CAS: plan, act and reflect honestly

Start with a real need

A need 需求 is something the people involved identify, not just what you assume they want. Before planning a reading activity for younger pupils, ask the responsible teacher which support would help and what permissions are required.

Discuss the plan with your CAS coordinator. Creativity 创意 develops ideas or creative work, activity 运动 involves physical effort that supports a healthy lifestyle, and service 服务 is a collaborative, reciprocal response to a real community need. A strand label alone does not show that an experience meets the applicable requirements.

Plan actions and responsibilities

A plan 计划 names the purpose, people, tasks, resources and risks. For a reading activity, agree who prepares materials, who leads each group and how the responsible adult supervises the session. Check access and consent before promising an activity.

A useful next step is observable: ask the partner teacher to approve the chosen texts before the first visit. “Help more” does not identify what you will do or how you will review it.

Use feedback to change an action

Feedback · ⁨反馈⁩ 反馈 describes how someone experienced your work. Suppose a pupil says your instructions were too fast. Record the comment fairly. Then explain why you will use one example and check understanding next time.

Reflection · ⁨反思⁩ 反思 connects an experience to learning. State a specific decision, its effect, a difficulty or changed assumption, and the next action. An honest account of a mistake can show more learning than a claim that everything went perfectly.

Keep evidence accurate and private

Evidence 证据 may include approved plans, your own drafts, supervisor comments and a record of later changes. Give credit to teammates. Avoid publishing names, images or sensitive details without the necessary permission.

A portfolio 学习档案 supports your discussion with the school coordinator. Time spent, a website quiz or a fictional reflection cannot establish CAS completion. Your school checks the real experiences, project and learning outcomes under the applicable guide.

A sustained project: plan, review and demonstrate learning

A garden needs more than an opening day

• A group wants to create an accessible herb garden with a community partner. A single planting visit may be useful, but who will check access, care for plants and learn from later feedback?
• A sequence 连续过程 connects preparation, action and later review. Discuss the partner’s actual need before deciding that a garden is the right response.

Plan collaboration and continuity

• Agree responsibilities, approved access, materials and follow-up with the partner and the school’s responsible adult. Include maintenance and a realistic response if a team member cannot attend.
• A milestone 阶段目标 marks a useful review point, such as an approved design, a first planting and a partner review of access. Dates support the plan but do not establish learning by themselves.

Consider the consequences of each choice

• Check permission for the space, tools and participation through the school’s process. Ask the partner how path width, reach and maintenance affect who can use the garden.
• An ethical choice 伦理选择 considers effects on other people and the environment. Good intentions do not justify changing access arrangements without agreement or sharing participant images without permission.

Use feedback to revise action

• At a review, the partner reports that one path is too narrow for its users. Record the feedback, agree an approved design change and review whether that change improves access.
• Explain your actual contribution and the challenge you faced. A shared group product does not automatically show what every member did or learned.

Demonstrate learning in the school process

• Keep agreed plans, actual decisions, partner feedback and reflections on significant moments. Select evidence that explains learning, rather than uploading many photographs with no account of their meaning.
• The acquired CAS brief describes a collaborative project lasting at least one month within a regular programme of at least 18 months. Confirm the school’s current handbook and requirements. This fictional plan cannot complete CAS or prove that every learning outcome has been achieved.

Show your contribution and learning with evidence

A shared result hides different contributions

• A fictional pupil team makes a library map. Mei drafts the legend, Arun checks the room labels, and Jo tests a draft with the librarian. A photograph shows all three holding the finished map. Does it establish who did each task?
• A contribution 贡献 is the part a person actually played. The finished map shows a shared result; an individual account needs a specific action and appropriate evidence. This classroom case is not a completed CAS experience.

Show the decision in your work

• Mei's first draft uses three similar symbols. After the librarian reports confusion, Mei revises the legend with distinct symbols and labels. The two dated drafts make the change visible.
• A decision record 决策记录 explains why the change was made and what Mei did. Credit Jo for seeking the feedback and Arun for checking the labels. Mei cannot claim those tasks as her own.

