As you may be aware, the IB organisation places a heavy emphasis on the holistic education of a student. At first consideration, the IB learner attribute; caring can be taken as something someone has or doesn't have. But is this true? Is it possible to develop someone's ability to care?

The IB certainly believes so. The IB defines this attribute as ‘someone who shows empathy, compassion and respect', and, to ensure students are given the opportunity to develop this attribute the IB places significant stress on the Service part of the CORE in both the IBCP and IBDP. When completing their Service, students work together to make a positive impact on another's life, in any appropriate way they want. Whilst providing a service to someone is no doubt a worthy endeavour, it would seem a somewhat hollow aspect of the curriculum unless students were cognisant of why they were asked to complete this Service.

In recent years the IB has focused less on students completing a defined number of hours of Service but instead on the quality of reflections and the learning and empathy students show through the completion of their service. Every year our students undertake a range of ambitious, meaningful and heart-warming service activities, changing not just the lives of others but also their own outlook on the world around them.  One of this year's IBCP graduates, Hadil Mohamed, reflected on this,  “It feels good to go out and help the community and the school.” She volunteered at a local day centre for people with dementia for her Service Learning. She recalls, “The first time I went it was nerve-wracking, but once we had gone a few times it was really nice. The people spoke to us about their lives. They are a different age group to us so we learned from them and we did activities together.” We look forward to hearing examples of how caring WA students can be this year.

Mr James, IB Coordinator