Specialist News 

PERFORMING ARTS

I’m very excited to be teaching here at Ripponlea Primary School after taking over from Mr. G.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know all the students here through some different group activities and look forward to working more on the production side of things as we get closer to the performances next term!

My musical background involves studying jazz music back in the UK. I have also played hundreds of concerts and festivals, and was lucky to do a USA tour too. My main instrument is bass guitar, but I mostly play guitar, sing, write songs and record/produce my own music these days. Before teaching at Ripponlea, I was a classroom teacher in New Zealand and a volunteer firefighter in my spare time. Last year I took some time to travel and cycled from Seoul to Busan. 

For these first few weeks, we have been doing a combination of rhythm games, group activities and team building tasks. 

Foundation and Years 1/2 have been working on a combination of listening skills by identifying different sounds and instruments, and applying these to simple animal stories and scripts. 

Years 3/4 have also been discussing and practicing dances around the world, and some classes are already doing a great job of memorising their dances for the production. 

Years 56 are moving into more production prep, and working on their theatre skills. I am already very impressed with some of their acting skills and character voices, and I can’t wait to see them up on the stage next term!

Feel free to say hi or get in touch, 

James

VISUAL ARTS

Our Grade 3/4 students have been working with visiting artist Daniel Butterworth, a finalist in the 2016 Archibald Portrait Prize, over the past few weeks, and the experience has been nothing short of inspiring. 

They began by exploring tone in a truly hands-on way, using unconventional materials such as charcoal, Vegemite, and soy sauce to create expressive animal artworks. 

Since then, Daniel has introduced students to key aspects of colour theory, encouraging them to look closely at their reference images to discover unexpected and often surprising colours. Throughout the sessions, Daniel’s quick skill with a paintbrush and his eccentric, engaging personality have kept students captivated and eager to learn. 

In their final week with him, students will shift their focus to portraits — a fitting finale, as Daniel is widely recognised for his powerful and distinctive self-portraits that have earned him acclaim in the Australian art world.