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Experiential learning is an invaluable part of our teaching and learning programme. Our students learn skills that are needed in cross-cultural interactions, critical for success in the globalised world. Students at OSC enhance their experiential learning in multiple ways both in the classroom and beyond it. Experiential education encompasses service as learning in PYP and MYP, and CAS in the Diploma Programme. It also includes the different learning experiences beyond the classroom. The Secondary School’s Experience Sri Lanka! Week Without Walls is a key part of this. Individual classes conduct field studies and field work in our neighbourhood and nearby Sri Lankan ecosystems. Highlights include long-term socio-economic surveys near the Sinharaja rainforest, urban wetland system studies in Diyasaru Park, tourism studies in Galle Fort and energy studies in the Central Highlands. These all contribute to a holistic approach to education and help fulfil the School’s mission and vision.
The Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) component is a vital part of the educational experience for all DP 1 and 2 students at OSC. Our School recognises, as stated in the mission statement, that education neither begins nor ends in the classroom or the examination hall. In fact, the essential aspects of education may exist outside both. An international education must go well beyond the provision of information and is inevitably involved in the development of attitudes and values which transcend barriers of race, class, religion, gender, and politics. As per the IB design, CAS encompasses a broad range of extracurricular activities including SAISA sports, creative pursuits, activities like COMUN and service to the community.
The defining aspect of OSC’s CAS programme is the use of blogs to channel student reflections. These are public spaces that DP students maintain to keep a running record of their goals and learning in the CAS programme. A look through OSC’s blogs from this year illustrates the diversity and wealth of experiential learning of our DP students. All students blogs going back to the Class of 2012 can be accessed on the School’s website.
DP students structure their CAS experience around seven learning outcomes that have been stipulated by the IB. These are broad ideas that help students focus their learning in the CAS programme and help guide them in effective goal setting, action and reflection.
OSC has a unique and innovative approach to student reflection in the CAS programme. Students use online blogs as a reflective space while managing their activities and feedback through ManageBac. The reflective spaces are open to the community and offer a kaleidoscope of different styles and approaches to reflecting about the key aspects of the CAS programme. There are images, videos, written reflections and links to other sites. An effective CAS blog can provide important evidence of Extra-Curricular engagement that is useful for university applications.
The annual Experience Sri Lanka! Week Without Walls programme was successfully held in January 2024. In the 2023/24 school year, teachers, support staff, and the administration all worked hard to put on an exciting, learning-based programme that was appreciated by students and their parents. As has been the case in past WWW learning experiences, the success of this year’s WWW programme was the product of effective organisation, planning and excellent teamwork on the part of teachers and administration. The Programme is divided into the large group WWW experience (for MYP1-4) and smaller size groups where there is an element of choice (for MYP5 & DP1). Students visited historical sites in Kandy and Galle, cycled in the Cultural Triangle, rafted on the Kelani River, hiked several of the Pekoe Trails, and much more. This year the Jaffna group took groundbreaking visits to Delft and Mannar Islands.
Community service and service-learning have a special place in OSC’s philosophy of education. At OSC, students are encouraged to develop a positive and active approach towards service. In the Secondary School specific programmes are offered to students which emphasise an awareness, concern and responsibility for service in the community. Some of these happen on a weekly basis (Thursday afternoons) after school while others are part of the “Week Without Walls” programme (scheduled at the beginning of the 2nd semester). OSC has been working with several local charities and programmes and has an excellent relationship with these community outreach programmes. DP students are also expected to take on leadership roles and are encouraged to initiate activities of their own. In the past students have organised and led medical clinics in the north of the country, played a key role in planning Thursday service work, established recycling programmes in their neighbourhoods and much more.
