April 9

DP2 Final Reflection

“What feels like the end is often the beginning.”

The Seniors of OSC.
Pc: Emily Whight

At the moment of writing this blog, we’ve got less than 2 weeks of high school left. I remember it like yesterday when I first walked the halls of OSC in August 2019 and feeling slightly nervous for the journey ahead of me but also feeling excited for the new experience. Over the past 2 years, we have been through a lot from completing massive coursework to uploading IAs and going for a literal lockdown for almost one and a half years, thanks to Covid-19. This time embraced many highlights and downsets of our lives, with academics and others. And this blog is in fact a true memoir of this time. When I sat down to write my first CAS blog, it took me a lot of time to process my thoughts, communicate my ideas and meet the expectations. I viewed it merely as a task to be completed. But was I wrong! As time went by, CAS brought fun and enjoyment. It gave you the ultimate satisfaction when you publish that first blog. It helped me relieve my stress and encouraged me to get out and play instead of moping around with all the assignments due. Now, as I’ve reached the final stage of this CAS blog, let me take you through a reminisce of my time at OSC.

When I first initiated CAS, my goals for creativity involved performing arts and dancing. For me performing arts was an amalgamation of fun and creativity. It helped me forget about the scientific facts and calculus formulae and enjoy the moment. I was able to successfully complete my LCM Diploma in Speech and Drama with distinction and it works as an added qualification for me. I continue Kandyan dancing on the weekends and it benefits me with a weekly workout. At the beginning of DP1, I played Netball at my previous school but with the Covid-19 restrictions, it had to come to a stop. Moreover, it was really frustrating to not be able to go out for a run, swim, or walk. I tried out different workout routines but was unable to keep up with the time and constant work at school. When things started getting back to normal I was excited to start my dancing lessons, I also ran on the walking path every other day. I could stay healthy and fit and help increase the dopamine levels in the brain. My main goals for service were to bond with my fellow members and actively participate in all the activities. DLP stood against the lively service sessions and we had to meet virtually. But we formulated new ideas and made the most of them.

Overall, these two years have been nothing but enthralling. I have grown as a student and an individual that is now ready to embrace life outside the four walls of high school. I faced multiple ups and downs and learned the essential life lessons along the way. I made new friends both intentionally and by chance. I climbed the steps of high school and waved back at the trail we’ve all left behind. For all of this, I express my gratitude to my teachers – to those who taught me, and to those who didn’t, my family – for trusting me and believing me, my friends – for always sticking by me and finally to OSC – for been that epitome of strength and providing me with ample opportunities to learn and grow.

Seniors at the UN Day 2021.
Pc: Alex Parr

Let summarize this experience through the following learning outcomes;

  • Identify strengths and develop areas for growth.

Throughout the IB diploma, I was faced with many instances where I was left at crossroads, questioning my strengths and weaknesses. One such situation would be my WWW trip to Hambanthota. It was a tiring week of digging and painting. It tested my strengths in working collaboratively, skills of leadership, patience, and communication. Especially when we had to prepare dinner, the whole activity based on our trust in others. In addition, doing exercises at home is something you can lose interest in very quickly. But every day I pushed myself to run another 2km or do 10 more squats. I refused to give up and let my physical fitness get lose. I think it paid up in the day and for that, I am grateful for my resilience and skills.

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

One of the highlights of my time at OSC is when I had to perform at the National Day Assembly. This was a challenge I encountered during my first year. The challenge was to overcome the fear of performing in front of a large audience, the challenge was to perform a piece of standard, the challenge was to prepare myself for the worst to come. I was able to complete my performance successfully and received an appraisal for it.

Performing at the National Day at OSC. Pc: Gecko Network

Performing at the National Day.
Pc: Gecko Network

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another situation I can encounter is during DP1 Orientation where I had to challenge myself to go on long hikes up the mountain ranges of Kithulgala and abseil. It consisted of long hikes on both days through thick rainforests and heavy showers. We also took part in water sports like water rafting and canoeing. For someone whose a novice to this, it was certainly a challenge to put myself out there and keep up with the others. Nonetheless, I am proud to say that I achieved all of them successfully, and looking back I am glad I did so.

