This fortnight we hear from the CAPA, English, Science, PDHPE and TAS Key Learning Areas.

Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA)

The creative arts have the power to transform, to illuminate, to educate, inspire and motivate!

Year 7.3 and & 7.4 have been exploring portraiture in art, developing their skills across a range of 2D and 3D forms including: drawing self portraits, experimenting with digital manipulation to distort or alter a photo of themselves and creating a 3D ceramic portrait that reflects their interests and personality. They are currently busy finishing the fine details on their amazing ceramic self portraits.

Year 8.3 and 8.4 have been exploring the wonderful world of design. Focusing on Pop Art and its colourful artists for inspiration to develop their functional design skills through the creation of ceramic cups. They are now finalising their creations and starting the glazing process to add colour.

Image above 8.4 Visual Arts So proud of their clay cup designs!

As well as exploring abstraction by developing a selection of highly patterned designs which they will then transform into ink paintings inspired by the sea and its creatures.

Fish designs by Tilli O’Connor above, Ryan Biddle and Harrison Newcombe below

Soiree Showcase Report

Year 7 this Semester have been exploring portraiture in art developing their skills across a range of 2D and 3D forms including: drawing anatomically correct self portraits using a simple photograph, experimenting with digital manipulation to distort or alter a photo of themselves and creating a 3D ceramic portrait that reflects their interests and personality.

Year 8 this Semester has been delving into the wonderful world of design. Exploring Pop Art and its colourful artists for inspiration and then applying these concepts to functional design through the creation of ceramic mugs.

They have also been exploring abstraction and developing 2D ink painting that have been inspired by the sea and its creatures.

During Semester 1 Year 9 explored themselves as subject matter for an acrylic painting. What the students represented are their interests, not necessarily a physical representation of themselves. In Semester 2 they are using their world to create a ceramic box. A small stamp was made to press into and personalize their work.

During Semester 1 Year 10 explored the world of the surreal and fantasy to create a mixed media artwork on paper. In Semester 2 they created images then developed prints in our darkroom. They have been exploring the school and their home environment to capture eye catching photographs.

Year 11 have been building their skills across a range of areas exploring collage, drawing, mark making, printmaking, sculpture and painting. This term they have started planning and experimenting for their HSC Body of Work. This is still in the early stages of development but they are well underway. We wish them luck and look forward to seeing their finished works this time next year.

Year 12 completed complex Bodies of Work that captures their world.

ART: Soiree showcase display on Thursday

Music

We held our first Creative and Performing Arts Soiree for the Year on Thursday night. We had a variety of musical performances from Pop, Jazz and Classical styles. Congratulations to the following students who performed; Maxwell Buckland, Samuel Russell, Maya Teege, Corin Cowley, Marisa Suluma, Abigail Van Eyk, Olivia Fenton, Liam Nillesen, Keyman Seymour, Sofia Martin, Isabelle Murphy, Indiana Ramage, Joseph Schmude and Laura Ligard.

Drama

The O'Connor Drama Department are excited to announce their next performance. Our Year 10 Drama class has been working hard on "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" and will be performing it to the public on 1 December at 5.30pm in A11. (The Old Library).

Creative and Performing Arts Awards

This term we have introduced Creative and Performing Arts Awards, acknowledging the outstanding efforts and achievements students are marking in class and the extra-curricular programmes. Congratulations to this fortnights recipients:

Maxwell Buckland- in recognition of Max’s participation in Jazz Band, Choir, String Ensemble. His willingness to help accompany musical performances and his achievement in his recent AMEB examination.

Sophie Riddley- in recognition of Sophie's outstanding achievements in Visual Arts, particularly for her artwork titled For thalassophobics.

English

Ms Jessica Armfield (Acting English Leader of Learning)

As we move into the second half of this term, students in English classes are starting to move towards completing their analytical and creative compositions. This has seen students challenged with writing in different forms and being aware of both the audience and the purpose of their writing. These two ideas are a great way to focus a piece of writing and achieve success, moving their learning forward in this area.

Year 7

Year 7 English students are currently in the process of rehearsing their studied drama texts! They are getting themselves ready to perform to an audience or are recording them digitally to present. Drama units, and the performances that often come attached with them, are a great way for students to build confidence in their own speaking skills - a skill that is lifelong and utilised more than we realise!

Year 8

Year 8 English have been exploring the text, Kinglake to Kabul, throughout this term. During the last week or so, students have been exploring the impact that stereotypes and bias have upon people within our own communities and the wider world.

Year 8 has also had a concerted focus on building their literacy skills, both reading and comprehension. Through the development of strong literacy skills, students are able to engage fully in the world around them, making informed decisions and being able to articulate their experiences.

Year 9

Year 9 is continuing to work on developing their Poetry Portfolios. Through their explorations of strong female poets such as Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Emily Dickinson and Maya Angelou, students are being exposed to voices that have been marginalised and sometimes silenced. As students begin crafting their own poems, they are encouraged to explore contemporary issues within their writing, drawing on a range of poetic language techniques.

Year 10

Having moved into their selected courses for Stage 6, Year 10 Students are developing their understanding of what they need to do in order to succeed in Senior English.

Students have also continued to explore the concept of ‘Why Do We Create’ and have begun to create their own poems and discursive articles.

