CAPA Faculty

A Focus on HSC

Term 2 marks a significant time for our HSC students. Each of the Category A Course of Music 1, Drama and Visual Art are working heavily on their Major Works that are submitted from around August onwards in Term 3. It can be a challenging and stressful time for students in these courses and working consistently and daily on these works is critical in their success. 

Visual Art students work on a range of individual media types in the development of their Body of Work including Drawing, Painting, Photography, Graphic Design and Media and Sculpture to mention just a few. Students plot their progress through reflective diary entries that support their work both during the development and final assessment of their work. Teacher feedback is critical during this time as NESA will rely heavily upon school assessment and certification of the students' work. 

Drama have a similar structure in regards to diary reflections and certification but work between Individual Projects on Set or Costume Design through to Individual Monologues and Group Performances. The group performance dynamic is a particular focus for students this term as deep refinement of expression and meaning, not always relying on spoken word, is difficult to achieve without teamwork and constant refinement.

Music 1 students are busy building their HSC Program that often centres around performances that reflect different stylistic and expressive needs. Students also have an opportunity to build a HSC program that reflects their different strengths by working with Composition or Musicology Viva Voce’s. Each assessment builds upon the skills and knowledge in the development of their Core and Elective HSC Program with the Trial HSC next term providing students with a ‘dry run’ for their main performance in September. 

All of these areas will have their HSC Programs and Works marked by experienced HSC Markers that travel the state during August and September. This can be an exciting, if not a little stressful, for the students as each class has developed a strong relationship with their teacher who know them and their skills well. HSC Markers will get to see the students at the ‘pointy end’ of all this work. While luck is involved in some way, it is most definitely a moment that will result in a lot of hard work.

Onward to the HSC!! 

There are still lots happening elsewhere in CAPA, OnTrack has come and gone very successfully again and the Performing Arts Night next term during Education Week (Week 3) are rapidly approaching. Keep an eye on the CAPA and School Facebook page for updates.

Jarrod Walters

Head Teacher CAPA