CAPA and Languages

Year 8 Visual Arts: Bowerbird Identity Project 

Students in 8VA1 and 8VA2 have been developing their drawing skills through a series of guided tutorials, building confidence in observation, shading and technique. These skills are now being applied to their major “Bowerbird” project. 

Inspired by the bowerbird - known for collecting and arranging objects to attract attention - students are creating a body of work that explores their own identity. Through a series of tonal drawings, students are selecting and representing objects, symbols and imagery that reflect who they are, their interests and personal experiences. 

This project encourages students to think creatively and conceptually about how artists communicate meaning, while continuing to strengthen their technical drawing abilities. We look forward to seeing their thoughtful and expressive artworks develop over the coming weeks. 

Stage 5 Visual Design: Creative Cover Design Project 

Our Visual Design students have been working on an exciting project where they design their own album or book cover from scratch. Using original photography, digital editing and typography, students are learning how to communicate a clear theme, mood and target audience - just like professional designers. 

Throughout the process, students experiment with different photography techniques and creative ideas before selecting and refining their strongest concept into a polished, professional-looking final piece. 

Stage 5 and 6 Japanese (日本語) 

In 2026, we have elective Japanese classes running in Years 9, 10 and 11. Students are working hard at memorising hiragana, katakana and even kanji characters. This builds their capacity to communicate fluently in the language while reading and writing.

Students are challenged to continuously beat their previous scores and most of our students are rising to that challenge and are improving every time!  

You can see some Year 10 writing samples here – they were asked to write an email about their lives in Japanese as if they were writing to a prospective host family to introduce themselves and their families.