What is CAS?

CAS stands for "Creativity, Activity, and Service" and is a part of the IBDP core. CAS requires that IB students engage in extra-curricular activities on their own time, so that they can be more well-rounded individuals, explore new interests, and spend time doing meaningful activities outside of studying. These activities should be purposeful and contribute to the development of the student by being connected to one or more of the learning outcomes, while also belonging to one or more of the three strands: creativity, activity, or service. Alongside experiences, students will also need to complete at least one CAS project as part of IB.

While not formally assessed, CAS is still an crucial part of the IB program, and students should aim to dedicate a few hours each week towards their CAS experiences to ensure that they have a balanced schedule. To be approved by the CAS coordinator (Mrs. Basso), students must consistently be involved in CAS experiences throughout both of their IB years, have a reasonable balance across the three strands, and provide sufficient evidence and reflection for each experience through different choices of media (written journals, images, audio/videos, etc.)

What is not CAS?

Any sort of activity where the student gets paid, is performing a chore or duty within their family, is promoting a particulur religious view, or is working on IB coursework does not count as a valid CAS experience. Furthermore, any passive activities such as watching a movie or a sports event does not count for CAS, as each experience should have some ultimate goal or purpose for the student to reach.

To make possible CAS experiences more meaningful, students should try to attach some personal significance to the activity leading to growth and learning - such as taking "walking around" and turning it into "walking around a forest to better my mental health and improve my fitness". If you are ever unsure whether an activity counts for CAS or not, or have any questions in general, you can always approach Mrs. Basso for guidance.

Additional Resources