CAS – Waterford Kamhlaba UWCSA

Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS)

CAS at Waterford Kamhlaba UWCSA brings together the UWC Mission, the Waterford Kamhlaba mission, the Cambridge International Education mission, and the International Baccalaureate learner profile.

It offers all students, from Form 1 to IB2, structured and transformative opportunities for personal growth and development. Through CAS, students build self-determination and self-awareness. They engage with local and global issues. They apply innovative problem-solving skills. They collaborate and exchange ideas with diverse people and communities within Waterford and across the Kingdom of Eswatini.

CAS provides students with an opportunity to take part in a range of experiences that involve:

responsible citizenry
real, purposeful activities, leading to leadership and personal development
positive challenge
planning, budgeting, project management, reflection and reporting
reflection on outcomes and personal learning

A distinguishing feature of Waterford Kamhlaba UWCSA is the devotion of our staff and

students to community service & outdoor learning through CAS as service is a

foundational principle of the school since 1963.

Lower Forms

The Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) programme in the lower forms is designed to immerse students in meaningful, age-appropriate learning experiences that focus on service, sustainability, environmental awareness, and conservation. Students are also introduced to the founding values of Waterford Kamhlaba and the broader United World Colleges (UWC) movement.

Through a carefully structured blend of experiential and theoretical learning, students develop a strong foundation in ethical reasoning, social responsibility, and active citizenship. These early experiences are essential in preparing them for deeper engagement in CAS as they move into the senior grades, including the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) CAS component.

By developing critical thinking skills, empathy, and a practical understanding of community engagement, the lower forms curriculum ensures that students are not only ready for the challenges of Nyatsela in Form 3 but are also well-prepared to undertake sustained, student-led initiatives during their IBDP years.

Students explore topics in bi-annual cycles, with each topic ending in group community projects with an identified partner organization working with children in Eswatini.

The Lower Forms CAS journey culminates in a formative trip during CAS Week in Term 3, which provides a real-world context for applying what they’ve learned in class.

These are the topics covered in the curriculum:

Introduction to Waterford Kamhlaba and the UWC Movement
Introduction to Service
Ethics in Service
Introduction to Justice
Introduction to Sustainability and the Environment
The Circular Economy

Senior Forms

Form 4

Students participate in full-day experiences every term. Each term others different activities indifferent parts of Eswatini, either in groups or as a whole class. Each of the activities provide opportunities for engaging deeply in creativity, activity and / or service.

Form 5

Students select a CAS Experience, and carry out activities during and / or outside the allocated time in their timetable. Students complete termly re’ections on their CAS experience and submit them on Toddle. Their CAS experience is also preparation for CAS in the IBDP.

IBDP

CAS is one of three core elements of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity Activity Service (CAS) and the Extended Essay (EE). The Core is considered to be the heart of the diploma program, driven by the IB’s mission “to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect”. It is outlined in the IB learner profile.

CAS complements the IB academic programme in a holistic way, providing opportunities for selfdetermination, collaboration, accomplishment and enjoyment, in the achievement of the IB learner profile.

CAS enables students to develop attributes of the IB learner profile in real and practical ways, to grow as unique individuals and to recognize their role in relation to others. Students develop skills, attitudes and dispositions through a variety of individual and group experiences that provide students with opportunities to explore their interests and express their passions, personalities and perspectives.

Some examples include:

Outdoor Education gives our students the chance to:

● Step beyond their comfort zones.

● Discover hidden strengths.

● Build friendships that last a lifetime.

● Reflect on themselves, others, and the world. At Waterford, Outdoor Education is not just about adventure. It is a transformative educational journey, one that shapes character, deepens learning, and creates memories that last a lifetime.

Brave Girl Camp

Brave Girl is a week-long empowerment camp for 50 female high school students in Eswatini, which is held on the Waterford Kamhlaba campus. During Brave Girl, campers engage in discussions surrounding girls empowerment, with a focus on education, career planning, financial literacy, as well sexual reproductive health (SRH), mental health and wellness, sports and the arts, developing sisterhood relationships, self defence and many others. The camp also includes a Work Experience Day, where the girls are attached to local businesses and organisations to learn about their careers of interest for the day. It culminates with a graduation ceremony with the girls, their families and schools.

MUN Conference

Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN is an extra-curricular activity in which students typically roleplay delegates to the United Nations and simulate UN committees. During their meeting sessions students who are members of the MUN club work with their student coordinator and the guidance of their teacher coordinators to prepare and plan for the WK MUN conference for schools in Eswatini and the region.

Annual Careers Fair

The Annual Careers Fair is a student-led Career Support Initiative (CSI) event and it is a
community service project, organised by IB2 students. The event brings together high school students from around eSwatini to get career information from a number of companies and organisations. It has grown in size over the years and now over 2000 high school students participate in the event, in which many companies come to exhibit.

24 Hour Run

The 24 Hour Run is one of the school’s charity events which takes place every second year. Everyone including students, alumni, staff and parents are invited to take part in this event, as long as they join a team. Participants complete laps around the field within a space of 24 hours, and each lap is sponsored. They then collect money from sponsors who agreed to sponsor their participation for each lap they completed. The money raised from the event is used to fund the school’s various community service projects

YWEC

The Waterford Kamhlaba UWCSA Young Women’s Empowerment Consortium (YWEC) is a student-led initiative launched in 2024 with the support of the Global Fund for Women. YWEC consolidates and catalyzes various activities in the Waterford Kamhlaba community, that are interested in the advancement of young women in Eswatini, towards justice in inclusivity, equity and impact. The beneficiaries for YWEC are women and girls from Eswatini who are change agents in their communities.