Match evidence to the learning claim

• Mei says she learned to make instructions easier to follow. Her reflection should identify the initial difficulty, the feedback, her revision and what a later check showed. A draft change alone does not establish its effect on readers.
• Corroboration 佐证 can support a specific account through another person's relevant observation. A librarian's note about Mei explaining the new legend may support that action; it does not certify every learning outcome.

Report mixed results honestly

• In the next approved trial, two readers identify the study rooms correctly, but one still confuses the lift and stairs symbols. The revision helped some readers while an important problem remained.
• An evaluation 评价 explains what the evidence changes in your judgement. Propose a relevant revision and another agreed check instead of claiming that the map now works for everyone.

Keep evidence accurate and private

• A portfolio 学习档案 holds selected records of actual work and learning. Follow the school's approved process for drafts, feedback and permissions; avoid collecting or publishing unnecessary personal details.
• Only real approved action can support a record of an experience. Keep this invented case labelled practice. The school reviews authentic evidence and programme requirements; a quiz cannot confirm CAS completion.

Ethical choices when a partner changes the plan

The activity can continue without the film

• A fictional team prepares a craft workshop with a community centre. The centre initially agrees to a short demonstration film. Before the session, it asks the team not to record participants. One pupil says the film is needed for a strong portfolio.
• The workshop purpose is helping participants try the craft. The film is one proposed record, not the purpose itself. Reconsider the record with the partner and school before continuing; this case describes a classroom proposal, not an approved CAS experience.

Check what was actually agreed

• Permission scope 授权范围 describes the action and use that were agreed. Permission to film a demonstration does not automatically cover filming participants or posting the film publicly. Check the approved plan instead of assuming that all uses are included.
• The centre's new request changes the planned recording. Tell the responsible adult and coordinator, pause that part of the plan, and agree what remains appropriate. Do not pressure the partner to accept recording for the pupil's convenience.

Preserve a meaningful choice

• Participant choice 参与者选择 means people can express a preference about taking part. A workshop visitor should not have to appear in a pupil's record simply to access the activity. Follow the centre's and school's approved participation process.
• Ask the partner how people can join, pause or choose another approved task without being singled out. A polite invitation can still create pressure if refusing it has an unfair consequence. Consider the situation from the participant's position.

Compare alternatives by their effects

• The team proposes two alternatives: photograph only its own prepared materials before the session, or write an account of the instruction changes afterwards. Discuss whether these can support the learning claim without recording participants.
• A trade-off 权衡 is a choice between effects that cannot all be maximized at once. A film may show a demonstration clearly, but that does not override the recording restriction. Compare relevance, access, privacy and partner agreement, then obtain the required school approval.

Keep only evidence you need

• Data minimization 数据最小化 means choosing evidence that uses no more personal information than its purpose needs. Draft instructions, the pupil's materials and an approved supervisor account may support particular actions without naming visitors.
• A name-free image can still identify someone through a face, voice or setting. Check the proposed evidence with the responsible adult. The class must not collect real participant data to complete this fictional exercise.

Act on a change instead of hiding it

• A revised agreement 修订后的约定 records what changed, who must approve it and what the team will now do. Give each pupil a clear task: update instructions, prepare materials or check the agreed recording boundary with the adult.
• If recording already occurred contrary to the new plan, stop using or sharing it and tell the responsible adult. Follow the school's approved handling process; do not invent a deletion policy, secretly keep a copy or claim the issue never happened.

Reflect on the reason for your decision

• An ethical judgement 伦理判断 explains whose interests are affected and why one action is more appropriate. “We did not make the film” describes an action. Explain the partner's request, the pressure a participant might face, the alternative chosen and its limits.
• Credit teammates' separate roles. If the workshop has not taken place, write that the revised plan is still a proposal. A good explanation does not turn planned action into evidence that participants benefited.

Review with the people involved

• After an actual approved session, the partner may provide appropriate feedback on whether the instructions helped. Report mixed results and agree a useful next step. Evidence about one session does not establish benefit for every future participant.
• The school decides how authentic experiences and evidence support its CAS programme requirements. Online practice can develop planning and reflection; it cannot approve an experience, certify a learning outcome or replace the coordinator's review.