Year 12 2023

All Year 12 English students are studying the Common Unit: Texts and Human Experiences, developing their understanding of how texts are a representation of the human experience.

At this point in the term, The Year 12 English students have been given their first assessment for HSC English courses. Students should have begun working on these tasks which are due at the start of week 8 (28th November) and are encouraged to be actively with their teachers and peers!

PDHPE

This Term our Junior PDHPE students in Years 7-10 have been enjoying a wide variety of practical activities in each of their units of study. Below we take a quick look around the PDHPE practical classrooms:

Yr 7 - Striking Games

Pictures below are our Yr 7 & 10 students enjoying a round of 4 Wicket Cricket on the Basketball Courts.

KEEPING MOVING: Years 7 and 10 enjoying the sunshine on our mufti day on Friday last week.

RACKET GAMES: Year 7 perfecting their racket skills on Monday.

Year 8 - Net and Court Games

Pictured Below are our Year 8s enjoying some Volleyball and court games.

Yr 9 - First Aid & Contemporary Games

Pictured below are our Year 9 students learning the valuable life skill of CPR.

Yr 10 - Backyard Games

Pictured below are our Year 10 students enjoying some Backyard games during their practical PDHPE lessons. Caroline please add an image of Yr 10 playing oztag etc

Finally a reminder about the Yr 7 & 8 Lifesaving program which is fast approaching in Week 9. Hopefully all families received the hard copy of the note. More information will be released shortly via Compass. For any family that didn’t receive the note I have attached the note below. Please ensure you fill out the permission form link attached. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FakWIiC_AVO2IEPPIYOBSz2hAOTj4T6RsnbxU7FeT0Y/edit?usp=sharing

NEW POST PROTECTORS: Students gave the thumbs up to our new goal post protectors which arrived this week.

Dear Parents,

Year 7 and 8 Lifesaving

As part of the Physical Education / Health / Personal Development program, students from Year 7 and 8 will be involved in the lifesaving program in Week 9 of Term 4. It is important that all students attend (non-swimmers included) as the college will be able to record students’ ability for future excursions that involve water activities and swimming.

The program will run on the following afternoons at the Armidale Aquatic Centre from;

12 noon to 3:20pm Monday 5th of December to Friday 9th December.

All standards of swimming are catered for, ranging from learn to swim to the Bronze Star Award. All staff members accompanying the students are trained RLSSA instructors and have CPR qualifications.

Cost of the program is $4.00 entry each day to the pool. Other costs have been included in the Sports Levy paid earlier this year. If your child gains a bronze star award, an additional fee (of $5) will be required to cover the award.

Students will go to school each morning for a normal period 1 and 2 and Break A and walk to the pool at 11.40 am (the end of Break A) to complete their lifesaving skills sessions until 3:20 pm. Students will be dismissed from the pool at 3:20pm each day.

Could you please fill in the swimming ability of your child and any medical conditions the school needs to be aware of by completing the following electronic permission form (this form can also be found on Compass): https://forms.gle/4S1K4us1sMQcsknE6

If you have any questions regarding the arrangements for this valuable program do not hesitate to contact the College.

New Post Protectors

The PDHPE department secured additional grant funding this term to purchase additional sporting equipment. Many thanks to Ms Mellowship for applying for the grant. As part of this purchase the PDHPE department designed and ordered custom made Rugby League goal post protectors. Our College will be ready to safely host our own rugby league matches again next year, with our new branding. Year 10 students have given the new post protectors the thumbs up!

Science

Mr Daniel Fittler

Year 7

Year 7 are continuing to learn about space. Students were treated to a timely lunar eclipse the 8th of November which just happened to be after they were learning about the phases of the moon and eclipses, if only we could schedule lunar eclipses and solar eclipses to fit our schedule more regularly. This week they are building their own telescopes in the same way that Galileo did to view objects at a distance.

Year 8

Year 8 are in the middle of exploring the human body and have just completed their heart dissections. Some students really thrive in these kinds of experiences while others prefer to watch from afar. In any case, students are really enjoying learning about how the body works and how disease affects the function of different organs in the body.

HEART DISSECTION: Mr Andrew's with his Year 8 Science class

TAS

Mr Jon Hawthorne

Year 10 Food Technology

Mrs Anne Healey

BURITO TIME: Year 10 were whipping up some mexican fare on Tuesday.

Year 10 Design and Technology

Mr James Healy

Year 10 DT were working on their projects on Tuesday with Mr Healy. There have been some great designs created and manufactured by these students.

Textiles Showcase

Mrs Vicki Channon

As part of the CAPA Soiree on Thursday, some of our student's designs were on display.

The Year 12 Major Textiles Projects

These works are the culmination of 4 terms of hard work, perseverance, some tears and tantrums and finally joy and relief once they are finally packed up and posted away for marking. The range of projects from the 2022 HSC cohort included: a macrame wall hanging, a children's dress based on Princess Charlotte with hand smocking, a fur trimmed wool cape depicting the reign of Catherine the Great, a fully lined jacket suitable for the corporate world, a patchwork quilt designed and constructed for a little cousin, a dusty pink formal dress embellished with hand made flowers, some digitally cut and an ethereal dress made from layered silk chiffon and soft flowing rayon, complete with a waistband that was designed and hand embroidered with nature being the inspiration. Sharnaya made a number of different projects also, including a blanket with an appliqued picture of her beloved puppy.

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