CAS

Rock Climbing Final Reflection

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

Rock climbing has been a really positive experience recently. I stopped boxing at the end of grade 11 but decided to keep rock climbing. There was a little gap in my reflections but in October the activity changed a little. I got to join the team that would go on to do competitions. this was really amazing as I had only been to one before and they were just returning after COVID. Through this, we got to start training at a proper climbing gym which really increased my motivation to improve. I also got to know students from other grand and for a real team bond. Since then I have gone to 3 competitions while the school is mostly not as good as other schools due to our very new team all the competitions have been really fun and all the teams get along and try to help each other out. I did come 4th in one competition after being tied as 3rd for most of the event which was a really good experience and I hope to maybe win something soon. I have two more competitions one of which will be overseas which is very exciting since due to the pandemic I have never gotten to travel overseas for an activity. Through this my motivation for the sport has really grown and i really push myself during training to keep trying climbs until I finish them. Overall, I am really loving the activity and even though I don’t have very long left I really hope to find a way to continue after I finish school.

Here are some photos from the competitions

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CAS Project: Project Week

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

Investigation 

Starting up project week, my friend group split up into those who wanted to do certain activities, so we went into planning with the aim of doing rock climbing, pottery and baking. At this stage, we chose our roles and I became the project manager meaning I was in charge of planning and keeping the group on task as well as organised. The only struggle we had in that stage was that another group had issues with their group members so one joined our group. Luckily, this new member was relatively happy to join the activities we had planned.

Preparation 

Preparation was a more difficult stage of the project. As project manager I was mainly in charge of the planning with the help of one other group member. The other 3 where not as involved. While part of what this taught me was the importance of delegating it also taught me about taking initiative which is a useful skill when planning and deciding for a whole group. The group member that did help allowed us to organise a good trip where we got to do things from creativity, activity and service so we got a really nice mix of activities

Action 

The majority of the week went really well we had a great time with activities such as baking and soap making being a huge hit. There were a few flaws for example in the rock-climbing course we did the coach we had was very strict leading to it not being a super enjoyable experience but we pushed through and enjoyed the cycling later in the day a lot more. Another issue was that our service was really early in the morning so a few group members had trouble organising transportation so were a little late. While this was irritating it only happened once and they did eventually make it meaning they did not miss out on a lot.

Reflection

The overall process was really enjoyable and while some stages of planning caused some irritation within the group we were all able to move on from it and have a really enjoyable experience. In the future, some more free activities rather than courses such as the climbing one could be useful but overall the group really came together. The only thing that I would consider is whether or not there should have been one leader or if delegation could have happened differently with one person in charge of one day or type of activity. However, even though we did not take that approach it all came together in the end.

Demonstration

Over the CAS project I learnt a lot about being a leader and also about scheduling. When many activities only occur on specific days at specific times it meant we had to keep shuffling what activity happened when. This is a really useful skill both the scheduling and the flexibility that came with having to change things and in the future I am sure it will often come in handy. Through doing activities from all elements of CAS I feel we had a very well-rounded experience and even though I preferred the activity and creativity elements of the week I am really glad we included service as it did add some value to the trip as it was a very hand-on approach to service that I don’t get very often especially due to COVID having stopped local services meeting with their partners in person,

 

Photos

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Piano Third Reflection

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

At the end of Grade 11 I decided that instead of using my exam for my performance I would instead play a song at the end of year recital as I did not feel ready to do an exam. I also decided that due to the stress that grade 12 would hold that this would be where I stop doing piano for at least a little while. Over many years of playing piano I have learnt many skills especially overcoming challenges as I struggle with learning new pieces. Here is a recording of the recital. I felt that it went quite well but it was quite challenging for me as I am uncomfortable with performing so I did make a few errors. But performing like this is very important as a skill beyond piano so I am really glad that I pushed myself to do it.

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Rock-Climbing 1st reflection

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

I am so extremely happy to be doing rock climbing again. I first started doing the sport when I moved to Singapore in grade 6 and was part of the school’s first team to go to a competition. However, we did it off campus and due to COVID the activity shut down. Thankfully the activity has restarted. Unfortunately, it is on campus which is a shame because the school’s walls are not great but for the first time ever we have a professional coach who is teaching us techniques and setting us challenges. I really love the sport as I have been doing it for so long. I think perseverance is so important in climbing and so is having the right mindset as you keep trying to climb up the wall. There are few feelings of satisfaction quite like reaching the top of a difficult climb and I am glad I get to start enjoying that again. I was a little out of practice at the start but I think most of my skill has returned but there is always room to improve. Due to the limited size of these walls, I think my main challenge is bouldering as the coaches as able to challenge us in that respect which is good as that was always my weakest spot. Hopefully, competitions restart as it was a great experience last time as there was very little competitive spirit but rather supporting each other to do your best so it was a really friendly environment.

I think something that I want to work on is obviously my own climbing as that is the purpose of the activity but also the teamwork within it. Rock-climbing requires a lot of trust as you belay one another and ofter try to guide each other up the wall. I really want to help those I work with succeed as I know they will do the same for me.

