CAS Terminology

Activity

Physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle.

CAS Adviser

Throughout this guide the term “CAS advisers” refers to teachers whose role is to provide ongoing support and advice to students in relation to their CAS programme. At LGB mentors do act as CAS advisers and participate in professional development, often led by the CAS coordinator to understand their roles and responsibilities.

CAS Supervisor

The CAS supervisor assists, offers guidance and oversees the students’ CAS experiences when needed.

Collaborative

Collaborative experiences involve cooperation with others. These can be short term or longer term collaborations and are an important aspect of a CAS project.

Community

Students are naturally members of several different communities (the school, the local area where they live, community of friends, ethnically or religiously defined groups, and so on). Some CAS experiences may quite properly involve CAS students within their own familiar community however they could also be involved with people from other less familiar communities that affords opportunities for personal and collective growth when possible.

CAS Coordinator

The person who is given overall responsibility for establishing and overseeing the school’s CAS programme with sufficient support, time and resources to carry out the role.

Creativity

Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance.

Experiences

A CAS experience is a specific event in which the student engages with one or more of the three CAS strands. A CAS experience can be a single event or may be an extended series of events.

Global

“Global” infers having a significance or reference that extends beyond a local context or relates to the whole world. CAS students are encouraged to see the connections between their local experiences and a global context.

Handbook

A booklet summarizing CAS which is school specific. At La Grande Boissière an electronic issue of the handbook is published on the CAS website every September and available in both English and French, listing all CAS opportunities and specifically all enrichment clubs.

Interviews

An interview is a formal dialogue and exchange of information. During CAS, there are three formal documented interviews that students have with their CAS coordinator or adviser: at the beginning of the CAS programme, at the end of the first year and at the end of the CAS programme.

Learning outcomes

Completion of CAS is based on student achievement of the seven CAS learning outcomes. Through their CAS portfolio students provide evidence demonstrating achievement of each learning outcome.

Reflection

Central to CAS, reflection is a process of considered exploration of personal thoughts (cognition) and feelings (affect) that informs students’ learning and growth by allowing students to explore ideas, skills, strengths, limitations and areas for further development and consider how they may use prior learning in new contexts. Reflection can occur in varied formal and informal ways.

New roles or challenges

The phrase “new roles or challenges” refers to experiences that are new to the student or may extend their roles or responsibilities in experiences with which the student is already involved.

Portfolio

A collection of evidence that showcases CAS experiences and reflections . At LGB students use ManageBac to document their CAS portfolio

Project

All CAS students undertake a CAS project involving teamwork that integrates one or more of the strands of creativity, activity and service. Duration is a minimum of one month. The project provides opportunities to develop and advance skills particularly related to collaboration and sustained relationships, and enables students to develop and refine plans in response to any problems that arise, and to reflect on their progress and outcomes.

Risk Assessment

Needs to be done for out of school experiences assessing the risk and describing opposed control measures.

Reciprocal engagement

As students participate in service experiences, the aim is for recognition of an exchange of mutual benefit, or reciprocity that maintains dignity and respect for all involved.

Service

Collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need.

Stages

The CAS stages of investigation, preparation, action, reflection and demonstration offer a helpful and supportive framework and continuum of process for CAS students as they consider what they would like to do in CAS, make plans, and carry out their ideas. The CAS stages are applicable (but not mandatory) to the three strands of creativity, activity, service and the CAS project.

Strands

In CAS, there are three strands for experiences: creativity, activity and service.

Sustained

The term “sustained” in CAS refers to continuous or ongoing experiences, plans or actions that take place regularly over an extended period of time. Sustained CAS experiences enable students to show perseverance and commitment while providing opportunities for deeper understanding, ongoing planning, adaptability as needed and meaningful reflection.