Abseiling at Kithulgala.
Pc: Mr. Lockwood

DP1 group crossing a stream on the way to canoeing.
Pc: Mr. Will Duncan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

I think the perfect example would be how I planned and organized my CAS project. My CAS project was teaching MYP kids the Sinhala language. I coordinated with Ms. Dilini, who is in charge of MYP Sinhala, and initiated a lesson plan to teach them the basic vocabulary and review some lessons. I had to consider the class size, the mental capacity of the students, and their interest in the subject area. A great deal of support was received from both the teacher prior to the lesson and from the students on the day. But I believe that it was the befitting plan and organization that made this project a success. And am once again thankful to everyone who lent me a hand.

  • Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

Service is one of favourite parts of the IB Diploma program. Every Thursday we get to spend an extra hour after school devoting ourselves to a better course. As a co-leader of the service group ‘Girls for Girls’, I conducted different interactive sessions for the girls from Emerge Center during my first year. We played volleyball, made bracelets, and prepared tacos and milkshakes. However, during the pandemic, our options were limited, and had to limit ourselves to virtual debates and other creative stuff. As a DP2 student who’s trying to finish uploading all the due assignments in a single week, attending these sessions was a definite commitment. But the enjoyment I received surpassed my exhaustion.

Preparing tacos and milkshakes during one of our service sessions in 2019.
Pc: Fellow member

Service members attending the Graduation Ceremony at Emerge Center.
Pc: Ms. Dahlan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

The best example for this is the many IA trips and Week Without walls I have been on. I traveled to Kithulaga from my Biology IA, to Sinharaja for my Geography IA, and to Hambanthota for WWW. All of these were very educational and entertaining to be a part of. But none of these would bring out the expected outcome if it weren’t for the corporative work of the whole group. Whether it came to marking quadrants for biology or preparing a questionnaire for geography or digging pots at WWW everyone did their best collaboratively. This comes to show how as separate individuals we are at most mildly effective but together we can combine our talents to a powerful arsenal of academic excellence, athletic achievement, and community spirit.

The biology group at Kithulaga, January 2020.
Pc: Ms. Anna Chandler

The WWW Hambanthota group.
Pc: Ms. Fleming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The geography class 2021 at Sinharaja
Pc: Ms. Desline

  • Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

I participated in the Plastic Patrol organized by ‘Reefkeepers’ where we collected all plastic items around the school neighborhood and packaged them separately based on their origin and type of plastic used. The final packages were sent to the mother companies with an awareness letter as a measure of trying to inform them about the damages caused. The plastics that could not be sorted were sent to a plastics recycling center in Colombo. Moreover, during my stay at Hambanthota for WWW, we took part in a beach cleanup at Shangrila. Over the course of 2-3 hours, we collected nearly 15 kg of plastics.

Me picking trash on the road.
Pc: Talia Shea

During the beach cleanup
Pc: Ms. Fleming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition, we discuss timely global issues during our service hours, ranging from the legalization of abortions to human rights. These debates help us to be more educated in these aspects and also be aware of the different perspectives of the communities around the globe. I believe these present clear instances where I have engaged with issues of global significance.

  • Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

When working with the girls from Emerge Center Lanka we had to consider their background and what is suitable or not. Each of these girls has undergone some kind of sexual abuse in their early days and even a brief mention of this could be quite sensitive to them. Thus, we had to take into consideration their side of the story and continue forward with the little information we possessed.

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With that, my time at OSC has come to an end. All those times of coming to school early to gossip, doing missed homework at break, almost skipping lunch because we were gossiping, and staying after school for no reason at all will all be over; they will be missed, more than I count for but they will always be treasured as my best time at OSC. As I started off this post saying “What feels like the end is often the beginning.” It is true! After we leave OSC most of us will probably leave Sri Lanka soon and seeing our friends chilling at the locker benches every morning as we walk to school will soon become a memory that we will learn to appreciate. The year-long friendships and warm hugs will be missed; teasing each other till there’s no more; burning up labs and just messing around will be missed; and most of all we will miss the company, the different characters that emerged throughout the years and the laughs we had. But as we leave here with all these memories, universities and colleges await us with a whole new life filled with similar fascinating events and memories. So this is not the end but in fact the true beginning!!

