In the Spotlight

Year 11 Visual Arts

This term, Year 11 Visual Arts students have delved deeply into a number of dynamic units of study including ‘Portraiture’ and ‘Surface and Texture’, each offering students the chance to explore personal expression, technique, and storytelling through their art-making practice. 

Two exciting excursions and many studio hours have seen the students grow deeply in their understanding of the Stage 6 Visual Arts course.

In the Portraiture unit, students investigated how artists across time have captured identity, emotion, and narrative. Inspired by historical and contemporary artists such as Marikit Santiago, students experimented with drawing, painting, and mixed media techniques to develop portraits that reflected their subjects’ personalities. 

Through their artworks, students explored how portraiture can express inner thoughts, and human connection. Attending an exhibition and portraiture workshop by Contemporary Sydney Artist, Marikit Santiago was an excellent source of inspiration as students explored a case study about Santiago and her work as well as understanding the role of a curator in exhibiting the work of an artist.

“The day helped me understand the postmodern frame much better and gave us useful information for our HSC exam straight from the source” - Jackson

 

“This excursion was an enriching experience! I loved actually making art and having Marikit there to help. She is awesome! “- Evy.

In the Surface and Texture unit, students moved beyond traditional flat surfaces to create works that engage the senses and challenge perceptions of abstraction. Drawing inspiration from artists like Jackson Pollock, Emily Kam Kngwarreye, and Louise Bourgeois, students explored tactile and experimental approaches such as collograph printmaking, mixed media, ceramics, photo transfer, alcohol ink, and textural layering. This hands-on unit encouraged students to take creative risks, push boundaries, and discover how surface and texture can become powerful elements in storytelling.

An excursion to the Art Gallery of New South Wales enabled students to view the Art Express exhibition, which showcases exemplary HSC artworks. Seeing the works up close allowed the students to appreciate the detail and technical strength of each artwork.

Throughout the term, students demonstrated growing confidence in their ideas and artistic processes. Class discussions, artist case studies, excursions and critical reflections helped students make meaningful connections between their own work and the practices of established artists.

Both units have not only extended students' technical skills but have also deepened their understanding of how visual language can communicate complex ideas, emotions, and perspectives. The artworks produced are a testament to the creativity, thoughtfulness, and individuality of the students.

We look forward to seeing more exciting work as these talented young artists continue their creative journey throughout the Preliminary course and as they prepare for their upcoming HSC Visual Arts course.

Performance Galore in Music at NCS!

Senior music students showcase their efforts in performing during week 10 after a long term of practise and rehearsals in the Preliminary course. 

Each student will perform three songs which represent the topics we have studied through the course: Australian Music; Music of a Culture; Music for Film, Television, Radio and Multimedia. All of the senior music students have worked really well and should be very proud of the progress they have made with their performances. The HSC course will start in term 2 which will bring many more performance opportunities for these students.

Stage 5 Music has recently wrapped up a collection of performance in which they created theatre songs based on a stimulus that was given to them. Students were split into 3 random groups, given a context for their song, and given a type of song to compose. Each song worked to provide more material for an overall storyline. Could this be adapted into a future NCS musical? With the talent that we possess at NCS, anything is possible!

Everyone did really well to work together and deliver some great songs to showcase their understanding of theatre music. It was also lovely to share this experience with Mr Harrison who improvised a number of songs himself in order to fill in the gaps between the songs.

Year 8 has been working on preparing keyboard performances to finish off the term. Many students opted to choose their own songs for these performances which has resulted in some fantastic efforts in preparing them. Some notable song mentions include ‘Someone You Loved’, ‘Clocks’, and a little bit of nostalgia with the ‘Bluey Theme Song’Year 7 has been playing guitars for the last couple of weeks, learning the song ‘Warning’ by Green Day. Students have learned to play the A, D and G chords, while also learning how to read guitar Tab notation. 

They have also been exploring Aboriginal music culture and understanding many of the musical features that make this music so unique. Some of the aspects learned in this unit have been, understanding the relevance of song lines, learning the techniques involved to play the didgeridoo, seeing how bands have incorporated Aboriginal features into their music.

In other news, four enthusiastic students have recently entered in an Australia-wide band competition which could see them take home a share of $25,000 worth of music gear and some nice extras for the school too. Taj, Ashkan, Perry and Jono worked really well to prepare a fantastic performance of Viva La Vida. We wish the boys the best of luck and hopefully they get through to the finals of the competition. 

See it here