When the House System was developed, one of the main goals was to make CAS more authentic and integrated into the whole School. The House System being a vertical alignment of students allows for service and other activities to be more sustainable and more inclusive at all ages. The overall goal was to find a way to get 100% of our student population involved in some kind of service and to introduce the concept of International Mindedness, something that the traditional EYFS programme did not address at all.

We wanted to explore ways that we could further promote and recognise what our current, student-led, service projects are doing, as well as, giving students a more authentic experience with service and other activities. We will encourage House Leaders to develop a “service theme” for each of the Houses to help build community spirit behind a common goal.

This ‘service theme’ approach is not developed to limit what students are already doing, but to add more avenues of experiences that will allow students to get more involved. It would also allow for a smaller community, within our larger community, to make a difference.

The aim this year is to continue to encourage more involvement in our current student-led service groups and to also develop the House themes by exploring opportunities for active participation.

The integration of service-related discussions during House meetings will help build awareness and promote further involvement throughout the year. We are also developing a ‘Service Wall' in the courtyard at the Olivia Tree to create a large visual of information about what we are doing as a school.

Ultimately, we want this programme  to grow organically with ideas inspired by the students and the community in general. We are currently exploring many ideas within the school and in our local community to support these themes.