Evidence or Refelction

What is the difference between evidence and reflection?  

Evidence could be attendance records at the gym but reflection would be where you write or speak about how it feels and what you are achieving.

Many people have lots of evidence but little reflection.  You do not have to reflect on a regular basis but if you have a long term experience that you have been participating in since last term and you haven't got any reflection it is time you did something about it!!!

Between spring break and the end of term, I will meet with everyone to talk about CAS.  This is the time to put in that bit extra and check your portfolio.  I check them every week and often write notes.  The notes I write can help you to stay on track.  This kind of note is the one that I hate to see!

Make sure you don't get one, by reading and responding to the notes.  

Volunteer Opportunities

If you speak Swedish there are a few different opportunities on https://www.volontarbyran.org/.  The Red Cross is looking for volunteers to be part of a friendship group with newly arrived young refugees.  This kind of volunteer work is both rewarding for you and the recipient.  

Remember to update your portfolio ready for an interview after break.

Projects

Many of you are involved in some exciting projects.  Over the last couple of weeks I have seen some wonderful CAS experiences.  Here are a few examples:

Rhino Preservation Group

A couple of weeks ago this group received a thank you certificate for the money they raised in 2015.  Altogether they raised €252 which they donated to Project Rhino KZN - a group of 18 organisations in Africa that are working to protect the rhinos.

This year the group has been focusing on using social media to spread its message.  The have a Rhino Blog, an Instagram account: sisrhinogroup, and have a great video on youtube. You can show your support by following them and watching the video - SIS Rhino Video  Look our for more episodes about the life of Wakwabubi.

You can also have your picture taken with their 'Save the Rhino' banner and uploaded on Instagram.  

Amnesty International

The Amnesty International Group was featured in the Dispatch this week for its 'My Body, My Rights' campaign.  They will be collecting signatures this week to send to the Tunisian Government. They hope to get the Tunisian law changed to give women more rights - rights that we often take for granted here in Sweden.  If you sign the letter, you might receive a cool tattoo like the ones in the picture here. You can also follow them on Instragram: sisamnesty

Film Club and Film Competitions

Leandro and Shashank seem to be very successful with their film club - they have encouraged and helped several people to make films for the Stockholm Junior short film festival.  Entries are due in on the 27th March - I am sure we are looking forward to seeing their great films.  Good luck to all of them!  If anyone is still looking for an opportunity to show their short or documentary films there is another festival coming up - STOCKmotion Film Festival.  It is open to people of all ages - there are many different categories and prizes. Films should be between 5 and 30 minutes depending on the category.  The deadline is 25th May.  See details here: http://www.stockmotion.se/

MYP Arts Showcase

Despite the name quite a few of the Diploma Students made appearances at the recent MYP arts evening.  It seems that the grade 11s are quite talented.  You can see a short video of their performance: Grade 11 Band

Don't forget to check your portfolio - make sure you have a project before the end of term. Interviews will take place after the Spring break so try to have everything in order.

Interview season approaching

Most of you have your CAS portfolios under control and have enough experiences to cover all the learning outcomes and strands of CAS.  Remember that you cannot finish CAS early - you must have at least one experience that continues right up until your final exams in May next year.

I will be interviewing everyone before the end of the term in weeks 14 and 15 (straight after the Spring Break).

Before the interview you should all check the following:

1. Have you got an experience for each one of the outcomes? 
You can find something similar to this on the right hand side of your portfolio.  If you have a yellow bar - that means that you have planned the outcome but not reflected on it.  Green means planned and reflected. Blank - no experiences planned with that outcome in mind.  You must cover each outcome at least once in order to be eligible for your diploma.

2. Have you covered each of the strands in a balanced way?  The strands are Creativity, Activity and Service.  You should have about the same amount for each (around 50 hours). You can find this image under the outcomes.  Hours are not shown as complete until an experience is finished so you just should look that the approved and completed added together.  But remember if you plan hours and then don't actually do them - they will not count.  I can only see what you have planned and say that you are on track - if you then fail to do what you plan, you could find yourself ineligible for the Diploma.

3. Do you have a project with evidence that you have followed the CAS stages?

A project must be done with others and you must make sure you follow the 5 stages and document them.  They are: Investigation, Preparation, Action, Reflection and Demonstration.  

4. Do you have evidence and reflections for your experiences?

Evidence should show that you really did participate in the experience - photos, schedules, film, audio, etc.

Reflection - should describe your feelings and questions that arose as a consequence of your participation in this experience. It should not be simply - I did a great job!  It should show that you have learnt something and that you can use that in the future.  It MUST relate the the learning outcomes that you have selected.  

How to succeed with CAS

• Check you portfolio regularly.  
• Up-date your evidence frequently
• Complete finished experiences by doing CAS questions and getting supervisor reviews (where relevant)
• Reflect at significant moments
• Read the notes I write on your portfolio and do what I request.  See me if they are unclear.