Category: CAS

Investigation:

Project Week is an integral part of the High School Learning Programme for all Grade 11 students. It is a unique opportunity for you to learn more about yourself, different cultures and your ability to work effectively with others. I decided I wanted to go diving. I want to do this action because I have enjoyed the idea of scuba diving in the past and am willing to learn this new skill and take a course to be an open water diver. I found three other people who want to do the same thing and together we will be doing scuba diving, and getting our Open Water certificates. We also decided we will be in Phuket, Thailand (Phuket Island). On the first day we will use the resort pool for a practice dive and for the 4 Open Water dives we will go off Chalong Pier into Chalong bay.

Preparation:

We had a lot of problems with our group, first one of the people in my group had their open-water certification already, and we were only allowed to dive in groups of two or more. So we decided that another person would do their open water so that they could join the other member in getting their advanced open water, while the rest of the group would continue to get their open water. However, later we found out that the person who had their open-water was leaving our school and therefore could not be on this trip. Due to this we were too small of a group, as now we only had 3 people. Fortunately, we found another group member who didn’t have their open water certificate that could join us in our trip. We had filled out our forms for the diving course and we also found a resort that was affordable for us that was right next to the diving center, which was very beneficial. We had prepared our budget and itinerary in detail to be 100% of what we were doing and when. We also recorded our medical information including any medication, doctor information as well as the nearest hospital in phuket just in case, we also assigned a detailed first-aid course to a group member, while the rest of us also had a short first-aid course. We also started looking at flights and timings as well as transportation in Phuket. Since everything was close by to our resort, we could walk to everything, the diving center also provided transportation to the center. We were also in contact with the organization trying to get additional information such as the timings of the diving each day as well as the food they would provide for us.

Our smart goal for the trip was:

S = The goal of the project is to develop diving skills and becoming an open water diver in a different environment. While we are diving with Seabees, they will teach us more about how they manage to protect the ecosystem around them, and we will make sure to enquire as much as we can in this aspect.

M = Progress can be tracked by writing down notes everyday after the diving sessions, can also be tracked through social media posts. Feedback from instructors will also be written down.

A = Goal is attainable as the course for the open water diving will be achieved by the help of the team at Sebees and the instructors teaching us. 

R = The company’s mission is to show the beautiful diving sites of Thailand while respecting and practicing Thai culture as well as to end shark finning and stop the use of drift nets. We are willing to help with what we can, the money that we pay for our diving courses will go towards protecting marine life as well as we will pay a Marine Park fee.

T = Our goal is to be completed by 4th June at the latest.

We also decided to do physical preparation:

Leg exercises will be needed in order to have leg strength when swimming. Swimming exercises – periodic increases in lengths and slowly building up i.e. 10 lengths up to 20 lengths after 2 weeks etc. We should do these exercises regularly in order to build up the strength and once we have reached the goal we should continue to do it as we should maintain the strength. 

In the 3 weeks before the trip, we will meet up in Changi Club (Saturday evenings) and do two rounds of pool training with a break of 1 hour in the middle, doing:

• 10 lengths of the pool per round in the first week
• 20 lengths in the second week
• 30 in the third week

We will complete an online theory course before we go, which is provided by Seabees. We will also fill in a log of our physical preparation beforehand as we do lengths of the pool to keep track of our progress.

However, due to COVID-19 our trip was cancelled and we were not able to go on this trip. We planned a tremendous amount and we were all disappointed when we learnt the news as we spent a long time perfecting the trip when we weren’t even able to go on it.

First session

LO3-Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

What activities did I plan?

I wanted to make different pots using different techniques such as pinch pots, coiling or just joining flat pieces of clay together. I first made a square pot using the same sized clay squares by cutting them by hand and joining them by scoring and using slip. I then fired the pot to be able to glaze it. I then glazed it using green glaze and fired it again. After this I made a pinch pot by simply pinching clay to form a pot shape. I then moved on to the pottery wheel which I enjoyed the most.

What was the outcome of my planning?

By planning the different techniques I would use, I expanded my art skills in pottery by improving my existing skills and also learning new skills. I was also able to connect my interest into another area of my interest, math. I was able to use one of the pots I made in my internal assessment, the surface area I calculated of the pot acts as a baseline into the amount of glaze I can use in order to not waste it, saving money and time.

This is the pot i made in pottery:

Mid session

LO1-Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth

What would I like to improve?

I think I would like to improve joining clay together as there is a process to it- we have to score it and then put slip on it and gently join the clay together and if we don’t do it, it might break of. I would also like to learn how to use the wheel because it makes smooth pots that you can’t make by just pinching or coiling clay.

What previous experience have I had with an activity like this?

I have made pots before in middle school art and I remember having a lot of fun doing it, and I wasn’t that bad because the teacher was a good instructor and could help us. I wanted to further develop my pottery skills and I had also heard from my friend that it was a relaxing activity to develop your skills alone or with help.

Final session

LO2- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

Were there some skills easier than others?