 

This is a time of looking back on lessons learned,

adventures shared, bright moments filled

with special meaning.

A time for saying goodbye to all friends,

to good times you’ve known… a time for

packing away memories, treasures for tomorrow.

A time for looking forward, a time to set new goals,

to dream new dreams, to try your wings, and see

what lies beyond.

Source: High school

 

Till we meet again;

Imandi Wijayaratne

Category: Activity, Creativity, Service | 1 Comment on DP2 Final Reflection
April 9

Dream on your feet

I was very disappointed when we had to switch on to DLP learning as it meant that all the ASA’s would have to be canceled for the remaining semester; which also included Zumba. Zumba at school was something I enjoyed a lot, it helped me physically and also mentally. I was able to relieve my mind off stress and I think also helped me with creativity. As a Kandyan dancer, Zumba helps me to remove the barriers of sticking to a particular style and engage in freestyle dancing. Even though I enjoy Kandyan dancing, I always liked Zumba due to these reasons. There was no particular costume or dress code, no particular type of music or dance steps, which made it all the more interesting. At the same time, it is a very tiring task to dance continuously for more than 60 minutes. Continuing Zumba lessons was one of my goals for DP2 but under the current circumstances, I couldn’t continue it at school. I, therefore, tried adopting a workout routine at home and went for weekly runs with my father.  But as we are nearing our final exams, I have been getting more revision work and I found it hard to allocate time for my exercises. So I decided to complete my workout sessions at home which would reduce the time for traveling to a gym or to an outdoor walking path.

Since I enjoy dancing, I thought it would be a good idea to continue Zumba at home, which also ensures that I wouldn’t miss out or postpone these sessions. I started with dancing to random upbeat songs for about 30 mins every other day. Currently, I have my own playlist ready for dancing and spend about 45 minutes on it. This aids me to forget all the stresses at school and exams and truly enjoy myself while also burning some calories. Since this is done in addition to my weekly dancing classes, I think it provides me with sufficient exercise and energy for my daily activities.

Learning outcomes:

  • Identify strengths and develop areas for growth.
  • Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
Category: Activity | LEAVE A COMMENT
April 1

CAS PROJECT!!

The CAS Project is a key part of the IB Diploma and a wonderful celebration of your CAS experiences of the past two years. For my CAS project, I initially wanted to reach out to the male teachers at OSC and my classmates and get their opinion on the sexual abuse of girls and then create a documentary out of it. However, with service sessions conducted online, there were some issues with participation and I couldn’t go forth with the idea. So I decided that doing something that goes could well even under virtual circumstances be the most ideal.

Sinhala is my mother-tongue and has learned it for over 11 years, thus making me very fluent in reading, writing, and also speaking. But since joining OSC, I have never really got the opportunity to use my skills in the Sinhala language. So I thought that this would be a great occasion to use my Sinhala skills and at the same time help younger kids learn it.

I contacted Ms. Dilini, who is in charge of Sinhala for MYP, and proposed my idea of conducting a class with her students. She was more than willing to help me and over the next couple of days, we formulated a rough lesson plan for the grade 5s. The students had different levels of knowledge in the Sinhala language so we had to consider this in planning. It had to be relevant to their coursework and also be under the OSC regulations.

For the online lesson conducted through zoom, I formed a lesson plan with a combination of vehicles, food items, and prepositions. I taught them the new vocabulary and had them engage in interactive games through Kahoot and Quizlet. I think it was an effective way of bringing forth the new lesson. Additionally, it also helped me to get to know them better and understand their strengths and weaknesses in the language.

Photo credits: Author

On the second lesson, which was held at school, we decided to teach them the different provinces in Sri Lanka. The students were taught the English names first followed by the Sinhala name. They marked the nine provinces of Sri Lanka on a map and labeled them using the Sinhala names. Using their special phonetics table, they wrote the names in what we call ‘Singlish’ which is a combination of English and Sinhala. Once it was proofread by either myself or Ms. Dilini, the students were asked to rewrite them in Sinhala letters. The latter part of the assignment was found challenging out of all, as they couldn’t match the English letters with the Sinhala ones. Later on, we tested their memory with some random quizzes.

