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Arts DDT?

ACCA Senior Art Excursion

In the beginning of Term 3 our Senior Art Making and Exhibiting students had the opportunity to view Contemporary artwork at ACCA. This gallery host exhibition of artist who are working today either from Australia or International. We viewed the Exhibition ‘Are you lonely tonight? I'm so lonesome I could cry’. This exhibition consisted of several Australian and International artist that were commissioned to create artworks for this theme. This allowed our students to see how different artists created artworks with the same meaning about loneliness. Artist worked in various mediums such as drawing painting, textile, video and installations which showed are students that artist work in various artforms. They also learnt about conservation, and storage and transportation of artworks which is necessary information for their up coming SAC and end of year exam.

Year 12 students had the opportunity to visit the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) as part of an exciting art excursion. The excursion gave us the chance to explore contemporary artworks and experience art outside the classroom.

We travelled to ACCA with our teachers and classmates and enjoyed spending the day together. When we arrived, we explored the gallery and looked at different artworks. The ACCA staff talked to us about each artwork, explaining the ideas, meanings and messages behind each artwork. This helped us understand the artworks in more depth and encouraged us to think about our own interpretations.

The gallery staff also taught us about art conservation and how artworks are carefully looked after. We learnt about ways galleries protect and preserve different artworks so that they can be displayed and last for many years.

One of my favourite artworks was the "A Letter to My Mother, A Letter to Your Mother" (2026) by Melissa Nguyen. The artwork was about the artist’s mother, who did not have any childhood photographs. Because of this, the artist used her imagination to create an artwork that imagined what her mother’s childhood may have been like. The artist used beige colour and was made of rabbit skin on canvas as the material, which made the artwork very unique. What made it even more interesting was that the viewer had to move into different positions and angles to be able to fully see and experience the artwork.

After exploring the gallery, we had lunch together and had some time to relax and talk with our friends. The excursion was a great opportunity to learn, enjoy art and spend time with our classmates outside of the classroom.

Overall, the ACCA excursion was an enjoyable and educational experience. It allowed us to connect what we learn in Art at school with real artworks and contemporary art practices, while also giving us a better understanding of how galleries care for and preserve art.

- Neda D11

Ms Lewis

Art Teacher

Year 11 Media Excursion – AIE & ACMI

Our Year 11 Media class had the opportunity to visit the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). It was a really enjoyable experience and gave us the chance to explore different areas of media outside of the classroom.

At AIE, we went on a tour of the academy and had the opportunity to see a showcase of student games. I found it really interesting to see the different types of games students had created and how much creativity and effort goes into developing interactive media. It also helped me understand how different media skills can come together to create something that engages an audience.

Afterwards, we visited ACMI, where we explored different exhibitions and learned more about moving images and the development of media. This experience connected closely with what we are doing in Media, and it gave us the opportunity to see concepts from the classroom represented in real-world creative spaces. I enjoyed being able to connect what we learn at school with things we could actually see and experience.

Overall, I really enjoyed the excursion because it was both educational and fun. It gave me a different perspective on Media and showed me how creative and diverse the media industry can be. It was also a great opportunity to experience these places with my classmates and take inspiration from the work of other young creators.

Parwin K

Year 10 Fern

Year 10 Food Issues CAT

The Year 10 Food Technology CAT gave students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge acquired throughout the Term learning about a variety of Food Issues and their possible impacts on society, the economy and environment. The assessment included both a practical cook, which consisted of a “Leftovers Challenge”, using dry ingredients, pantry staples, fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat to create their own dish. They were also required to show investigative research, to generate ideas and plan for the cook. Allowing the students to create their own dish is a great stimulus to promote students’ learning agency and the results spoke for themselves. 

Thank you Year 10’s for achieving such excellence, creativity and inspiring your teachers. Thank you Kim and Almaz for all of your hard work to allow this happen.

Miss Ford and Mr Mullen

Year 10 Drama

Last Monday, a group of Year 10 Drama students performed their Realism play to an audience of delighted students ranging from Year 7 to 9. This self-devised piece was about four young ladies who caught up for dinner after not seeing each other for a long time, and old tensions surfaced, revealing riveting secrets and plot twists, all to the delight of two very nosy bar tenders. Thanks also to Xavier Hutchinson who did a marvellous job of operating lighting and sound. The audience absolutely loved seeing the Year 10s perform, and it was thrilling to hear the junior students in the audience saying “I’m going to choose Drama as an elective”. Congratulations to this amazing group of Year 10 students and thank you to the teachers who brought their classes along to see the performance. 

Mr Christoffelsz 

Drama Teacher

Year 9 Drama Workshop

Recently we had some actors from the Melbourne Theatre Company attend our school and take our Year 9 Drama students through an extensive acting skills workshop.

Students explored activities involving script interpretation, building a character and collaboration with other actors.

It was a great privilege having these working professional share their knowledge with us.

Year 9 Drama Excursion to see Shoelace Chaser

On the morning of Friday 5th June a collection of Year 9, Year 8 and Year 7 Drama students made their way to The Round Theatre in Nunawading to see the Melbourne Theatre Company's touring production of Shoelace Chaser.

Shoelace Chaser is an original Australian play. It's a moving comedy drama about chasing your dreams when the odds are stacked against you.

All students had an amazing experience, some of them seeing their first ever professional performance.

Mr Lloyd

Drama Teacher

Year 9 Street Art Excursion

During Term 2, our Year 9 Art students have been learning about Street Art and cutting and spraying stencils. During the last week of Term 2, we took our 2 groups of Year 9 Art students into the city where they were able to spray paint their stencil work and they had the opportunity to view various styles of Street Art. Students were also given the task of trying to find the last Banksy artwork in ACDC Lane which is always fun to observe. In all, I find that this excursion is always enjoyed by our Year 9 students and that they have an opportunity to feel like a street artist.

In the Year 9 Art excursion to the city, I most definitely had quite some fun. Walking through Hosier Lane and getting to see many vibrant and wonderful artworks, as well as getting to spray our own designs was probably the highlight of the whole trip. Seeing Hosier Lane, ACDC Lane and Blender Lane exposed us to more distinctive works, but also including a challenge to find the last Banksy artwork in Melbourne. 

The art excursion was a great experience, and I would highly recommend that anyone planning to do art in Year 9 should attend, it’s a great chance to explore the city, hang out with friends and most importantly, spray paint your designs!!

- Zenya 9E

Please enjoy the photos.

Ms Lewis

Art Teacher

Future Artist Music Incursion

A few weeks ago, our school rock bands and production band participated in workshops with Dandenong local, Steve Cannatelli. Steve has been involved in the local music scene for over two decades and has spent the last decade working with up and coming artists as a band coach. Through a methodology developed over a decade and used by international touring bands, Steve took the students through the fundamentals of performance from musicianship all the way to full performance with full movement. Through these workshops our students found a new sense of confidence and self expression. They spoke about how by the end of the two hours, they were enjoying performing the music and not overthinking how to play the songs.

We appreciate Steve giving his time and wisdom to Dandenong High School, and we’re excited to see our students use their new found knowledge when they perform at the Spring Music Concert on the 9th of September.

Dimitrios Sotirakis

Instrumental Coordinator