Performing Arts

   Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2026, and welcome your input:

Penelope Lang (Performing Arts) penelope.lang@education.vic.gov.au 

Wominjeka!

Welcome to a busy 2026 in Performing Arts

Congratulations to Charlotte and Mabel who will be our Performing Arts captains for 2026.

In the Performing Arts Room

FOUNDATION

It is always very exciting to welcome our new Foundation students into the Performing Arts room. There is always so much to see, do and explore, and our classes have been filled with a variety of music, dance and drama activities this term.

Throughout the term, students have been developing their singing skills by learning to sing their names using pitch matching—copying and responding to different notes. We have explored high, middle, and low sounds using the glockenspiel, and practised keeping a steady beat through movement, especially by feeling the beat in our feet. Students enjoyed dancing to the “Steady Beat Rap” using body percussion (tapping, stomping, and patting), as well as moving freely to music without a steady beat, allowing them to express themselves creatively. Our special “singing buddies” (soft toys) have played an important role in helping students build confidence with both singing and movement. 

In Drama, we have focused on developing imagination and confidence through a range of improvisation games. Students particularly loved creating unique and imaginative ways of getting to school—such as riding a unicorn, flying with butterflies, or travelling in a rocket! It has been fantastic to see so many students now confidently performing in front of their peers. We have also been learning important stagecraft skills, including using expressive voices and facial expressions, entering and exiting the stage, and taking a bow. 

One of the class favourites has been the dance improvisation game “Rock Star,” which has brought lots of energy and excitement to our lessons. We recently listened to a beautiful Harmony Day song called, ‘Children of the World’ and discussed how ‘everyone belongs’ and how unique we all are. The students have begun learning simple choreography for our whole school production, which will be performed next semester. 

YEAR ONE & TWO

We began the term by unpacking our Performing Arts SWPBL matrix, exploring what Respect, Resilience, and Responsibility look and sound like in our learning space. It was fantastic to introduce students to the concepts of agency and student voice, and to see them take ownership of creating a positive and supportive classroom environment.

This term, our focus has been on developing drama skills and building performance confidence. We started by exploring past school productions and discussing the important role each student can play in this year’s show. This led us to learn a range of theatre vocabulary, including director, audience, box office, stage manager, backstage, program, cast, auditions, and everyone’s favourite—“chookas!”

Our Year 1 students have been working on a booklet titled An Introduction to Drama, where they reflect on their learning through drawings and classroom discussions. During practical lessons, students have been using the classroom stage to practise entering and exiting, as well as developing loud, clear, and expressive voices.

We have enjoyed a range of drama games designed to build creativity and confidence. The game “That’s Not a…” encouraged the use of creative imaginations as well as fast thinking skills, while “Emotions Ball” supported students in exploring facial expressions and gestures. More recently, students have been creating their own Drama Stories, performing in small groups for their peers. Using the phrase “Hey, nice hat!” as a starting point, they had great fun incorporating costumes and props into their performances. We explored the story of  our 2026 production,The Wizard That Was and used this as a drama focus for students to create their own mini dramas using a simple story structure (beginning, middle and ending) as a framework. It was great to see students offering respectful feedforward after each performance.

A highlight of the term was sharing our Harmony Day stories. Students proudly spoke about their cultural backgrounds, highlighting the rich diversity within our school community. We discovered connections to countries including Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Israel, Sri Lanka, South Africa, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Samoa, the United States, and the Dominican Republic—just to name a few. The students have now begun learning simple choreography for our whole school production, which will be performed next semester. 

YEAR THREE & FOUR

We commenced the term in Performing Arts by exploring our new Acknowledgement of Country, taking time to pay our respects to the land on which we meet each week. Students learned about the importance of song and dance in Indigenous cultures as powerful forms of storytelling, used to preserve First Nations histories, traditions, and spiritual connections. Students were actively involved in developing our Performing Arts SWPBL behaviour matrix, which we then unpacked into key focus areas to guide our learning throughout the term. It was fantastic to see students contributing their ideas and taking ownership of expectations within our shared space.

To begin our Drama focus, students used Summer holiday recounts as inspiration. Working with a partner, they retold a personal experience using expressive voices and facial expressions that matched the emotion of their story. This also provided an opportunity to develop the skill of reacting in performance. Throughout the term, we have focused on using clear and engaging drama voices and experimented with pitch, pace, and volume to add meaning and interest to each performance.

As a class, we explored the poem Today Is Very Boring, with each student performing a line using gesture and vocal variation. It was wonderful to see students collaborate and build fluency and confidence in their delivery. Students then worked in small groups to devise their own short drama pieces inspired by the story of The Wizard That Was. We discussed the structure of an engaging story, the effective use of props, and how costumes can enhance a performance. Students also took on the role of audience directors, offering thoughtful “feedforward” to their peers after each performance. It was great to see some students naturally stepping into stage crew roles, assisting others with setting up props and organising the performance space. We have focussed on being seen, heard and understood when performing.

