All CAS students are expected to maintain and complete a CAS portfolio as evidence of their engagement with CAS and achievement of the seven CAS learning outcomes. The CAS portfolio can also reveal how students have developed the attributes of the IB learner profile. The CAS portfolio is used by students to plan their CAS programme, reflect on their CAS experiences and gather evidence of involvement in CAS. The student's mentor teacher must ensure the students keep their CAS portfolio up-to-date and relevant as it is a summation of their CAS programme. It could also be a valuable addition to a student’s resume for a prospective employer or educational institution.
During the three scheduled CAS interviews the CAS portfolio is discussed and appropriate encouragement and advice is given.
Notes and recommendations from these consultations should be briefly documented and included in the student’s CAS portfolio. If any concerns arise, especially on whether a student will successfully complete CAS, these should be noted in the CAS portfolio and appropriate action taken at the earliest opportunity. The student's Mentor teacher and the CAS Coordinator check the CAS portfolio regularly.
The CAS portfolio is used to showcase the student’s CAS programme and should be a source of pride for the student. To highlight its significance, students could have the choice of how the CAS portfolio is assembled, what they include and how it is shared. Individual student learning styles will dictate the type of portfolio that they use: digital, online, diary, journal, scrapbook or a blended approach. Students are encouraged to explore the different options available to them.
In this section, students include their interests, skills and talents, plans and goals for their CAS programme. At the start of CAS, students map their interests against the three strands of CAS to identify possible CAS experiences. A consideration of how a student’s personal value system aligns with the values expressed by the IB, with a particular focus on the IB learner profile, could also be included when developing a student profile. In addition, developing an awareness of themselves in relation to the CAS learning outcomes is a significant part of the profile. Through an understanding of the CAS aims and learning outcomes, students will be able to identify both short-term and long-term goals in their CAS programme.
SAMPLE Personal Profile:
I am an artsy, creative person and I really want to pursue a creative career. I am goal oriented and ready to take on the world after IB. I hope to become a product designer after getting my masters degree in both design and business administration so that I can go into the corporate world. Mostly, I'm just trying to figure out what everything means and try to answer big questions like, "why am I here?" and "What is my purpose in life?". I am a little introvert and not a big social person, and my communications skills are not great, and I tend to improve on communication skills. CAS Aims & Goals: My goals for the CAS program are to learn to better manage my time with commitments outside of school, in the past, I've struggled a little with staying on top of multiple tasks, and really want to improve in this area. I also hope to grow my leadership skills through CAS, by volunteering as much as possible for leadership roles in my community, in service and in my creative endeavours! I'm aiming to complete at least four or five different CAS experiences which push my boundaries, getting outside my comfort zone with what I would normally do with my spare time outside of school and during Day 9. Since I am a naturally creative person, I plan to apply my passion and talents by developing a project which addresses gender equality and social justice. I will continue work that I started in Grade 10 with student council and Precious Plastics as well as running in the evenings and weekends. For Learning Outcome #7 "Recognizing and considering ethics of choices and actions", I want to be more intentional about how my behavior impacts others and relates back to the question: 'Why am I here?'.
FIND GUIDANCE WITH YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE HERE
In this section, students collect artifacts and thoughts based on the goals and learning outcomes identified for each of their CAS Experiences.
Evidence could include, but is not limited to:
Planning documents, letters, emails, certificates, acknowledgments of participation and achievements, photographs, videos, and so on. Students could correlate their involvement with the CAS learning outcomes and may extend their thoughts to future ambitions within and outside the CAS programme
See more about Reflections a separate tab above, but remember the general purpose of reflection is:
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Reflection is a required part of the programme but it shouldn’t be too arduous! You can reflect in any way which suits you.
The focus of your reflection should be affective. Try to move beyond just giving a commentary of what your experiences and actions were, and talk about how you felt and how the experience will change you in the future.