The first few sessions I had just started to develop my skills of making pots such as pinch pots or coiled pots as I had been familiar with those due to middle school art, however later on I had wanted to learn how to make pots on the wheel rather than just other techniques. The wheel is much harder to control, nonetheless I had tried it out by getting a friend who was familiar with it to help me and I had improved my skills of it. I think it is harder than pinch pots because even the technique of removing the pot from the wheel is harder than making a pinch pot, however I definitely enjoy making a pot on the wheel more.

Were there challenges I could not overcome? Why/why not?

I could not further develop my skills on the wheel because there are only two wheels in the art department that we could use and I also started using the wheel to late in the activity as I had just gotten the chance, so there was not enough time. However I would love to develop this skill as it did intrigue me.

CAS provides opportunities for everyone to do something they love or try something new. This year I have managed to achieve both as I took risks and tried something new as well as something familiar and something I enjoy. Most of my experiences this year was a new experience and I think CAS helped as I wouldn’t have tried these new things if it weren’t for it.  I tried Kahaani, which I have heard about and been wanting to try and am glad that I made that decision and want to do it again next year. I think I will continue to try new things next year as well.

First Session:

LO6 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

Kahaani is something new I wanted to try, my brother had been in it and it looked like a good experience. After the first session I knew it was the right choice as it was both fun and challenging, remembering all the steps while having fun collaborating with the people around me.

Who do I collaborate with?

This is a partner dance so we all definitely have to communicate with each other so the dance looks nice, that we try our best while still having fun. We have to make sure we know what we are doing as we are going to perform this and we need to make sure we are trying our best, collaborating with everyone.

What did I learn about this issue?

Kahaani was created by the Kolkata Global Concern, which supports an organisation called Voice of World that helps visually impaired and orphaned children in the city of Kolkata. Kahaani means “story”, they created it to convey a message to our school which many come to watch. I think it’s a great way to get people to talk about the issue and to help out as much as they can through a “story”. Since I am from India I think that the way this GC raises awareness is a good way to both include the culture as well as the issue to show to our school, as this event makes people talk about it.

Mid Session:

LO5-Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.

Kahaani has been a commitment that is easy to abide to as it is every thursday lunch, I also think it has been very fun as well as stressful because of the dance we need to learn in a short amount of time. However I think it is worth it because it is a new experience and I am enjoying myself, trying to work as a team and trying our best to give our full energy into the dance to make it look pleasing.

Who did I collaborate with?

I had to collaborate with everyone in order to be a cohesive group and everyone matters when performing as we are doing this in front of an audience. But I think the main person I had to collaborate with is my partner because we have to dance together, we have to make sure we know the steps and that we are able to do it together.

What made it easy or difficult to work together?

I think the fact that we both wanted to get the steps right and look cohesive while doing the dance made us work harder together however because we hadn’t worked together before it was difficult to communicate as we both also had never been in Kahaani.

This is me in the practice

Final Session:

LO1 – Identifying your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth

What am I good at? What are my strengths?

In the end I learnt how to manage my time better as we had to learn a whole dance in 15 sessions, as well as working together in a team as we had to be coordinated and help each other in order to produce our best performance.

Have I improved and in what areas?

I think I have improved in first my collaborative skills, it is important to know what your partner is doing because you are going to be performing in front of many people. I think that I learnt how to communicate with my partner and also encourage him when he needed help. In the end we all had fun together and bonded as a group. I also improved my dancing skills since we had been practicing every week.

Why have I struggled in a few areas?

We had a problem with one of our dances as It was not looking good and not everyone could do the steps. We all tried to improve the dance by giving our ideas and by the end we all created dance moves together that worked and looked good to perform.

First session

LO2- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

What risks have I taken as part of this activity?

This is my first time taking a class in boxing, i chose it since i’ve been wanting to do it for a while, however put it off as it was a risk for me at the time. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try something new and i really enjoyed the first session.

What new skills have I developed in this activity?

We worked on our forms, the basic punches and how to properly stand. Even though it was the first session I really liked the class and how it made me feel. It is also a good form of exercise as it helps with getting your heart rate up and it also is fun at the same time. As the sessions went on, i think it got more interesting and fun to participate in and also got me more tired. I am looking forward to going to more classes and I think I might continue boxing for season 3 and 4 depending on my schedule.

Mid session

LO4-Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences

 

Final session

LO5-Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.

Through this experience I had learnt to work with the others around me, since it was a beginners class, we were all mostly in the same place and we could all help each other in improving our skills to benefit everyone. Although there were some challenges- some had more developed skills which would make it more difficult to do the activities- I think I worked through it to really develop my skills because it was an activity I had been wanting to do for a long time. I think I was responsible in making contributions and generally doing the activities while not complaining about them. I personally felt that I benefited from the activity because I acquired a new skill and will continue to do this sport in my free time.

What can I do in the future to be a more effective team player?

