The Role of Parents

We ask that Parents offer support, encouraging your child to undertake interesting and challenging CAS Experiences that give opportunities for personal growth and self-improvement. You know your child the best and may wish to discuss ideas with them to effectively develop life skills, whilst fitting these experiences effectively within your child's schedule.

CAS is one of the ways that the IB tries to help your child develop life skills that will be important at university and in their later working lives. It is not about “success”, but a chance to learn from your mistakes and when things don’t go to plan. This can lead to meaningful personal stories that your child can find help them really stand out from the crowd in university applications and interviews.

Some CAS experiences carry more risk than others. We ask Parents to be aware of the risks your child may undertake. A CAS Experience should only go ahead if you are happy with the risks entailed, and if your child has planned to mitigate them sufficiently. We ask all parents to sign a Risk Disclaimer Form.

Reflection is often the part of CAS that students find most challenging. You may be able to help by discussing times when you have used reflection in your working lives or hobbies, for example work appraisals, professional training or team talks. Please encourage your child to be honest and speak personally about what he thinks went well, what could have gone better and how they might approach the challenge differently next time.