But overall, I think the lesson was successful, the students enjoyed it and I most definitely learned a lot of things. It was a great experience and I would like to thank Ms. Dilini for giving me the opportunity to coordinate with her class and for the immense support extended.

Learning outcomes:

  • Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.
  • Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
  • Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
  • Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
  • Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
  • Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
  • Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

I believe that by completing this CAS project I was able to fulfill all the above learning outcomes. I was able to identify my own strengths when it came to forming a lesson plan, exercising the plan, and also handling students. I worked on the planning process for about two weeks, during which I had to go through all their units and create educational activities and games. Nonetheless, I am happy to say that all the missed breaks and lunches are worth been able to complete this project successfully. I was also grateful to have Ms. Dilini for assistance and help me identify the suitability of the activities. When creating the lesson plan, we had to consider the ethics involved so that no restrictions were broken and students were comfortable discussing them.

I am extremely glad to successfully complete my CAS project and it will definitely be remembered as a highlight of my senior year at OSC.

Category: Creativity, Service | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 29

Debate to explore issues, not to end them.

This semester, service started as usual, in virtual mode. We had some new members and new bedroom walls to look at. For this semester, we decided to dive into weekly debates on global issues regarding women’s rights. We set up some ground rules for the debate to make it more formal which followed,

  1. Everyone contributing a point or a rebuttal\
  2. If a speaker is being consulted regarding their recent comment, they should respond to it without consulting the other members of the group
  3. Everyone should be respectful to others and no personal insults or comments should be done.

Our first discussion topic was on abortion, “Should abortion be legal/ illegal?” We divided the girls into two groups and had them prepared with the necessary facts before the date. It was a good way of bonding with the new members and everyone put effort into preparing for the debate which made it all the more fascinating.

Our second topic for debate was “Should contraceptives be available and accessible to teenagers in high school?”. The use of contraceptives is a timely topic in heated discussion among all groups, and even though we didn’t want to agree or disagree with people’s personal opinions, we realized this would be a very educational debate in all ways. The girls were once again divided into tw0 groups and below are some of the key points in the debate.

Team ‘Yes’-

  • It should be accessible to teenagers above the age of 17, which would prevent unwanted pregnancies and the spread of STDs.
  • If sex education is regular for high schoolers, then why not provide them with proper protection?
  • Help teenagers be more sexually responsible and aware of the consequences of unwanted/ unprotected sex
  • Give teenagers the choice in their sexual experiences
  • Teen girls and boys could be embarrassed to ask their parents, so if it’s available at school, they would have easy access

and multiple other key ideas which have not included above.

Team ‘No’-

  • Contraceptives might often go against religious beliefs/ disrespectful to some religions
  • Normalizing engaging in sexual activities in early life
  • Ethical issues involving contraceptives

The topic for the next session would be on human rights and gender equality, “Have you ever experienced unfair/unjust treatment because of your gender?”. Like before, we will have the girls prepare beforehand for these debates so that it flows smoothly during the hour.

When dividing the girls into teams, we always make sure to shuffle them around so that everyone works with everyone. I think this has been quite successful and many interesting ideas have been highlighted during these debates. Since our service group included girls from all grades, they have different levels of opinions and there’s something to learn from everyone. This has set a new dynamic for our regular service sessions and I hope there’s more to come.

Learning outcomes.

  • Identify your won strengths and develop areas for personal growth.
  • Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
  • Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
  • Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
  • Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

Through these weekly debate sessions, I have been able to identify my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to stating a fact and providing arguments to support the claim. I have been a part of both teams and thereby having to present ideas even if it is against your personal opinion. Working in groups has helped me get to know others better and also improve my leadership skills. When preparing for these sessions, one should specifically consider the ethics involving the subject, so as not to insult or disrespect a particular group. By discussing these timely issues, I have also engaged with global issues through which we have come to objective conclusions. This activity in fact has taught me many lessons in life and after all, debates are to explore issues, not to end the conversations.