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History Society Second Reflection

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

History continues to be one of my favourite school activities. The group is super fun as they all enjoy the subject. This year we have made presentations on historical events which is always a good thing for me to do as being forced to present is often a little out of my comfort zone but with this group both those I am presenting with and it is not too difficult and I can see my self becoming more confident when I compare the ones this year to ones from grade 9. This year we also gathered historical sources that would give other students context to the Ukraine-Russia crisis. These were then shared with all of the high school. I think this was one of the most important things for us to do as keeping people informed and helping them understand is extremely important and history is a great tool for that. Finding historical maps on how the border has changed over the years to understand why the war started, and the ethics of the conflict in order to educate others was a really great experience, especially seeing it shared with so many people around the school. At the moment we are now starting a little book club within the activity where we read a text during the week and then discuss it in class. This is super interesting as reading sources is not only applicable to the subject as I have a source paper in the IB  but reading a variety of different perspectives on different events with many being from textbooks or other academic writings is just a really interesting way to learn about events or discover arguments on the significance of history or the differences between different ideologies.

I think this activity is extremely valuable not only due to the importance of history but due to the research skills of finding articles, analysing readings and practising presenting. This as well as a really great atmosphere in the activity work to form really positive experiences.

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Boxing second reflection

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

Boxing is going very well so far. At the start of the year, I got some of my friends to join and they so far enjoy it. This has been really nice as the sport is really partner based so when you know your partner well it helps the sport a lot, especially with motivation. One problem was that my initial partnership did not work out due to differences in height and also different approaches to the activity. But I switched partners with a friend and it got a lot better as this partner is closer to me in height and we also work really well together. This just showed me the importance of a good partner in this sport and I am really relieved that I talked to my friends and we changed as otherwise I think my enjoyment of the sport would have decreased. A challenge this year was that the activity moved more into kickboxing which was an area I was less confident in especially since I’m not very flexible so some of the kicks are quite difficult. But I really think I have improved a lot so far.  A challenge I mentioned in my first reflection was that we had to wear masks and therefore the intensity decreased from previous years. I think the activity leaders made this a lot better as the activity went on and now when all the people in the room are vaccinated we can take out masks off which is really nice. However, that only started during the most recent session so throughout the season I have done it with a mask on. This was very annoying as the mask gets really annoying during exercise but I worked through it and eventually became accustomed to it.

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2nd Service Reflection (end of season 2)

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

So far, service is going well. I got a leadership role, so I am the communications manager. I am really happy with this, and I look forward to working to help the service. Within the service, I work collaboratively quite a lot as we separate into groups in order to organise activities. In some sessions I work with my close friends in the activity, especially for reading but then we join other groups for other activities later if they need other people. The group for reading also often changes with others joining or people being absent but so far I think the whole service works well together. It works really well as it is not a huge group and I hope the group dynamic stays the same when the grade 1os leave and grade 9s join.

I have grown in the activity through learning how to present online. It was quite challenging at the start when in our the first session we read a book allowed, but we positioned it wrong, so I could not see an entire paragraph of the story. But since then we have learnt new techniques and figured out how to make it better as well as improve how we tell the story by adding small questions to ask the children in order to keep them engaged. My next step is probably to lead more different types of activity. I have done a couple of just dance-related activities as the children seem to enjoy that but I would like to lead more of those or try to come up with more ideas (though we are very limited online).

Within my communications role, I have written reflections of the services portfolio which is linked here and organised other people to write some. I also spent a session taking photos which are seen on this specific post. I look forward to doing more within this role and helping this service to function effectively.

A challenging experience with the service was the ethics of it as we try to understand the service partners. In one session we planned to have Christmas related activities but in the end, we realised that they might not celebrate Christmas so it might not be relevant to them. We canceled that but since then we have lead a lunar new year session as we thought that they probably celebrate that.

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Piano Initial Reflection

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

I have been playing for about 8-9 years now and am currently working towards my grade 8 exam (the last student grade). As with every grade, I am still constantly improving as I learn my pieces. This form of creativity is very important to me as it is something I have been doing for a very long time therefore I really want to do well in this final grade. Over the next few months, I will be finishing up my pieces as I prepare for the online exam since in-person ones have not returned since the beginning of the pandemic. I am a little worried about this style of the exam as it is a recording so there may be higher pressure since the exam board is aware that the recording can be re-done many times and therefore the exam submitted should be the very best many attempts.  I know that in past exams my area for improvement was some rhythm aspects of my pieces while scales come easily to me so I will be prioritising my pieces especially since I always feel like that is the most important part of each grade. I look forward to continuing to improve at the piano and hope to soon achieve this next level.

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Movement and Fitness with the SGM Mourni Little Kidz Child Care Centre Initial Reflection

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

This service works with little kids as we try to do things like exercise with them in order to help the child care centre. The centre is for kids from a lower socio-economic background and our school is partnered with them in order to use our resources to enrich their development. I hope to hold a leadership position this year as I have done this type of service for the last few years and  I really want to help these children. I am quite eager to experience being a part of a leadership team and seeing how that works while working as a group to make the service as good as possible. My only real concern with this service is with the current COVID 19 situation they can not come into school and I am a little nervous about how well young children can focus over online calls. But within COVID, all services have had to adapt and I am sure we will be able to do it. However, I look forward to the challenge and stepping up into a leadership position in order to help these children.

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History Society Initial Reflection

Posted on by baxte72004@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

I have been doing history society since Grade 9 and every year in it we get the opportunities to learn about new historical events that are not covered in class. We also analyse significance, create posters to educate the school and deepen our knowledge of history. The activity also allows us to play certain history games such as Diplomacy where you work on teamwork, strategising and meeting new people. This activity is one of my favourites and I really enjoy researching these new events for example one of my first presentations for this activity was on the Australian Emu war. I look forward to growing in this activity, learning new things and increasing my ability to analyse history to help me in the subject during the IB as I am sure a higher level of these skills will be necessary over the next 2 years.

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