CAPA Faculty 

Welcome to 2024. This year we have some exciting events happening in CAPA from excursions to visual arts workshops, and both music and drama performances. 

In CAPA we have the lovely:

Drama

Year 12 Drama students have started the year head first. Jumping straight into the new topic ‘Verbatim Theatre’, where they are reading two plays Paramatta Girls and Embers. They will also be creating their own original piece of Verbatim Theatre. As well as all of this, Year 12 are still working on their Individual Projects. 

Year 11 Drama students have started the year with ‘The Elements of Production’ and have read through the play Ruby Moon and have begun practical workshops based on their own interpretation of scenes from the play. They will eventually perform a duologue from the play as an assessment. 

Drama Ensemble

Students from all years have signed up to join the Drama Ensemble. We have had so many people sign up that we have had to split the ensemble into junior and senior. Through this, ensemble students will participate in practical workshops, drama competitions, performance nights and will be auditioning for Star Struck. 

Onstage Excursion

Students from Years 12 and 11 attended the Onstage excursion on February 14. Onstage features a selection of exemplary group and individual projects from 2023 Higher School Certificate Drama students including performances, video drama, and a moved reading of a script. Students were inspired by these performances and are keen to start their own. 

Music

In Year 8, Music students are discovering rhythm and rap this term. As part of their assessment task, students have been tasked with composing their own rap song and lyrics. All rap songs are sounding incredible and we can not wait to hear the end product. 

In Year 9 Music, students are studying the topic Australian Music with a focus on composition, as their assessment task requires them to write an original piece of music reflective of an Australian style of music. Students are very enthused about the assessment and we cannot wait to hear their work. 

In Year 10 Music, students are investigating the mammoth genre of music which is Rock, taking a look at the origins of the genre, different styles and trends. For the assessment task, students are doing an aural response based on a rock music excerpt with a focus on the musical concepts Texture, Structure and Pitch. 

In Year 11 Music, students are delving into the world of composition. For their assessment task this term, students are working towards composing their own piece of music for two or more instruments. From this they will analyse their compositions and present a viva voce based on their musical findings. 

In Year 12 Music, students are working hard rehearsing and refining their music performances in preparation for their assessment task in week 7 of this term. The talent in this class is impressive and we look forward to hearing their performances in the coming weeks. 

In music there are always performance opportunities. If you have a child who is interested in being a part of a group and creating music, please have them see Mr Howard or Mrs Ayres in the CAPA staffroom. 

Photography

In Year 9 Photography, students are introduced to compact camera technology, compositional techniques and digital editing programs. Students have been exploring the use of composition within their photography with hopes to enhance the images using editing software such as Lightroom and Photoshop. 

In Year 10 Photography, students have begun the year by revisiting the rules of composition, preparing themselves to start creating fantasy urban landscapes using Photoshop and the digital manipulation skills they learned last year to create the images. 

In Year 11 photography, students are starting with a Masters Introduction to Photography, including learning the rules of composition. They will soon be entering the world of the Digital SLR, learning all about how they can control light in different ways and creating different photographic effects. 

Year 12 have hit the ground running. Into their second term of their last year they are experimenting with studio lighting and high end advertising photography. They also completed a series of “joiner” photographs, inspired by photographer David Hockney, at the end of Term 4 2023.

Visual Art

In Year 7 Visual Art, students have started their high school art adventures by exploring the elements of art, through a series of workshops and practical activities they are creating examples of each of the 7 elements, which are the essential building blocks of every art work. Soon they will be using this knowledge to design and create their own optical illusion artworks.

In Year 8 Design and Drawing, students are exploring and refining their drawing skills. Students are exploring the animal kingdom, specifically Arthropoda and Arachnida, and learning about a diverse range of themes such as sustainability, ecological awareness and waste hierarchy. Students have started drawing large scale artworks on some of the smallest animals in the world, this requires a lot of time and commitment to complete these designs. 

In Year 9 Visual Arts, students are exploring the wider world of Visual Arts, looking into a range of new and wonderful art styles such as Cubism, Neo Expressionism and Modernism. Students are beginning to design a clay artwork all about themselves, exploring the icons, symbols and elements of art that represent their personalities.

In Year 10 Visual Arts, students have embarked on a new year of study within Visual Arts, developing the skills gained in their year 9 studies. Students have commenced Term 1 delving into the artmaking themes, ‘Memento Mori’ and ‘Vanitas’. Students will create their own realistic-styled drawing still life which reflects the 16th and17th century Dutch theme Vanitas and/or Memento Mori. 

Stay tuned for the next newsletter for images of their final artworks.

In Year 11, students have embarked on their senior adventure. Students have spent the beginning of term learning and revising the syllabus content for Stage 6 Visual Arts and delved into the grand timeline of art history, dating back to c.60,000 B.C.E.

Year 12 continue their senior journey and have been hard at work developing and experimenting on their body of work. Year 12 have embarked on their new case study which raises critical dialogue on what it means to be an Australian in our contemporary society, focusing on the exhibition ‘Just Not Australian’.

HPGE (High Potential and Gifted) Opportunities

Art Matters workshops provide opportunities for students in Years 5 to 10 to develop visual art making skills through participating in intensive workshops, encompassing:

• Validation of the importance of visual arts, including as an intra and interpersonal expression
• Understanding of subject matters explored in artmaking, especially art as a tool to communicate contemporary issues
• Experimentation with a variety of artmaking substances.

Three Year 10 students have been selected to participate in Art Matters in week 5 of term 1, at Maitland Regional Art Gallery. Students will work alongside artist, Kate Rhode and teacher, Alana Parker in developing their skills in 3D plaster sculpture making. 

Upcoming Excursions

Keep an eye out for opportunities for the following excursions.

Grease the Musical - On the 3rd of April we will be heading to Sydney to experience Grease the Musical live at the Capitol Theatre.  

Year 11 & 12 Music students will have the opportunity to attend the HSC Music Day at the Newcastle Conservatorium on Friday 3rd May. This is a great day for all Prelim and HSC students to experience an exciting program that focuses on Australian music, including performances by Encore nominees, local artists, valuable presentations by HSC markers and a selection of performance, composition, musicology and aural skills workshops.

Year 10, 11 & 12 Visual Art and Photography students will be attending an excursion in Sydney later in the term to see the ARTEXPRESS exhibition of selected HSC works from 2023. This is an excellent opportunity for students to experience first hand some of the outstanding work of their contemporaries.

Samantha Moody

CAPA Faculty