. Throughout my CAS journey, I have improved my planning and leadership skills, I have shown perseverance and have been pushed out of my comfort zone.

Creativity

LO2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

Throughout my CAS experiences, I have undertaken a large number of challenges. One of them, in particular, was the Oliver! production. I wanted to broaden my horizons in terms of theatre. The production allowed me to play a new style of character. I had to be a mean and grumpy woman in this scene which took me out of my comfort zone completely. I will usually play a more laid back character and I never truly had a scene all to myself so I never had to do a great deal of acting. However, with this scene, I had to put a lot more emotion in my acting as well as a little bit of comedy. Thankfully they decided to cut out a song between Virath and me or the audience would have left.

The final performance for Oliver! Photo: Mr Lockwood.

LO3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

I chose to initiate my CAS experience through the creativity aspect. My classmate Louis and I decided to make a podcast discussing the current affairs and how the pandemic has treated us. We wanted to create a space that allowed us to discuss important issues regarding the pandemic and how it has affected us mentally as well as physically. We discussed how difficult it was to reach our CAS goals during the lockdown, we also shared how we attempted to keep active as well as creative during our time inside. Louis featured some lovely ideas of how to hit service at home through making his bed…

Activity 

LO1 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.

I have always participated extensively in the activity section of CAS. t has shaped who I am as an individual over the 6 years of my high school experience. I began the year with SAISA swimming (which was unfortunately taken away from me due to dengue), then I managed to get onto the football SAISA team and trace to Oman, Basketball was so close to happening until COVID put our island into lockdown. Luckily I still had an opportunity to do sports with the TAFA team and after the lockdown, I got to be an intern! Back when I wrote my CAS goals I never imagine this is the turn it would take. It’s safe to say that as I have been playing an extensive amount of football and even coaching it I have improved a significant amount. Now I can help other players excel in the sport and I have the ability to coach sessions.

Playing a game against the Sri Lankan female army. Photo: TAFA.

TAFA was such a good experience, it allowed me to grow my leadership skills and taking charge of a group. I am very thankful for what the experience provided for me as a player but also as a coach. I also managed to get a reference out of the experience in case I plan on taking my coaching to a different country. When I started TAFA I would just watch the sessions and help here and there. Now I am able to plan a full fledge session as well as show varieties of different exercises to help my students excel in the amazing sport.

Helping one of my students in the pool. Photo: TAFA

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

When I was coaching TAFA I had to work collaboratively with my other interns as well as the coaches. This meant working with Chloe to make sure we planned sessions that hit our aim for the session. Making sure that we could explain how it is relevant to the game.

I was also involved in a lot of collaboration when I was playing football. As a goalkeeper, it was my job to communicate with the players on the field. This was a goal I was hoping to build up through experience as I was always nervous to tell my players what to do, in case I had gotten it wrong. A large amount of collaboration is used when corner kicks are being performed, I have to tell the players where to stand, who to mark, and there has to be mutual respect between me and my players. My collaborative skills are something that I have definitely developed over the years thro

My last football SAISA. Photo: TAISM

ugh SAISA as well as TAFA.

LO4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

It is quite easy to show commitment when it comes to being a part of a team sport. During swim training, I would come to as many morning practices as possible as well as attend all of the sessions. I was so committed to swimming that I wanted to jump out of my bed and right onto the plane so I could swim for my team. I also showed a large amount of commitment during my football SAISA training as I made sure I attended all of the sessions as well as every game possible. Along with football, I would attempt to do track sessions as well which were incredibly draining. Therefore doing both sessions were a big test of my perseverance as I trained to be the best player I could be.

A swim competition in 2019. Photo: Hannah.

Service 

LO6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

Pre COVID one of our world biggest issues was the rapid climate change that was happening around us. Therefore some service groups decided to come together and organize a climate strike. The two initial service groups that decided to take action was mine (Housing and Habitat) as well as the Reef Keepers. We decided to spread the word to do a climate strike in the middle of a Friday and take all the students t the auditorium. We began the day by holding up posters and rallying around the school screaming some of Greta Thunberg’s quotes. we asked everyone to come to the auditorium where we shared important statistics about climate change and ways that we can help improve it.

The climate strike. Photo: Muneera

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1 Comment

  1. ilockwood May 8, 2021

    Emily,

    Well done with completing your Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) program requirements during this challenging time. Despite the restrictions you have met and exceeded expectations. Your blog has done a fine job with keeping track of your progress and learning. I’m especially happy that you were involved in the Duke of Edinburgh International Award program and commend you on completing the Silver Award earlier this year. The Meemure QAJ last July was a very special experience. I wish you all the best and look forward to reading more about your future learning adventures. Do stay in touch.

    Ian Lockwood
    OSC DP CAS Coordinator
    https://caspathways.wordpress.com/
    https://osc.lk/cas/

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