Category: Service | LEAVE A COMMENT
February 23

Assisting the MYP Sinhala Class

During the first semester of online learning, the DP1’s and DP’2 had the opportunity to lend a hand in teaching some of the MYP classes.  I assisted Ms. Dilini, who is in charge of the Sinhala language in the primary section and we were able to coordinate some interesting lessons for the kids. We hosted storytelling sessions where we shared the story in both languages and helped them to build bridges in the vocabulary. The students were very enthusiastic with a lot of questions and we were able to have an interactive enjoyable day. I was really sad that we couldn’t continue the lessons with going back to school at the beginning of the new year and preparing for the mock exams. So, I thought it would be great if I could plan my CAS project in coordination with this experience.

I reached out to Ms. Dilini and proposed my idea to conduct a class for the Sinhala language kids. She was very happy to go forward and after discussions, we decided that I would do two classes for the grade 5 students.

It is true when people say, there are some things you have to try in order to understand how difficult they are. This is absolutely true when it comes to teaching. Since the grade 5 students were learning different units at the time and their knowledge varied depending on how long they’ve learned Sinhala, it was a difficult task to formulate a lesson plan that suited everyone. So in the end, I decided that the best way would be to do a review task of all the units they had covered previously. I planned a review lesson where I went over the basic vocabulary, then I created a Kahoot with a mixture of vocabulary and related-terms. I realized that with the age, they mostly preferred fun activities that would at the same time help them learn.

I had to teach two back-to-back lessons that day which was a bit tiring on my voice but nonetheless, I enjoyed it very much, and was a great experience for me. There were about 12 students in both the classes and they were very keen and helpful to me to continue the lesson. I loved spending those hours with the kids and enjoying their playful banter. Ms. Dilini was also extremely helpful in guiding me to complete the lessons successfully. Overall, I was glad to teach the MYP students once again and believe it was a nice way to complete my CAS project.

 

Learning outcomes:

  • Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.
  • Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
  • Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
  • Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
  • Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
  • Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

 

 

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January 25

IVY Girls’ LEAD

IVY Girls Lead (IGL) Sri Lanka Edition was a 10-day online program designed to inspire young girls to become leaders of positive impact. The program ran from the 8th to 18th December 2020  virtually. The project was designed to give young leaders insight into themselves, their interpersonal relationships, and their skill dynamics so they can become accomplished in any field they choose. The program featured some of Sri Lanka’s most successful women leaders and innovators who have excelled in their fields and comprised of group discussions and self-evaluation activities. As an individual who holds a strong passion for women’s empowerment, I was extremely glad to be a part of the fabulous opportunity.

The IVY Girls’ Lead program was conducted virtually via zoom.

This research-based program optimized to create a safe space that helps us with critical thinking, communication, self-awareness, confidence and relationship building. Apart from these, I was able to meet some strong, independent young girls from all over Sri Lanka with the same passion as mine.

Over the course of 10 days, we participated in different sessions ranging from positive affirmation, emotional wellness, active citizenship to career discovery. Through these, I was able to identify myself as an individual and polish my leadership skills and confidence. The latter part of the program consisted of an Action Project, which was an action plan with a particular aim that was led by a group of girls. My group focused on women’s entrepreneurship and social justice. We started off by creating an Instagram page where we could share inspiring stories of female entrepreneurs. We will conduct interviews with the owners of small scale businesses and share their inspiring stories through our Instagram account. Thereby we hope to bring inspiration to other females out there to start their own business. We think this would provide the businesses a suitable platform to promote their businesses as well. As the second part of our project, we will partner with a couple of Interact clubs and have interactive sessions for girls in the form of courses and workshops with experienced female influencers and leaders. This will also be directed with the aim of inspiring young girls and showcasing the entrepreneurs hidden within them.

 

Learning outcomes

  • Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.

Through this program, I was exposed to self-evaluation where I was able to truly identify myself, my weaknesses, and my strengths. I reflected on my self by understanding the area to be developed.