YWEC’s goals are encapsulated in our motto, “Beyond Limits, Beyond Labels”, emphasising our commitment to breaking down barriers and challenging stereotypes. The overall aim is to develop a network of powerful, influential young women across Eswatini.

With its holistic approach, CAS is designed to strengthen and extend students’ personal and interpersonal learning, through activities that are creative, active or promote serving your community. Successful completion of CAS is a requirement for the award of the IB Diploma. Students reflect on their CAS experiences and provide evidence in their CAS portfolios of achieving the seven learning outcomes, which are assessed by the CAS Coordinator for achievement of their IBDP requirements.

CAS Projects

A CAS project is a student designed and student led activity exploring SERVICE in depth in an area of interest of the members of the project, e.g. wellness, social justice, sustainability, art, media and others. CAS projects must be collaborative, enabling students to show initiative, demonstrate perseverance, and develop skills such as those of cooperation, problem-solving and decision-making. All IBDP students complete a CAS project in their first year of the program as a requirement for fulfilling IBDP completion.

CAS Co-Curricular Opportunities

Students are strongly encouraged in implementing projects outside of the CAS curriculum, especially through official and funded programs. Here are the programs WK currently participates in annually:

EARTH PRIZE

The Earth Prize is an annual, global environmental sustainability competition for students between the ages of 13 and 19, which rewards the team whose projects have the most potential to address environmental issues. The Earth Prize will recognize the students and schools with the best solutions to accelerate positive change towards environmental sustainability, as judged by The Earth Prize Adjudicating Panel.

Submissions to The Earth Prize are expected to propose solutions aimed at accelerating positive change towards environmental sustainability. The Earth Prize will consider a wide range of projects: local, national and global in scope; new ideas and existing student projects; in the form of organisations, enterprises and campaigns.

The winning team will receive a prize of $100,000, to be split in half between the team and their school: Fifty percent (50% or USD 50,000) of the prize will be awarded to the team’s school to be used in a project focusing on environmental sustainability, and fifty percent (50% or USD 50,000) as an educational scholarship grant to be split evenly amongst the team members. In addition, three runner-up schools will be awarded $25,000 each.

Submissions to The Earth Prize are expected to propose solutions called “Fresh Ideas” aimed at accelerating positive change towards environmental sustainability. The Earth Prize will consider a wide range of solutions: local, national as well as global ones; new ideas with implementation potential as well as existing student projects; products, organisations, enterprises, as well as campaigns.

YOUNG AURORA

Young Aurora’s mission is to encourage, support, and showcase student-driven projects which address humanitarian issues and offer solutions through innovative and sustainable approaches.

Young Aurora aims to encourage students to engage with humanitarian issues affecting their school community in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable way. Through a friendly and rigorous competition, Young Aurora recognises projects designed to have meaningful impact.

Three student project teams are nominated annually to present their projects to a panel of esteemed judges including entrepreneurs, philanthropists and world leaders. In previous years, this event has been held in Armenia, but since 2020 it has been held online as part of the Aurora Dialogues Online. The winning team is provided with a USD 4,000 grant to further their project’s development.

Projects must address a concrete humanitarian concern identified by the project team which is relevant to Waterford Kamhlaba’s geographic location in Eswatini, i.e. the concern must have an impact on the communities or environments in the geographical vicinity of the project team’s school. Examples of humanitarian concerns may include, the refugee crisis, child homelessness, human trafficking, women’s health, etc.

The activities or actions proposed as part of the project should address the identified humanitarian concern and propose concrete steps to reduce or eliminate it from the community in concern. Projects must be student-initiated and student-led. They might consist of a completely new project, or be part of an already existing initiative at Waterford Kamhlaba (such as a CAS activity), provided that the existing initiative is also student-led.

Each team submitting a project must consist of at least four students, some of whom must be IB students. Students in the forms are welcome to be part of the team. The team members who will present the project to the final jury (if chosen as a finalist team) must still be current students. Finally, each team must contain one staff member.

GLOBAL YOUTH ACTION FUND

The Global Youth Action Fund platform and grant seeks to identify and recognize motivated students between the ages of 12 and 19 who demonstrate the skills needed to become the socially conscious leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs the world needs today. The platform will support students to create, innovate or expand on an impactful project of their own design.

The Global Youth Action Fund seeks to award a grant of no more than USD 3,000 per project, for up to 150 student initiatives focusing on social impact and innovation. Each project must be aimed to support one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It will encourage projects that allow for additional students from their school community to take on leadership roles and demonstrate potential for the idea to continue to grow and make an impact in their community.

Finalists will become part of an annual peer-to-peer network of diverse students, receive a grant to support their project, and each finalist will be paired with a mentor from the IB community to offer guidance at key check- points throughout the grant cycle.

GO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The Go Make A Difference award programme, which is a UWCx initiative, was founded in 2001 by UWC alumna Jill Longson and her husband Colin Habgood, to help students live the UWC mission, by designing and implementing service projects that answer a real need and leave an enduring impact in the community. Go Make A Difference grants are $2,000 per project, and 20 students’ projects are selected. Over 200 projects have now been delivered over the last 22 years, by approximately 900 students who have made a difference to thousands of people

The competition is open to all students, however the projects must be led by either a current Form 5, IB 1 or IB 2 student
Projects can be implemented here in Eswatini or in a student’s home country
Projects can have a 1 – 4 team members
Projects must put the UWC mission into action, answering a real need of the recipients and leave an enduring benefit to the community they are serving
Projects must fit within the USD 2,000 budget

Here are examples of projects that have won funding in the past:
https://www.gomakeadifference.global/projects-awarded/case-studies/