Visual Arts and Performing Arts:
Visual Arts with Belinda
Welcome to 2020!
I’m so happy to be your child’s Visual Arts teacher for this year. I’ve got lots of exciting activities planned and the students and I are ready to sink our teeth into a new year of learning and creating!
This term, F/1 students will begin with exploring mark making using a variety of media (felt tip markers, oil pastels, watercolour pencils etc.). They will begin some colour theory and learn how to use paint in the art room.
2/3s will begin with really exploring what can be done with oil pastels. We will use birds as our inspiration and play with marks and printing. Later in the term, we’ll extend our knowledge of colour theory and mix some tertiary colours.
4/5/6s begin the term unpacking the elements of art (shape, value, colour, line, form, value, texture) and will make some displays for the whole school. Then we move onto self-portraits inspired by the style of Spanish speaking artist, Frida Kahlo. Following this, we will strengthen our understanding of colour theory by working with a monochromatic scale.
So many fun activities to look forward to!
Over the years, a fairly substantial art smock collection has amassed in the art room, so there’s no need to send one in with your student. However, if you’re a family that still gets newspapers and don’t use them for compost, please bring them into the art room! Art rooms still love newspapers!
Music with Maestro David
Learn an instrument at NPS
We have four visiting instrumental teachers at the school who are available for your child to take lessons during school hours. Please contact the teacher directly to arrange lesson times and payment.
Rachel Jones (piano) racheljones2003@hotmail.com
Renee Bufton (violin) reneebufton@gmail.com phone: 0402 307 370
Kyra (piano/keyboard, ukulele) and Pat Bath (ukulele, bass guitar and drums) patrick_bath@yahoo.com Phone 0404 395 078
Recorder in music classes
As well as the availability of private instrumental lessons, musical instruments are used extensively in Music classes. In 2018, students in years 3/4 had recorder as part of their curriculum, and they showed very swift progress as we worked through pieces like Queen Caroline - in fact, students in year 5 and 6 sang the song from memory spontaneously when we were discussing recorder in class this week!
Now that our school structure is firmly in place, it has been decided to bring recorder back into the curriculum - not just for years 4-6, but now also for years 2/3. Recorder is a wonderful teaching instrument, particularly for developing musicianship, and in my experience former students have reported that it made learning a band instrument much easier when they went to high school.
More details about recorder in the curriculum will be provided in a letter to parents in the coming weeks.
School Concert 2020
Luke, Mr Dudgeon and I had a very enlightening discussion this week with Piero D'Elia, our Region's Music coordinator, about the options we have for exploring this year's concert. With enrolment numbers at the school higher than they have been for decades, it is important that we make serious decisions about how to stage this important event, and Piero's advice was very helpful. More on this will be revealed as details and dates are confirmed, but we are looking at early term 4, for those of you keen to know!
Spanish in Music classes
As the term progresses, Spanish will be incorporated more and more into the delivery of the lessons. Many students will remember some Music lessons last year that were delivered almost entirely in Spanish! Our incorporation of CLIL into the curriculum has been very successful and we want to take advantage of it wherever possible.