CAS

For project week, my group initially decided to go and do a hiking trip in Vietnam, however, this plan needed to change due to other groups also wanting to use the same provider. As a result, we decided to plan a biking trip in Cambodia which while not our first option, was still something that focused on the activity aspect of CAS which is what we wanted to do. Although we were not able to visit due to the pandemic, there were still a lot of benefits to me and our group as a whole during the planning stage of the trip.

The most important aspect of the planning stage was determining our roles within the group, and who would be responsible for what. This was especially significant for our group since we were a group of 6 and we had to ensure that multiple people weren’t working in the same area for no reason. By doing this we were able to distribute the tasks amongst us, thereby allowing each of us to have input into designing the ideal trip for our group. Another major part of the planning stage was communication, not only between us as group members, but also the provider we had chosen to organise the cycling trip with, in Cambodia. There were constantly emails exchanged to and from the provider so that all the details of our trip could be planned out, and that the trip would fit into the budget that was set for us. Lastly, organisation was a significant skill that was developed through the planning process. As a group, we had to have all our materials in one place so that our supervisor could easily access it as well as us being able to send relevant parts to the provider. Additionally, we also had to plan out and consider what we would do should something go wrong on the trip and this required us to create a document outlining where the nearest hospital was and other safety measures such as that. This entire process of coming up with a detailed plan was quite challenging but was definitely worth the effort and time as it helped develop many different planning skills, even though we weren’t able to go in the end.

#CAS

After having now been part of this service for a few months and having had a numerous amount of lesson with the children from 4PM I have had a lot of opportunities to learn about how to plan and structure certain kinds of activities, however, I have also become more aware of keeping in mind limitations to what can be done. As we were working with children, in order to do certain activities we had planned such as taking them to the school playground, we had to ask for permission from their parents to ensure that this would be allowed. As some parents weren’t comfortable with these types of activities we had to decide to change the plan that we had for certain lessons because of it, as parental permission always came as the highest priority in this case. Additionally, for certain activities we had planned, often ones that included running, we had to keep in mind the safety of the children as in these scenarios it would have been quite easy for them the trip over and fall, or knock into something, causing potential injury to themselves and the other kids. We had to make sure to avoid this happening at all when carrying out the activities we had planned, especially since the running games are what they seemed to enjoy most.

Other than learning from taking part in and doing the direct service, recently we have been focusing a lot more on the indirect, raising awareness type service as we can no longer do direct service with 4PM due to restrictions from covid-19. As a result of this, I have learnt a lot more about the issue of income inequality and the potential impacts it can have on not only young children but also on various other groups of people. In doing research and talking with other service groups who work with people facing similar circumstances our group created a presentation outline the significance of income inequality mainly in Singapore, however keeping in mind potential global impact. While the issue itself is much broader and will take a much longer time to fix, organisations such as 4PM that provide education for children with fewer opportunities, and the actions we take in this service can slightly improve the lives of some people which while not large scale can still be impactful for them.

#LO6 #LO7

#CAS

Having been a part of a marimba ensemble for multiples years now, I think that what most motivates me to keep doing it is the performances and concerts that take place in which we perform. Since we put in quite a lot of practice and effort into the pieces we learnt, having a performance feels like a sense of completion in which we are able to show a full audience of people what we have done and learnt in the form of a piece of music. Another thing which motivates me to keep pursuing this activity is the fact that I enjoy the pieces that we play and the rhythms and melodies that come out of this type of music, especially since African marimbas aren’t usually common instruments that are heard. I think that my commitment to the activity showing up to every rehearsal and continuously practising every week, along with all the other members, has resulted in us being successful in performing our pieces. Within high school music concerts, we are able to perform well and coherently due to the practice that we have put in and the time spent trying to bring the pieces together as a whole, and without this, we would not be able to perform at the level we have.

#LO4

#CAS

Throughout this year I have continued to play tennis multiple times a week, and now alongside my technique and skill training for match play, have also started training my stamina more. This has been slightly more difficult than just practising the skills needed to make shots, as it takes a much longer time to improve endurance than compared with the way in which I strike or place the ball on the court. It generally involved a lot of running, as within matches I am required to continuously run for shots over a long period of time. I think that continuously doing this in line with my regular tennis training was quite challenging as especially once fitness training started it took a lot more effort and energy from me than I realised. As a result, although it was quite challenging, I have had to practice this consistently, so that over time I could start to improve in this area of my game. Even though I am generally able to be consistent over the course of a match, by training my endurance I have been able to improve the consistency and quality of my shots as I have more energy due to training this way.

