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!

Groove Foundations - Goodbye and Thank you

It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Jordan Scotney who, after 16 years at USPS, has decided to step away from managing Groove Foundations at the end of Term One. Jordan has loved working at our school and has told me how much he will miss the school concerts and seeing our students improve over the years. After years of inspiring the future generations of musicians, Jordan has decided that it is time for him to focus fully on his own music career. We wish him all the very best for this exciting new chapter. He will be missed by many.

The new owner, Amaris Lee-David, will be managing Groove Foundations from Term Two onwards. Amaris (who has worked at our school before) is a passionate music educator and experienced music school owner. She teaches piano and violin while also running her own music school, Dynamic Music Studios. With a background in music and management, she will continue running Groove Foundations seamlessly and will continue to deliver a high-quality music program in our school. Amaris' new email address is info@groovefoundations.com and she will be sending out new flyers early next term.

VSSS 2025

We have continued with our Thursday afternoon rehearsals, under the direction of Kim Van Hoorn (who sets dance homework! - love it). We can see that many of the dancers have been rehearsing at home and we thank them for their dedication. Our next hub rehearsal is on Tuesday 6th May in the school gym. Please keep checking the VSSS google classroom page for information as well as Compass for email communication from me. Your prompt reply to messages is greatly appreciated. All t-shirt orders have now been placed and order details for VSSS hoodies will be sent home next term.

School Choir 

We hope you enjoyed the special Harmony Day song performed by the combined choir at our assembly yesterday? I know some of the Year One students were especially excited about their very first public performance. Congratulations to all of you and thank you for being brave and sharing your singing talent with our school community. I look forward to singing more songs together in Term two.

Just a reminder that the Junior and Senior choirs meet during the 3rd recess break on a TUESDAY as follows:

JUNIOR: - Weeks 1,3, 5, 7, 9

SENIOR: - Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Junior Choir is open to students in Years One and Two, whilst Senior Choir is open to students in Years Three to Six. If your child has never done choir before, they are welcome to come along for a session to try it out before they commit to the semester. If they wish to stay in choir then it is very important that they bring along a plastic wallet or binder with pockets so that they can collect the lyric sheets for the songs we are singing. There are still many students who do not have choir folders and therefore are not able to take lyric sheets home. It would be great if you could use the holiday break to source one of these folders.

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.

IN OUR PERFORMING ARTS ROOM

Foundation

We have continued having fun in our Performing Arts lessons. We have been exploring different percussion instruments, including jingle bells, triangles, tambourines, rhythm sticks, maracas, egg shakers and castanets. We explored the different ways these instruments can be played (hit, shake, tap), how to hold them correctly and how we look after them in our room. We used our instruments to play along to the song, 'It's My Car'. This provided the challenge of playing not only as an ensemble (all together at the same time) but also as small solo groups on a given word, namely, 'honk honk', 'rattle rattle', 'toot crash' or 'beep beep'. We discussed the music 'rest', when we stop (and have a rest). This was fantastic for developing students' musicality and listening skills. We continued to work on our dramatic facial expressions and changing the pitch of our voice to express emotions. Some students enjoyed the challenge of adding movement and gestures.

Year One and Year Two

The students have been finishing their fruit salad rhythms using a variety of long and short sounds. Some students have been using the written fruit names whilst other students have explored using rhythmic stick notation. They used their rehearsal time responsibly and then read their own rhythms and performed for the rest of the class. We discussed which instruments might be more suitable for fast rhythmic patterns and experimented on a variety of percussion instruments. It was great to see (and hear) some groups move seamlessly between their rhythm and their partner's. We are now beginning to look at the elements of tempo, pitch and dynamics. We had a very purposeful lesson about Harmony Week and listened to the song, 'I am Children of the World'. The students then responded to the song and shared their connections and their own individual cultural stories. We talked about Neurodiversity week and the incredible speech given by their classmate Sol at the last assembly. 

Year Three and Year Four

The students have been loving our 'Pass the Beat' game and it definitely has been a common request from all grades over the last few weeks. I have now made it a little more challenging by changing it to, 'Pass the rhythm around the music room'. Some students are still finding it challenging to hear the 'steady beat' underneath the rhythm. We will keep working on that. We celebrated Harmony Week together by listening to the song, 'I am Children of the World' and discussed what diversity means. I read a chapter from Isaiah Firebrace's book, 'Ceremonies' about smoking ceremonies and the scared Corroboree. The students finished off their ABC compositions and performed these in front of a supportive audience. It was so great to watch them all read and play their own rhythmic compositions. We will start to explore pitch, tempo and dynamics next term.

Year Five and Year Six

The students in Years Five and Six have been continuing to read, write and play their own music rhythms either in a small group or with a partner. We looked at repeat signs in music and the students were given creative freedom to plan how they wanted to structure their performance. Most chose percussion instruments and now seem to have mastered the music count in (1,2,3,4) and the keeping to a steady beat during a performance. Some groups quite literally whooped and jumped in the air after their performance! (see pictures). I am loving that my excitement is contagious. I am looking forward to reading music and playing pitched instruments next term. We spent some time talking about the term two 'Performing Arts Poster Project'. The project is due in week three and consists of a written part and an oral presentation. We talked at length about the 'success criteria' for the project. They will be given some time during Performing Arts to work on this but they might also like to make a start in the holidays.