Creative and Performing Arts

Term 3 is shaping up to be an exciting and eventful time for our CAPA students, who will have several opportunities to showcase their talents. The season of performances begin in Week 2 with Drama Night on Tuesday 30 July, where audiences were treated to a vibrant mix of group and solo performances from Year 12 and Year 7 Drama students and entertaining films from Year 9 Drama. In Week 7 we celebrate the CAPA HSC Showcase and Art Exhibition, followed by the Community Concert in Week 10. CAPA staff and music directors are working tirelessly with our students to prepare for these events, and we look forward to welcoming you to share in their achievements.

Drama Night

An outstanding term of Drama! In week 2 students attended DRAMA NIGHT 2025. This was an amazing evening of performances that was enjoyed by all. If you missed it there are some brilliant pictures of the evening attached. A huge thank you to all the staff and students who put in many hours outside of class for countless rehearsals.

Year 12 completed their trial exam and performances, congratulations to these students who put in an enormous amount of extra rehearsals in the days leading up to their performances. It was another great afternoon of very talented performance.

Good luck to year 12 who are presenting their final HSC performances on the 27th and 28th of August. Break a leg! Mr Taplin & Ms Low

Tis the season for excursions!

Year 10 Visual Arts and 10 PDM go rogue in the city

On Tuesday 12th of August, Year 10 Visual Art and Photographic & Digital media students went on a whirlwind tour of the Sydney CBD as part of their landscapes and Modernism units of work. The focus of this excursion was to expose our students to a wide variety of different settings and environments that they could draw inspiration from, while also exploring the cultural and historical aspects of the city's architecture and landmarks. Thankfully we were also blessed with excellent weather!

Students were able to visit the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Darling Harbour, Martin Place, Customs House in Circular Quay, and Barangaroo. In Visual Art, the students will use reference photos taken on this walking tour to explore landscapes, both natural and urban in their next practical works. Meanwhile in Photographic & Digital Media, students will use these photos to make portfolios based on Modernist artists such as Max Dupain.

Ms Low & Ms Chang

The photos below are a sneak peak of the Photographic & Digital Media portfolios.

First Photo: Troy G, Lucas B, Andy L, Peter G

Second Photo: Jayden C, Seif M, Edward C

Bottom Photo: Jack J, Wesley S, Aiden O, Isaac W

Year 9 Visual Design and 9 PDM soak up Cockatoo Island

On Thursday 14 August, Year 9 Visual Design and Photographic & Digital Media students visited as part of their preparation for the upcoming topic. The focus of this unit is on interpreting industrial themes in a contemporary context. During the excursion, students gathered drawings and reference photographs to support their practical work. In Visual Design, students will use this material to explore, while in Photographic & Digital Media, students will create a, transforming historical architecture into abstract forms.

Despite the rain, students found plenty of inspiration in the many forms, textures and colours of Cockatoo Island.

Ms Chang

Photographer of the month

Photographer of the Month saw an excellent array of entries for the last theme, "The City, across both June and July. It was an extremely tough contest, however, there were two clear winners. It's also fitting that both are current Year 9 Photographic & Digital Media students! Congratulations to both Enoch and Riian!

Ms Low.

Remember that if you're interested in submitting an entry for Photographer ofthe Month, listen out for announcements at Assembly and keep an eye onthe Sentral Daily Notices. The competition is open to ALL students andphotos can be taken using any kind of camera (digital, phone, film, etc.)

Top: Enoch Iek Bottom: Riian Z

“Art Off” competition

Artoff is an in-school art competition run by Ms Tillstrand during the school holidays. The theme was Pirates, which art club members voted on. Students were to submit an A3-sized artwork in a Medium of their choice, and the winners would receive a prize. The first and second prizes were awarded to two new Art club members from Year 7: Curtis, who took first place, and Joshua, who took second place.

Around the art rooms!

Year 8 Visual Arts go steampunk!

Year 8 Visual Arts students recently took on the exciting challenge of designing and constructing steampunk-inspired sculptures using only recycled materials. Drawing inspiration from the industrial and imaginative aesthetic of steampunk, students transformed everyday discarded items into inventive, fantastical creations.

Ms Tillstrand & Ms Low

Other classes made a clay fish and decorated it in the steampunk style adding gears, cogs, pipes, and mechanical details to give the fish a unique, retro look. The fish were then glazed and enhanced by silver paint to give a vintage metallic look.

Ms Whalley & Ms Low

Artworks above. L to R

Adam, Ethan & Peter, Nathan & Zac, Justin & Jacob, Richard & Vincent, Douglas & Arthrav, Jayden, Tim & Marius, Malik & Zane

Artworks below. L to R.

