Performing Arts

   Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2025, and welcome your input:

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

Wominjeka!

Victorian State Schools Spectacular 

Tickets are now on sale via ticketek for the VSSS 2025 -   https://premier.ticketek.com.au

We would love for you to come and support our school on Saturday 13th September. This is a great opportunity for students who might like to apply to participate in 2026 to come along and get a better understanding of this 'spectacular' event. Our school performs in both the matinee AND the evening show. 

VSSS  - Round 4 Rehearsal Excursion

Please read the following information carefully for our VSSS excursion this week. All dancers, including our 5 reserves, will be attending this rehearsal.

Date: Friday 15th August 2025

Location: HE Parker, Maroondah Nets, 154 Heathmont Road, Heathmont

Transport: Seat-belted bus leaving school at 9.05am and returning at 3.00pm

What to wear: Denim jeans, white socks, white shoes, white singlet top, white VSSS long sleeve top, school t-shirt (over the top) OR school jumper/jacket. The students must be wearing some form of school uniform so they can be identified. I will be handing out the VSSS long sleeve top on Thursday. 

What to bring: Normal school bag with lunch, snacks and a water bottle. Any zip up jacket (VSSS one or school jacket or anything else with a zip). 

Some parents have asked me about pick up and drop off times for our John Cain excursions in September. Please see below for information (so you can plan ahead). Rest assured, I will be sending home a more detailed document with maps etc closer to the event.

Thursday 11th September: 8.30am - 7.00pm

Friday 12th September: 7.30am – 6.00pm

Saturday 13th September: 10.45am – 9.00pm

Some families choose to stay in the city overnight on the Friday. Please let me know if you decide to do this so I can adjust the number of students we are travelling with. Parking in the Eastern Plaza is now OPEN for pre-booking and books out very quickly. 

Please pop into the Performing Arts room if you would like to have a chat about anything or feel free to send me an email with any questions or wonderings. 

Please remind your child that they should be rehearsing ALL of the dances every week. They have access to the choreography on our VSSS google classroom.

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.comfor 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.

IN OUR PERFORMING ARTS ROOM

Foundation

The Foundation students have started this term with a focus on dance. We have been learning about moving in a 'safe dance space' and have been enjoying using our incredible mirrors in the Performing Arts room as our second teacher. We warmed up our bodies with some fun Freeze Dance (yoga style) and revisited some directional vocabulary such as, 'forward', 'backwards', 'side to side' and paid particular attention to remembering our left and right sides. It was great to see the students work with a partner to learn the 'elbow hook' and spin safely in both directions during the well known Chicken Dance. They could identify the changes in tempo and quickly mastered the repetitive choreography. We then moved on to learning the YMCA and the more challenging Nutbush. It was great to see so many students confident enough to contribute to our improvised dance circle as part of our warm up. We read the book, 'Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat' and talk about how dancing makes us feel. Answers included, 'joyful', 'free', 'expressive', 'happy and excited', 'all the emotions', 'bored' and 'exhausted'. 

Year One and Year Two

The students in both levels have been learning about the different instruments of the orchestra. We explored the different types of orchestras and recalled the role of the conductor  (the 'coach of the team') and the name of the baton (the 'magic stick'). We explored the layout (seating plan) of the orchestra and discussed why certain instruments sit where they do. We tried to imagine the spectacular cymbals sitting in the front row of the orchestra, patiently waiting for bar 350 to arrive! We talked about the four different families of instruments in the orchestra, namely, the strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion and used a large orchestra poster to learn where they all sit. The students colour coded their own orchestra seating plan whilst exclaiming how big the string family is. We explored the string family in more detail and listened to Tchaikovsky's 'Serenade for Strings, Movement 2 Valse'. Each week we will complete an Orchestra booklet capturing our new learning. This will form part of the students portfolio task for this semester. 

Some students have mentioned to me that their parents play the 'harp', 'violin' and 'cello'. If this is actually the case, I would LOVE if any of you could come into the Performing Arts room(or even an assembly) and play for us. Please send me an email if you are keen. 

Year Three and Year Four

The students have been finishing our unit of work on the Elements of Music by exploring 'texture' and 'form'. We looked at the difference between monophonic, polyphonic and homophonic and how music can have a 'thin' or a 'thick' sound. We learnt about ostinatos and listened to some well known ostinatos by the German film composer and music producer, Hans Zimmer. We then learnt four simple ostinatos (some including flats and sharps) and layered them to perform 'London's Burning' as a class ensemble. It was so incredible to see all of the elements of music (especially our new improved beat keeping skills) come together. There were squeals of joy (mainly mine!) when we completed this task. We have now moved on to learning the ukulele. Our lessons have started with recalling the parts of the ukulele, understanding the correct holding position, the correct fingers to use on our left hand and how to hold a pic when strumming. The students have learnt the C chord and played along to the 'C Chord rap'. Students are welcome to bring their own ukuleles into school on the day they have Performing Arts if they wish. We do, however, have a whole class set for use. 

Year Five and Year Six

The students in Years Five and Six have only had a couple of lessons in our Performing Arts room since returning from camp. They have revisited 'note naming' and used their knowledge of the note names on lines and spaces to plot words on the music staff. The winner plotted an incredible 41 words. We then used these skills to read two lines of music, one was the melody and the other was the harmony and play them alongside a different line of djembe rhythm. This ensemble lead us to discussions about 'texture' and 'form' in music and how all of the elements of music come into play when we perform. We have now moved on to learning the ukulele. Our lessons have started with recalling the parts of the ukulele, understanding the correct holding position, the correct fingers to use on our left hand and how to hold a pic when strumming. The students have learnt the C chord and played along to the 'C Chord rap'. Students are welcome to bring their own ukuleles into school on the day they have Performing Arts if they wish. We do, however, have a whole class set for use.