Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2024, and welcome your input:

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

Wominjeka!

That’s a wrap!!!

A BIG congratulations to everyone who performed in our whole school production, "Cinderella and Rockerfella". What an incredible performance by all of our students. It was amazing to watch them shine on stage and see all of their hard work come to fruition. You should be so proud of your children. A big thanks to YOU as well, for being the most supportive and enthusiastic audience we have probably ever had! We even had calls of ‘encore’ one night! I know that a lot of students also wished we could have done an encore and did not want the fun to end. We sold all available tickets on both nights and enjoyed every minute of entertaining you.

We still have our spectacular photo board on display in our front reception area (thank you Lauren) and as mentioned, Qantem Multimedia professionally filmed the show on both nights. This recording (either on USB or MP4 download) can now be ordered directly from them (see below). You will receive BOTH nights as well as some extra photos and backstage interviews. Please note that ordering will close on Friday 30th August at midnight.

https://www.trybooking.com/CUDJD

Orders will be sent out in the following week. MP4 Links will be emailed directly to the email address supplied when ordering and USB copies will be delivered directly to our school for distribution. We will notify you when they have arrived.

Once again, thank you for supporting The Arts at USPS and thank you to those of you who sent me beautiful cards and kind words of support. My bucket is very full! Now to start planning for our 2026 school production!

STATE SCHOOLS SPECTACULAR

We had a SPECTACULAR day at our mass HUB rehearsal on FRIDAY 9th August at HE Parker reserve. It was great to see most of our dancers remember their costumes and it was very exciting to explore our new costume items. Some quick costume reminders:

Jeans must be blue denim with no rips or patterns on them
Shoes and socks need to be white
All dancers should have a singlet top (white or beige) and bike pants. We have some super quick costume changes with no time to find a change room/bathroom.
Hair needs to be neat and tidy - braids and plaits are recommended/or tied back
Make up is not necessary

Important Dates and Times - City Rehearsals

Thursday 12th September - 10am to 6pm rehearsal

The bus will leave school at 8.30am and return at approximately 7.00pm

Friday 13th September - 9am to 5pm rehearsal

The bus will leave school at 7.30am and return at approximately 6.00pm

Saturday 14th September - Shows 1pm (matinee) and 6.30pm (evening)

On performance day you will need to make your own way to John Cain arena where I will be waiting for you. Please arrive at 11.00am. Pick up at the end of the night will be approximately 9.30pm.

I will send home more information next week about drop off and pick up points and dinner plans between the shows.

Parking

You may have heard the City of Melbourne is having their welcome back/celebration of the Olympic team also on Saturday 14 September. Parking will be at a premium on this day. I highly encourage you to book your city parking as soon as possible and carpool where you can.

The VSSS hoodie can still be purchased online (see below). Please note that they do not form part of the compulsory uniform and are an optional extra. Students can wear them to school if they wish but please make sure they are named.

IMPORTANT, please note:

These hoodies are made-to-order and will take up to 3 weeks for delivery.
Delivery will be made to an address of your choice (i.e. home, workplace/office).
No returns or exchanges are available for this it’s made to order.
Hoodies are $55 and can be ordered online https://ssr-online-store.myshopify.com/products/2024-vsss-zip-up-hoodie-jacket

In the Performing Arts room

Foundation

We had some wonderful conversations back in the Performing Arts room after our school production. The students shared the things they loved about the experience and unpacked some wonderings about 'when we can do it again?'. We completed a whole class Portfolio Task which captured these thoughts and feelings whilst fresh in our minds. We will continue to develop a range of performing skills this term. The students used their creative imaginations during the game, 'How did you get to school?'. It was wonderful to listen to all of their creative ideas. Some included arriving by kangaroo, delivered by Rudolph, jumping out of a parachute, using magic shoes, being dropped off by a Daddy Longlegs spider,riding a Troll and by flying dog. We played the game, 'What on earth are you doing?' which challenged the students to think on their feet and use their bodies to mime an action as realistically as possible. We have been enjoying some relaxing visualisations together at the end of our lessons.

Year one and two

The students in Years one and two enjoyed chatting about their school production experiences. They shared stories about things happening before, during and after the show as well as on the stage, beside the stage and in the well known 'black box' (which is their changing room at Burrinja theatre). It was very entertaining. They completed their Portfolio Task reflecting on all of their emerging stagecraft skills and capturing their thoughts and feelings post-production. The students spent some time exploring the art of 'Tableau', which translates to 'living picture'. They worked in small groups to create silent pictures with no movement. They captured different shop settings (see photos below - can you guess the shops?) and then a variety of locations. I was super impressed with their focus, creativity and collaboration skills.

Year three and four

The students in Years three and four were given the opportunity to use their voices to provide feedback on our recent school production. Their Portfolio Task required them to look at the good and not so good things about our show and then provide ideas for our 2026 show, in which they will then be the school leaders and actors! We will be continuing to develop their drama skills this term, working with both scripted drama as well as improvised role plays. We took advantage of our Book Week dress up costumes to improvise some very funny scenes involving characters such as George and his giant peach, Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Rosetta the pink Fairy. We have started working on a scripted poem entitled, 'A Tourist Promotion' in which the mood of the poem changes half way through. We are workshopping ways we can show this on stage.

Year five and six

It was rather strange to see the Year five and six students arrive at Performing Arts without their scripts for the first time since EASTER!!! I enjoyed chatting to them about their favourite production moments and celebrated their success together. We had some constructive conversations about 'bloopers' and what to do (and what not to do) when you or someone else in your scene forgets a line or when things don't go as planned on stage. They completed their Portfolio Task which gave them the opportunity to connect their production experience to our school values of respect, resilience and responsibility. We spent some time looking at some 'rules' relating to the art of improvisation and the students had an opportunity to work on the first rule, namely, to say 'Yes...and add on more information'. Sounds pretty simple, but was actually quite challenging. We worked on the 'art of conversation' and tips for keeping dialogue moving.

Instrumental Lessons

At the end of this page is information about our school's Instrumental Program that is run by Groove Foundations. We offer lessons on most instruments and have an outstanding team of musicians who deliver this program to over 100 students. 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. Feel free to contact Jordan Scotney who would be happy to answer any of your questions.

School Choir

The junior (1 to 2) and senior (3 to 6) choirs have now started back for Semester Two and we are keen to have some new people join us. The senior choir meets every Wednesday and the junior choir meets every Thursday. Please note that sometimes, due to other events taking place in the school, the choir times will be changed. Very occasionally I will have to call lunchtime rehearsals so we can catch up on missed singing time. I have noticed that some students still do not have a plastic wallet or binder with pockets. They need this so that they can collect the lyric sheets for the songs we are singing. We will be singing a whole school choir song for you at the next assembly.

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