Year 8 Neo Pop Paintings

Students in 8VAR2 and 8VAR9 have been exploring and extending their painting techniques onto canvas. Inspired by pop culture, they focused on their favourite characters and layered their compositions with elements such as to create dynamic and engaging paintings.

Ms Chang

Artworks L to R – Wenjun W, Caden Y, Jayden L, Jonathan C, Darsh A, Colby C, Arthur W, Sean L.

Year 9 Visual Arts inspired by the Young Archies!

In their latest Visual Arts unit, Year 9 students explored the art of portraiture by creating A3-sized artworks of a family member, friend, self-portrait or teacher. Using a medium of their choice, ranging from pencil and charcoal to paint and mixed media. Students were encouraged to express personality and emotion through their chosen subject. The results were thoughtful, personal, and highly expressive, demonstrating both technical skill and individual creativity.

Artworks to right – L to R

Austin, Darnell, Aiden, Zavier, Kosta, Brian

Artworks below – L – R

Harsh S, Aiden C, Ethan N, Daniel O, Aman C, Hongchang G, Roger X, Walter

Year 10 Visual Arts create majestic dragons!

Year 10 have been exploring the concept of Eastern and Western mythical dragons as the focus of their study. Students have extended their hand building skills in ceramics, taking creative risks as they have enlarged the scale. In developing their sculptures, they were challenged to consider the dragon’s personality, textures, and expression to bring their ideas to life. Here are a few examples of their impressive works.

Ms Chang

Artworks L to R: Reuben D, Emmett M, Ben S, Phoenix C, Cooper R.

PAST HSC VISUAL ARTS SHOWCASE – Where are they now?

Luke Greenhalgh – Visual Arts class of 2024

Luke’s artwork explored the key elements and noticeable features of a farm and the country environment, including the ground, sky, fresh air, and the old, rusted machinery that can be found lying around. Using printmaking, he was able to reveal the fine details of the sky, country air, the ground and the small living organisms as well as old machinery such as tractors. My artwork is designed to depict a journey through the farm property; I have done this using concertina books.

Luke’s Body of Work comprised of multiple etchings, mixed media works and three concertina books. Below is a selection or artworks from his body of work.

Luke is currently completing a carpentry apprenticeship.

Country serenity

2024

Printmaking

An Evening Of Music

An Evening of Music was held on Tuesday 26 August 2025. Our school has an excellent reputation for its music program and this year’s concert continued the strong tradition of showcasing the immense talent within our school. The audience was entertained by nearly 400 performers, including the long-standing tradition of the Year 7 Choir. There are twelve cocurricular ensembles available to students at the school. All ensembles presented pieces to entertain and delight the appreciative audience.

Our external ensemble conductors work very hard throughout the year to prepare our students to perform at this event and we thank Mike Kenny (Orchestra, Stage Band and Jazz Band), Christine Pringle (Concert Band), Lachlan Skinner (Senior and Intermediate Percussion Ensembles), Ben Giles (Junior Percussion Ensemble) and Melissa Kenny (Senior Vocal Ensemble) for their dedication to our school’s music program. Each ensemble performed skilfully with a varied program of pieces.

We are incredibly fortunate to have a team of music teachers who are dedicated to their curricular classes as well as directing co-curricular ensembles. Mr Michael Tabrett has led the String Orchestra this year expertly and created opportunities to collaborate with string players from Cheltenham Girls High School on several occasions, including the Evening of Music. Mr Antony Mutch brings the joy of guitar playing to both the Junior and Senior Guitar Ensembles and Miss Pearl Hendy continues to grow our Junior Vocal Ensemble to perform confidently. Special thanks to Mrs Jane Kayes who stepped in at short notice to conduct this ensemble on the night.

We enjoyed stunning performances by Year 12 Music students Jason, Matthew and Joe. The Year 7 Massed Choir performed a lively Sea Shanty titled, The Coast of High Barbary, Djapana by Yothu Yindi and Waka Waka by Shakira. This performance is always very popular with our audience as the Year 7 parents get to watch their sons perform on stage.

Our thanks go to all the people who made this huge event run smoothly: Stage Crew, Sound and Lighting Team, Ms Julie Low and the Photography Team, Front of House helpers and the Year 7 team wrangling our lively boys before their performance. Thanks also to Mrs Louise Whalley, the Executive team and parents for serving the interval refreshments, EBHS Student Executive who acted as MCs and Prefects, who helped in many tasks behind the scenes. Special mention for Ms Helen Sinclair – Administration, all our ensemble directors and of course, our three amazingly talented and inspirational music teachers, Mr Michael Tabrett, Mr Antony Mutch and Miss Pearl Hendy, and to our CAPA Head Teacher, Mrs Louise Whalley who provides a calm presence and invaluable support and leadership to the faculty.

Louise Whalley

Head Teacher CAPA

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