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

In my opinion, participating in the program itself was a challenge, as you had to familiarize yourself in an entirely foreign environment and at the same time express yourself. As an introvert, I sometimes found it difficult to reach up to people and communicate or make friends, but through this, I could bring those boundaries a little lower and expose myself.

  • Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

None of the work done in the program would have been possible if not for the collaborative work of all the girls. From discussions to the action project, everyone was really helpful in sharing ideas, pointing out mistakes, and positive affirmation.

  • Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

We tackled global issues like women’s empowerment, gender rights, social injustice, security, and our action project mainly focuses on entrepreneurship and inspiring young women.

Category: Service | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 25

Service Updates

During the last semester for service, our group “Girls for Girls” engaged in a variety of activities ranging from Newsletter blurbs to designing a website. With the current situation, we’ve always tried to add creativity and action to our sessions which happened via zoom over the past few months.

For the upcoming semester, the service group decided to have friendly debates on timely topics in relation to Women’s Empowerment. Every other week the girls will pick a global issue, especially related to women, and have a discussion on the pros and cons of the particular area. For the remaining weeks, we will have separate sessions conducted by each girl, where they will have the opportunity to choose an activity and conduct the session by themselves. I think this helps to hoist themselves forward and display their leadership skills. By doing so it will aid them to become strong independent leaders in the future.

However, the upcoming holidays in this calendar year have taken a lot of our service sessions out of the way. Despite this, we will do our best to plan out our activities in a way that helps us to exercise to the best of our abilities.

Category: Service | LEAVE A COMMENT
December 2

YEARBOOK

This year I decided to join the Yearbook as it is a good opportunity to engage in some creative work during the times of Covid. The yearbook is an annual publication that commemorates the events of the academic year. It is a year long commitment where the students are allowed to expand their creativity and imagination and display them through the Yearbook. We use Adobe In Design, Photoshop, Light room and Illustrator to create the Yearbook and I believe this will help me to develop and improve my skills in this field. My goal is to help create a Yearbook that one day in the future, the students will hesitate to put down.

During the first few weeks of meeting through zoom I realized it is so much more than what meets the eye. The Yearbook members put a lot of hard work to bring out the lovely product. At the same time it also a very amusing task filled with areas for innovative ideas and creations.  Through this I also get the opportunity to work collaboratively with students of all ages, which  think is the best way to get to know people.

As the only two DP2 students, myself and Ashwini will be designing the senior pages for this year’s publication. Apart from that I will also do the pages of the Head of School, Secondary principal and Primary principal. After aggreeing on a theme and format as a group, me and Ashwini further decided on a common template for the senior pages and what to be included. The Yearbook is important for them as they have all their wonderful memories all the years in it. We are still working on the initial steps, with the hope of getting the information efficiently, we sent out google forms to the grade and hope to complete the senior pages over the December break.

A screenshot of the google form sent out.

Overall, so far its been great, a lovely experience of everyone coming together, and we will start to sort out the pictures and information and creating the pages soon. I’m sure it will be hectic but also fun at the same time. Yearbook club is excited for a year of hard work and quality work.

The yearbook is a treasure full of memories, especially for the seniors and we hope to do out best to make it unforgettable.

Learning Outcomes;

  • Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.
  • Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
  • Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
Category: Creativity | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 30

Advocate Website Launched

This is my second year as a member of the Advocate, the literary magazine of the Overseas School of Colombo. We mainly work towards promoting creativity among the student body and creating a stage where they would be comfortable to be recognized for their artistic skills. This year we also have four new members from different grades and it’s exciting to work with them and share the experiences.

Over the past few years, we have been organizing different competitions, providing an opportunity for the students to showcase their different skills in poetry, prose, and photography. But this year we decided to broaden our contents and include artwork. I believe this would help the numerous artists in the school to have the chance to publish some of their work. Since COVID has us learning virtually meetings are held via zoom where we check in with our progress on our respective tasks. We have also moved the magazine to a PDF form rather than a hard copy to suit the virtual setting. Additionally, we also designed a website for the magazine which would serve as a guide for our audience and is updated regularly when new editions are released and on submission dates.

The cover page of the Advocate Publication 2020

The Advocate poster used for the IB wellness day.

