CAPA Faculty

It has been a whole term now since our newest and latest students in Year 7 have made their start at Henry Kendall High School, and in particular our Creative and Performing Arts Faculty. Year 7 students will first encounter us in both Music and Visual Art before either sticking with us as Elective Studies in Year 9 onwards, or taking on other creative challenges with us in Photography. 

In Music the challenge has been two-fold; creating a composition based on visual images that represent sound with the Graphic Notation Scores. Learning to work together, discuss, negotiate and ultimately create a musical work that demonstrates an understanding of duration, pitch and colour. As well as how to balance an ensemble with sound, dynamics and understanding the different roles played in a group such as soloist, accompanist, conductor and rhythm section. It can be challenging working together and for many that is very new in the musical world. From here we are working our way into basic keyboard training and learning how to read music.

Year 8 Music

In Visual Art, working with creative colour as a focus, students are looking at the world through the lens of artists as they see the world in a kaleidoscope of vision and in any cases sound as well. The students have studied artists that combine colour with a range of other senses such as Kadinsky, to form their own ideas in arts works that brighten the classrooms and our days.

In both of these courses, literacy remains an important focus for students in the development of their communication of ideas, connecting to others and demonstrating their understanding and challenges. Both Music and Art require high level literacy that uses specific language to identify our different elements and concepts and interpret them in many cases into written responses. 

These responses ask for different perspectives including how different audiences may perceive an artwork or performance, or describe the characteristics of the media being portrayed. These connect to many life experiences and challenge each student to refine their own identities, not only through their artworks and performances, but through their use of language. 

Drawing by Jessica Bewley 

Year 11 - 2024

The CAPA teachers will report on these elements as they are a strong gauge on the level of understanding a student is demonstrating. A great way to focus on developing language is to use and embed all the skills they brought from Primary school; the presentation such as margins, titles and sub-titles, capitals and punctuation; all these provide subtly in responses. These areas sometimes get a little forgotten when transitioning from primary to secondary but are so important in how we communicate.

Year 11 Rehersals

At the other end of the school journey, our HSC students both past and present have been busy either exhibiting the works at Art Express, or are busy preparing Bodies of Work and Performances for this year's HSC. Please visit the CAPA Facebook page for regular updates on student work across the years.

Art Express Exhibit

A special mention to all our artists that were either nominated or selected for A Central Vision this year that has been exhibited at the Gosford Regional Art Gallery - if you are quick, they are on still for the remainder of this week. 

Please see the facebook page below for the artworks that were sent for selection this year. Fantastic!!

https://www.facebook.com/HKHSCAPA

Mr Jarrod Walters

Head Teacher CAPA