I think generally being encouraging and helping people in your team when they need it in order to enable them to develop and gain skills. Finding a role within your team that allows you to do what you do well. This will help you make a meaningful contribution – and increase your chances of doing a great job.

First session

LO2- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

Mid session

LO4-Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences

How did I show perseverance and commitment in this activity?

Softball was early in the morning, twice a week and I had made an effort in trying to come to each session on time while also enjoying the new skills we were learning and developing. I think the hardest thing is that it was that early in the morning however I think it was nice since it was still dark outside and it was chilly. We were all tired but we pushed through even played a few games together and helped each other when needed.

How did I maintain my motivation for this activity?

Firstly I think it was because of the people around me, a few of my friends were also doing this activity and we all had the same skill level, it was nice to encourage each other and even help each other to improve our skills. Even simple things like sharing the cab to school with my friend early in the morning was a nice thing to look forward to, especially looking forward to catching the ball or hitting the ball with the bat. I think the sheer will of me wanting to develop my softball skills was my highest motivation, because I truly wanted to get better.

Final session

LO1-Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

What previous experience have I had with an activity like this?

I had done softball in PE in middle school and even highschool and enjoyed the unit. We never went into that much depth of the rules and strategies but it had always intrigued me, which is why I had decided to pursue the sport in my free time. I had fun during class and wanted to do it again.

What would I like to improve?

I think I would like to further develop my skills in softball such as my batting skills. I think i did improve during the sessions, but I definitely could do better. I would also like to improve my motivation with this activity since it started to get less and les towards the end of the activity since classwork started to pile up as well. It did get harder to attend the sessions however I continued to go to the sessions when I reminded myself on how much I wanted to do it.

First session

I have done this service last year and I thought it was a great experience so I decided to do it again this year, however it is a bigger commitment as last year we only had to do in Season 1-2 but now we have to do it for the whole year. I think this will also be a good experience as the elderly are from a new place this year, so we get to meet and play with new people.

Their vision “A nation where every senior is active, healthy and happy” and their mission is “To provide friendship and care for seniors to age in place with community participation, enabling them to enjoy meaningful and enriching lives”. I think we can work towards this mission and definitely provide friendships and make the most out of the time we are there, to built our relationship and make them happy.

LO5-Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.

Our service went to the centre for the first time and we learnt a lot about the place and about the people there. We listened to the leader speak about lion befrienders and how we can help. It was interesting to know what they like as it can help us gauge what to do to have the most fun and to bond with the people there. We also met some of the elderly and played ‘chinese whispers’ with them, and enjoyed it a lot.

As this service went on throughout the years, we had been planning the same things such as bingo or darts as we know it works and that they like it, however we think that we should try something different as we think that they might get bored with the things we always do. We think something like dancing or karaoke would be fun for all of us and it would be different to what we usually do. We have lessons in school to plan for many activities and back up plans, and along the way we will learn what works and what doesn’t work.

There is a language barrier between some of us and the elderly however we can overcome it as the people who can speak english can help us translate and we think that we don’t need to speak the same language to bond over something. We think the activities planned will be fun and will work with helping the elderly enjoy their time.

I am chair along with David, and together we will try to set attainable goals that our service can do if we all try together. We just started, so it will take a while to get used to, however I am looking forward to managing and playing games and bonding with the elderly that is part of lion befrienders.

Video of activity:

IMG_5866

Mid session

After planning all of our activities it has made it easier for us in terms of organization and we also have more time at the center to create meaningful relationships for both us and the elderly.

LO1-Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

What previous experience have I had with an activity like this?

I had done the same service in grade 10 and it is different for me personally since I have a different role this year. Last year I was just part of the service and it was different since we would do the activities in groups, collect the equipment to use and lead the service for that session, we would then rotate but this year the co-chair and I decided it would be easier if we all planned the activities as a group since we would have to go to the center this year, I think it was more effective this way as we were all included in this activity.

What am I good at? What are my strengths?

I think I am good at deciding what is important for our service and what isn’t. If something needs to be done I will try my best to assign a person, or plan how to handle the situation. We are all organized and tried our best since what we are doing have real consequences on real people.

Final session

Due to COVID-19 we were unable to go to the center and see the elderly face to face however we were able to maintain contact through the organization by emailing them.

LO7-Recognise and consider the ethics implications of choices and actions

Was I ever in conflict with another person?

Obviously problems arise when working with others since we might not have the same thinking in this situation. There was a case when I wanted a group of people to write an email to the organization to maintain the contact, when I asked for it after one whole session they were still not done with it and had even written something that was not relevant in that situation. I tried to handle it by encouraging them to write it as it would be beneficial to both us and the organization. In the end they had written an email for me and I was able to then send it to the organization, however it should not have taken that long to write an email, but I think I handled it the best I could.

How did my moral principles affect the decisions I made?

I believe that the elderly in this organization deserve to have relationships with us and our school since they are usually left alone in Singapore with no one to care or be with them. This affected my behaviour as I tried to get more people to participate in the service, in order to really help the elderly.