From the 

Head of Junior School

Art in the Junior School

Creative arts is a key learning area in the NSW curriculum. Students learn the disciplines of visual arts, music, and drama, as well as learning about the arts (the skills and processes involved) and through the arts; artists, perspectives, themes, and ideas using the arts. In all areas of learning, our teachers value imagination, creativity, and original thinking. The creative disciplines of visual arts, music and drama are closely connected to each other and have strong links to other Key Learning Areas. 

The Creative Arts are built into the curriculum at Kinross Wolaroi and are essential areas of learning, not added on as optional extras. At Kinross Wolaroi our specialist teachers have specific responsibilities in the Creative Arts. Visual arts is taught in Years Pre-K to 4 by Mrs Alicia Holmes and class teachers in Years 5 and 6, music and drama by Mrs Pip Waters and Mrs Katie Sinclair and our talented class teachers.  These are all significant disciplines in their own right and important sign systems for interpreting and understanding the world. Students are encouraged to consider the Creative Arts as a means of communication and as an expressive language. 

In addition to the Creative Arts experiences that are built into the curriculum, students have many opportunities to take their excitement and connection beyond the classroom. We offer a wide range of before school, lunch and after school opportunities. These include items such as dance at lunch with Mr Paul, choirs, ensembles, and bands with our Music Department or a ceramics experience with Mrs Whiteley. 

Creativity is at the heart of the arts. It allows for innovation, interpretation, research, analysis and transfer. Learning through the arts has a positive influence on self-esteem and creative development which carries over to all aspects of learning. Valuing imagination and celebrating original thinking promotes initiative and a lifelong love of learning. 

From an early age our students have the opportunity to develop genuine interest, to give careful consideration to their work, to become self-critical and reflective. They are provided with opportunities to communicate about their creative work and to share their understanding with teachers, peers, and families. With the opening of our Glasshouse this year the Junior School would like to invite families on a Friday afternoon from 3:15 to 4:00pm to gather as a community and view our student creations. This is a wonderful opportunity for the community to gather together and for your child to share their creations.

Visual arts as a discipline includes the development of creative skills, verbal and non-verbal expression, an awareness of the perspectives of others and aesthetic appreciation. It enables students to communicate in powerful ways that go beyond their spoken language ability. Through visual arts, students can begin to construct an understanding of their community, their environment, their own feelings, and emotions and develop their cultural awareness. 

In all societies and cultures, the arts play a significant role in how meaning is made in peoples’ lives. They offer opportunities for personal expression, enjoyment, creative action, imagination, emotional response, aesthetic pleasure, and the creation of shared meanings. The arts provide opportunities to explore social and cultural values about spiritual and worldly beliefs in Australia and in other regions and cultures and to celebrate, share and negotiate these values and beliefs. 

Each of the arts employs a kind of symbol system or language. Students develop knowledge of and learn to ‘read’ the conventions of the symbol systems used in the arts to communicate and exchange ideas about the world. Makers, performers and audiences benefit from a literacy of the signs, codes and conventions used within each of the arts. Various people contribute to how meaning is made in each of the arts, including artists, performers, composers, designers, dancers, architects, actors, directors, choreographers, and writers. Others are involved as audience members, viewers and consumers of the arts. At Kinross Wolaroi, the Creative Arts provides opportunities for students to explore how people are involved in making, performing and appreciating during visual arts, music, drama and dance. Students consider some of the reasons why works are made (eg. to provoke a response, capture a mood or feeling, extend ideas and techniques, for a special event or to offer a critical insight or express a point of view). 

In the longer term, learning in the Creative Arts assists students to become informed consumers of the arts and culture, to empathise with others, and to consider a range of career paths. The Creative Arts provide opportunities for students to respect the views of various social and cultural groups, people with different religions and belief systems and people with disabilities. It offers opportunities for students to value the different perspectives of females and males.

We are so fortunate to have dedicated specialist teachers and spaces for Creative Arts, including the School farm at Windermere to take our expression out into the environment. I look forward to catching up with many families over the coming weeks or on Friday afternoon from 3:15 to 4:00pm as we display our first student artworks in the Glasshouse. 

Lunch box ideas

As we near the end of the term families may be looking for a little inspiration for what to put in the lunch box. Although in writing this I have been so impressed with what many students are bringing to School and their own involvement in creating a most appetizing assortment of food. The links below from the Cancer Council are a lovely way to continue the discussions. 

Their website has everything you need to know about packing a healthy lunch. 

• Interactive lunch box builder: for parents to use with their children to plan and pack a lunch box with foods they like and will eat!
• Recipes: 100's of simple, budget friendly recipes that can be filtered for dietary preference, meal type, time to make and easy to freeze.
• Videos: see how easy it is to make our recipes. 
• Snack ideas: get inspiration for healthy snacks kids will love.
• Healthy swaps: great ideas for alternatives to those common unhealthy lunch box snacks.
• Blogs: packed with useful information, ideas and resources to help you with healthy lunch boxes

Kinross Wolaroi Students making their Mark 

At Kinross Wolaroi we value and strive for academic rigour. Students have a myriad of opportunities to engage in enriching learning experiences which in some instances the School provides or facilitates student access to them. Please share with us your child’s interest, passions, and achievements by emailing junioroffice@kws.nsw.edu.au.

Congratulations to our Under 11 Cricket Team and Mr Whitehead for making the semi finals. While celebrating their season the team met up with the Wiggles at dinner.