Other than this aspect, another area I have been working on recently is doubles gameplay. This is because I am most used to playing singles matches and that is the type of match I have the most practice in, however, sometimes within tournaments I need to play doubles and this requires a lot more communication and strategy than singles. In focusing on doubles I have to collaborate and communicate well with my teammate so we both know what we are planning the structure of the point to be, as well as when each of us will take a shot and where we intend to place it. In practising this, a lot of the time there was a miscommunication between me and the person I was playing with, which resulted in losing more points than we should have. However, in playing doubles over a period of time, it got easier to communicate and understand how my partner would play a shot, resulting in us playing a better game overall.

#LO2 #LO5

#CAS

After doing the marimba music ensemble for a while in grade 11, we have learnt a few pieces which we have ready and able to perform. As a result, we have spent a little bit of time in some lessons in smaller groups planning out potential solos or extra improvised parts to fit into pieces that we have learnt. This took some time as we had to come up with music that fit into the key and style of what we were playing before we would transition into this type of section. This planning required us to work as a group to make sure that something we came up with would fit into the flow of the piece and would feel natural with disrupting the music too much. Additionally, we had to ensure that each person was comfortable playing their part and knew how they fit together within the improvised type section as well as the piece as a whole. Once we had come up with something, we tested it out within the context of the piece to see how well it fit into it and how it could be changed and improved. This usually included simplifying some parts, keeping up the tempo of the new part with what we already knew, and ensuring that the key we were playing in was completely in line with the rest of the section so that it didn’t sound too out of place. After a few attempts and changing our ideas slightly, we eventually reached a point where what we had come up with seemed to work well with the music and each person was confident in the part they had to play.

#LO3

#CAS

Before we started to actually work with our service partner 4PM, we had a few weeks to plan out the activities we are going to run, and structure them according to the topics that the teachers at 4PM have advised us to do. This planning stage has been very important as without it, the sessions that we have with the children will be very chaotic, and won’t really have an easy to understand structure that is needed when working with young children. As a result within these weeks, my group and I used the time to plan out activities such as bullrush, colouring and musical chairs and find ways to relate them to the topics that 4PM was teaching, such as reduce, reuse, recycle. While coming up with ideas for games kids might like was relatively easy, finding creative ways to relate them back to the topics the 4PM teachers wanted us to, was slightly more difficult. This resulted in us having to plan out the activities much more specifically to what the service partner needed such as designing a colouring sheet with items that could be recycled and then asking the children to place each item into a certain type of recycling bin.

Having done the planning, we have started to have a few sessions with the children and as a result, have been able to see the outcome of some of our plans. The first few lessons that we had, we were able to see that some of the activities that we had planned may have been slightly too difficult for the kids to really understand what we were trying to teach them about. Additionally, we hadn’t really expected how challenging it would be to keep control of them and convey the meaning of our activities across to them. As a result, we had to go back to our plans and change them to take into account the fact that certain activities we had planned might have been too complex. We also had to come up with strategies to keep the attention of the children while simultaneously making sure that they were still entertained by the prepared games. As a result, I was able to build my planning skills as well as identify ways in which certain aspects could be changed or improved. In doing so we were able to see that the children were much happier with the activities we had planned after the first 2 or 3 weeks as we were able to change our initial ideas.

#LO2 #LO3

#CAS

For the activity part of CAS, I have been playing tennis in an academy outside of school. I have been playing tennis for quite a long time, and before it was a requirement for CAS. Being a sport, tennis requires technique and skill, but also stamina and commitment. As a result of this, I play tennis at least twice a week to keep practicing my technique and improving it, as well to improve my fitness so that it becomes easier for me as my stamina improves.

As I want to improve and get better at the sport, I have been motivated to keep practicing every week. The only way to improve in an area like this is by practicing, so I have been motivated to stay committed to it so that I can see myself improve in all areas of the game. Because of this commitment, I can see that I am getting more consistent and powerful with my shots, which is a result of practice. As well as this, I am able to focus more on things such as placement of the ball on the court, as I no longer of to think about things such as the technique of my strokes.

Going forward I think that it is important for me to stay committed to the sport I have chosen and like, so that I can improve further in both the way I play the game and my own physical fitness. This is very important because personally I find sport to be the thing that motivates me to exercise. I find things like just running on a treadmill to be quite boring, whereas in playing tennis you are keeping fit but also learning how to play sport that also has an element of competition.

#LO4

#CAS