To make the process faster and less stressful we decided the tasks among the group members so that two worked on organizing the emails, two on editing the submissions, and the others on creating a website. I and Eleez were given the task of designing a template for the website and editing the submissions for the annual submission. It was a time-consuming activity as we had to go through all the submissions and look for any mistakes, from grammar to typos. Next, we decided on a color scheme and the type of font to be used. Since we were working independently we had to create separate pdf forms and merge them together. Never been strong in tech and design, this was a new experience for me, and was able to familiarize myself with it.

Learning outcomes;

  • Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
  • Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.
  • Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
Category: Creativity | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 24

Girls for Girls – A New Turn

The 12th of November 2020 marked the first service meeting for the ‘Girls for Girls’ service group for the academic year of 2020/21. The meeting was held under the most unusual circumstances considering how 12 girls met from different areas in Colombo via Zoom. Nonetheless, we were able to introduce ourselves to our new members and go over the ground rules and a detailed itinerary for our upcoming service sessions. With our former service leader graduating from OSC and Rika taking her position, the position of co-leader was on the open. As per the agreement of Ms. Rangika and Ms. Dahlan, I and Sheruni from DP1 were selected as the co-leaders. I was extremely happy and proud to be offered this leadership as I love participating and engaging with the girls. Moreover, since this was only my second year at OSC and the service group, I am honored to lead the girls alongside Rika and Sheruni. 

The members of the Girls for Girls service group.

Before the pandemic struck us, as a group we spent Thursday afternoons with the girls from Emerge Center. We either visited them at their home or they visited us at OSC. Our time with them is well spent and we often find ourselves engaging in activities ranging from creating bracelets to playing volleyball or cricket and having cooking sessions – all of which is rewarded by eager smiling faces which make everything all the more, worth it.

Me, Savi and Tan alongside the girls from Emerge, making tacos. Photo credits: Tan

Unfortunately for us, this session, we are unable to visit the home in person for the remainder of the year, owing to Covid-19 protocols, but this wouldn’t be stopping us from doing the best in our ability to carry on the aims for our service group; empowering women all over the world. In terms of organization, we created a google doc where the members can create their own activities in their own time span, making sure that the activities are possible in the times of the pandemic. This is an effective way to get the new members engaged in the service and also to get an understanding of their likings and ideas. There were so many good ideas ranging from improving our social media pages to creating awareness videos and creating a website etc. Our first activity is to make a word poem with the participation of all the members and publish it in the weekly newsletter.

Some of the activities proposed;

  • Inspiring quotes and awareness posts on facebook.
  • Wear pink on women’s day to show support.
  • Creating infographics and sharing them in a newsletter or bulletin.
  • Spirit week. (One day for quotes, short choreographs, sport skills etc)
  • Give away wristbands, shirts or other items that say girl for girls or supporting it.
  • Get some voice cuts from boys in our classes and maybe teachers on their opinion regarding this matter and make a video.
  • Make an awareness video with all the girls doing something different. Like one singing, doing sports, dancing, studies, giving presentations…

As a leader, I made sure everyone had some form of input so that they feel included and engaged in the service-learning program. We had some open discussions on what we are looking forward to and what we need to take into consideration in order to be better. I think these sessions also help me improve and grow as a leader.

Learning outcomes:

  • Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.
  • Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
  • Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

With the present circumstances, initiating and planning a service session is a difficult task. With everyone in different places, it is sometimes hard to contact all the members and allocate separate tasks for them. Moreover, time management is important, being able to sacrifice time out of the service hours for certain activities. So I believe these things have given me a good experience on how to exercise a successful CAS experience.

  • Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
  • Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

This was a group effort and would not have been possible without the assistance and guidance of many others. Thus, throughout the process, I was encouraged to work collaboratively was able to recognize the benefits of collaboration and cooperation.

  • Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

We as a group hope to address the global issue of sexual abuse and do awareness programs and campaigns to empower women all around.

  • Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

When dealing with an issue like sexual abuse, we always take precautions to be aware of our audience and make sure it is suitable for everyone. Thereby, we always recognize and consider the ethics of our choices and actions as a group.

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