In creative arts, students discover a variety of art forms through a study of dance, drama, music and visual arts.
Studying the creative arts, students learn to appreciate, compose, listen, make and perform. Each art form has its own unique knowledge and skills, elements or concepts as well as a capacity to inspire and enrich lives.
Students must study 100 hours of both music and visual arts during Years 7 to 10. They also have an opportunity to further develop their knowledge and skills in other art forms through elective subjects including drama, dance, photography and visual design. Students can then select from a range of courses in Years 11 to 12.
Visual Arts
Visual Arts has a strong focus in preparing students with the creative skills required for the 21st century. Through both artmaking and critical and historical studies, students are encouraged to develop skills in critical thinking and creative solution making.
The Creativity Framework supports students in exercising their imaginations, being inquisitive, practicing persistence, developing collaboration skills and acquiring discipline in refining their skills.
The Visual Arts faculty offers elective subjects including Photography and Digital Media, Ceramics and Visual Design. Art practice is fostered through developing skills in drawing, painting, graphics, installation art, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, digital media, cartoon and animation, photography, video production and jewellery making.
Music
All students should have the opportunity to develop their musical abilities and potential. As an art form, music pervades society and occupies a significant place in world cultures and in the oral and recorded history of all civilisations. The study of music combines the development of the following domains: affective; cognitive and psychomotor.
While students will develop knowledge and skills in each of the individual areas of performing, composing and listening, the integration of experiences in these areas enhances the understanding and manipulation of the concepts of music in differing musical contexts.
Stage 4-5 Music
The purpose of the Years 7–10 syllabus is to provide students with the opportunity to build on the knowledge, understanding, skills, values and attitudes gained in Stage 3 and encourage the desire to continue learning in formal and informal musical settings beyond Stage 5. Music in Years 7–10 provides students with opportunities to extend their musical knowledge and the Music Elective course will serve as a pathway for further formal study in Music 2 in Stage 6. The curriculum structure is adaptable enough to meet the needs and abilities of students whose interests range from the broadly based to the pursuit of specialised musical knowledge and skills.
Music Stage 6
Music 1
The purpose of Music 1 is to provide students with the opportunity to acquire knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes within a broad musical context and encourage the desire to continue learning in formal and informal music settings after school. The course provides students with opportunities to engage in a range of musical styles, including contemporary popular music, and for many, it will serve as a pathway for further training and employment in the music industry or in contemporary music fields.
Music 1 provides an alternative course of study to Music 2 and the curriculum structure is adaptable enough to meet the needs and interests of students with varying degrees of prior formal and informal learning in music. It accommodates the widely differing needs and abilities of students, ranging from the broadly based to the desire to specialise, by allowing flexibility in the topic choice and areas of study. Students may enter the course from the Mandatory course as well as from the Elective course.
Music 2
The purpose of Music 2 is to provide students with the opportunity to build on the knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes gained in Music 7-10 and encourage the desire to continue learning in formal and informal music settings after school. The course provides students with opportunities to extend their musical knowledge with a focus on Western art music and it will serve as a pathway for further formal study in tertiary institutions or in fields that use their musical knowledge.
The curriculum structure is adaptable enough to meet the needs and abilities of students with a range of interests, extending from the broadly based to the desire to pursue and develop more specialised knowledge and skills. Most students will enter the course from the Elective course.
Music Extension
Students with an extended history of formal music involvement frequently reach a high level of musical sophistication and desire to specialise in their senior school years. The purpose of the Extension course is to expand studies undertaken in Music 2 and is designed to focus the continuing development and refinement of student’s advanced music knowledge and skills towards independent musicianship.
The Extension course offers a high degree of specialisation in Performance, Composition or Musicology in which each student follows an individual program of study. It provides an opportunity for musically and academically talented students to undertake a rigorous music study commensurate with their academic and musical sophistication.
Drama
In Drama, students communicate in complex and powerful ways how they perceive the world. Drama reflects the external world and the inner world of thoughts and feelings through fictional contexts. Learning experiences in Drama are provided which involve the intellect, emotions, imagination and body, and engage the whole person. Self-confidence, motivation and self-esteem are developed through the devising, workshopping, rehearsing and performing of individual and collaborative works.
Drama is offered in Stage 5 as an elective, the course is divided into course A and course B. Each 100-hour course provides students with both experiential and theoretical knowledge of the elements of drama and dramatic forms. It is strongly recommended that students who wish to continue with Drama in Stage 6 undertake both courses.
Units of work are explored through expression, observation and reflection. Topics include: play building, scripted and unscripted material across a variety of playforms, research tasks and promotional design. At the end of the course/year the students put on a performance, learning about elements of production and engaging with directorial skills.