I was a part of the community service sessions that were held in my school. I taught underprivileged children arts and crafts. We taught them how to make photo frames, paper bags, wall hangings, etc from using paper and other resources. These sessions were held for 6 weekends and it gave an insight on teaching. 

Taking this up as my CAS experience (creativity and service) gave me an opportunity to use my skills effectively and to work on my weaknesses like language barrier. I achieved LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, and LO5 throughout this activity. 

LO1 

This CAS experience helped me discover my strengths and weaknesses. During the sessions, I was able to teach the students effectively because I am good at art and craft and doing these service sessions helped me improve my skills and also teach other people about it. I also discovered that I was good at managing time because the sessions were time-bound and we had to complete the task in that given time only. So I was able to think of creative ideas and execute them in the given time. However, I faced a problem that was the language barrier. Most of the students spoke Gujarati and they weren’t acquainted with Hindi or English, and I am not a fluent Gujarati speaker. That created a problem in the delivery of the content but with the help of other group members, we were able to conduct a smooth session. 

LO2

As mentioned above the language barrier was a problem and I was able to identify it at the beginning of the service sessions, so I tried to speak fluent Gujarati by conversing with my friends in Gujarati. And towards the end of these sessions, I was better at speaking Gujarati than I was when it first started. 

LO3 

We were given instructions about what to teach on the day of the session and we had to plan the entire activity on the spot. The planning had to be quick and efficient or else we wouldn’t have had enough time to teach the kids. During this, I realised that I was able to think quick and come up with a plan and execute it successfully. 

LO4

These sessions were conducted in the morning, and getting up early on Saturday and Sunday was a big task for me. But I was really committed and attended all the 12 sessions, this helped me develop the skill of committing to my work. 

LO5

The task was conducted in groups and each group was assigned with 10 students. Working in a group helped us generate more ideas quickly as we had to complete our work in a limited time period. Working in a group also helped me because managing 10 students got easier than it would have been alone. Moreover, we had few clashes of opinions while working but we sorted all of that by a healthy discussion.

Lastly, taking up this as my CAS experience gave me an opportunity to teach underprivileged children and share my skills with them. These sessions helped me improve my skills and overcome my weaknesses. 

Evidence –