We have now begun learning two dances for our Semester Two whole school production. This has been a great opportunity to develop students’ mirroring skills, coordination, and tap into their prior knowledge of safe dance practices.

YEAR FIVE & SIX

Our term began with a real sense of excitement, as many of our Year 5 and 6 students prepared for a milestone moment—auditioning for speaking roles in our whole school production. 

We began by revisiting past school productions and discussing the important role each student will play in this year’s performance. Once it was announced that our 2026 production will be The Wizard That Was, students eagerly explored the wide range of characters through whole-class read-throughs of selected scenes. This gave them the opportunity to become familiar with the script and consider whether they would like to audition for small, medium, or large speaking roles. We also explored the many important non-speaking roles, including dance ensemble, runners, signholders and backstage crew, highlighting that every contribution is vital to a successful production.

To support students in preparing for auditions, we revisited the Actor’s Toolbox and key elements of drama, including facial expression, gesture, pace, pitch, pause, and power. Through games such as “Emotions Ball” and a range of improvisation activities, students developed both their confidence and performance skills.

Students were given several lessons to prepare for their auditions, before Hayley Oliver and I had the very challenging task of watching 66 auditions and casting the show. We were incredibly impressed by the level of talent, preparation, and commitment shown—particularly the effort students put into learning their lines. We have now begun our weekly Friday acting rehearsals (Sessions 3 and 4), and students will soon start learning choreography for both the Level 5/6 dance and the whole school finale in Term 2.

Production t-shirts will be available for purchase shortly. In the meantime, please continue to encourage your child to practise their lines over the Easter holidays—this will make a huge difference to their confidence in rehearsals next term.

Victorian State School's Spectacular - 2026

This is a very exciting week for all of our VSSS participants, dance and choir, as they attend their first off-site rehearsals. Our dancers will be attending The Basin Primary School (with Ms Humphries) on Tuesday 31st March and our singers will be attending Karoo Primary School (with Mrs Jones) on Wednesday 1st April. I have created two GOOGLE CLASSROOMS (one for dance and one for choir) and it is important that your child joins the relevant classroom by using their google account and password. Please come and see me if you need help with this. All of the rehearsal material will be place on these google classrooms (songs and dances) and I will also be using this to communicate important information to you. Please note that some of my communications will have deadlines (eg the t-shirt orders last week) and so it is important that you respond promptly to my messages as the Performing Arts unit (who I report to) are also working to very strict deadlines. Thanks for understanding this.

A SUPER BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Mya S in Year 6 who successfully auditioned for the Performing Arts featured choir for this years VSSS. Mya is having lots of fun attending her weekend rehearsals in at the Performing Arts unit in Collingwood. We are so proud of you Mya and cannot wait to see you shine in this year's VSSS entitled "This is Me".

School Choir 

This year we are running a combined school choir on FRIDAYS in session six. This means that choir will also form part of the electives program for students from years 3-6 (should they wish to sing as an elective). Choir is open to students from Years 1 to 6 and I have free choir booklets (if your child still needs one). Singers in our choir will have the opportunity to perform at various assemblies throughout the year. I will notify you in advance if your child is singing. It is important to remind your child that choir is not  'drop in/drop out'. Once your child commits to choir, it is excpected that they turn up each week until the end of each Semester.

Instrumental Lessons

Our school's Instrumental Program, now being managed by Amaris Lee-David, will continue to offer lessons on most instruments and will be retaining the outstanding team of musicians. The first 'trial' lesson is free of charge and your child will get the opportunity to perform in an end of year instrumental concert if they want to. You also have the option of choosing a lesson during the recess breaks if you would prefer that your child is not taken out of his or her class lessons. Feel free to contact Amaris info@groovefoundations.com for more information.  Please be aware that there is a waiting list for some instruments at the moment and we are doing our very best to find some additional teachers to fill this demand. I am beyond excited to hear that we have SO MANY students wanting to learn an instrument.

Foothills Community Care - Letter of Thanks

Hi Penelope,

We just wanted to take a moment to say a huge THANK YOU for your amazing support of our recent 2025 Foothills Christmas Lunches!

Thanks to your generosity, we were able to welcome over 320 people to share in the joy, love, and connection of Christmas. For many, this day was a chance to feel valued and part of a community during what can be a difficult time.

Your contributions made all the difference, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

We’ve put together a video capturing the highlights of the day, and we’d love for you to watch it on YouTube or Facebook. It shows some wonderful memories and I hope it puts a smile on your face! We have also attached for you our Certificate Of Appreciation.

As we speak, we have trades all working on our new Foothills Hub in Upwey, and hope to open in the next fortnight. We hope that this new space will provide our community with support and connection 6 days a week, and we look forward to welcoming you into our space shortly.

Wishing you a fantastic start to 2026, and we’re so grateful to have you as part of the Foothills family making a positive dent in our local community.

With thanks,

Stephen Barrington

CEO Foothills Community Care

foothillscare.org.au

Everyone is welcome at our table

Have a wonderful Easter holiday

Penelope