Creative Arts/LOTE

Welcome from the Creative Arts and LOTE team for 2016. There has been quite a bit happening in the Creative Arts and LOTE KLA, even at this stage of Term 1. There are a number excursions that the students are either about to embark on or have already visited, which is really important in building on their learning experiences in each subject. We are planning a number of activities and more information will be given as we get closer to these events. The students are engaged in their learning experiences and this year it is really exciting to see Japanese has begun as a new elective subject in Year 9. The Creative Arts and LOTE team and students cannot wait to share with everyone what we are doing in the creative hub of Mater Dei. This includes a revitalised Showcase Evening in Term 4. This major event in the College will have more of a student driven approach where they will have a major stake in curating the event. Now some news about the learning that has been in action so far this term...

Photography and Digital Media

Year 9 Photography and Digital Media students are exploring the compositional elements of photography, completing photo challenges successfully applying their new knowledge. Photographs have be exhibited in a variety of interesting and creative ways.

Year 10 Photography and Digital Media students are exploring their identity through a series of postmodern self-portraits. Students are developing concepts, gathering props and designing backdrops in order to create a series of self-portraits including static, moving, virtual and manipulated self-portrait.

Year 11 has been taking photographs to demonstrate their understanding of the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. Also students have been creating work that demonstrates the rules of composition that artists use when composing photographs. Tomorrow, Friday 4th of March, Year 11 will be visiting The Wagga Wagga Art Gallery for a guided tour of Sarah Misford's "Distortion and Transformation" exhibition to explore conceptual art making.

Year 12 Photography, Video and Digital Media students are developing creative techniques to use in creating video. A video will be used in conjunction with the up and coming musical “Popstars” where the students will shoot and create a 90’s style pop video. Students will also be using digital devices to build skills in camera angles and enhancing their knowledge of composition, lighting and effects.

DRAMA

In Year 11 Drama we have been experimenting with playbuilding and working as a class to devise a performance. We are currently exploring the different concepts of trust and the ways it can be abused or misused through varying forms such as physical, mental and emotional.

Some aspects of Drama we have applied to our performances are scenes without dialogue, synchronised movement and freeze frames to help navigate through scenes. When playbuilding, the class brainstorms together to come up with different creative ideas to approach a scene. The steps to play building are as follows: Research and investigation, finding the spine, working on scenes, putting it together, rehearsing, performance and finally the evaluation.

Last week, we performed to a Year 10 audience and were given feedback of WWW and EBI. This was a very rewarding experience as we performed once, then applied the feedback straight away and performed again.

Connor Nielsen Year 11 Drama Student

This term in Year 10 Drama our large class consisting of 24 students has begun with a flying start, building on the skills developed throughout the Year 9 course. In pairs, students have devised a comprehensive warm up that each pair leads the class in at the beginning of practical lessons. Students have also explored the features of Aboriginal Theatre through a reading and analysis of the Seven Stages of Grieving from which they developed a one-minute performance piece to explore the theme of grief. Students are now learning about the conventions of Street Theatre and in groups are developing a longer performance piece on a current social issue. They are working collaboratively to improve and refine playbuilding skills which will form the basis of the first assessment task.

Japanese

Minasan, konnichiwa!

Japanese in 2016 is underway with a busy start that has seen the program grow with the implementation of an elective class in Year 9. These students have completed a quick recap of the work covered in Year 8 and are now working on their first Year 9 topic, “Family”. Their enthusiasm is infectious and their language skills are improving everyday.

Year 8 students have learned some of the basic Japanese greetings and are trying hard to remember the 20 Hiragana that they have been introduced to. They are being encouraged to do a little revision each day to keep on top of their vocabulary and Hiragana. Language Perfect and GoVocab are great ways for them to do this both at school and at home.

Music

Year 7 music classes have been exploring the Concepts of Music through an introduction to the Concepts Duration, Pitch, and Dynamics and Expressive Techniques. The students are also currently working on their first assessment task, “Creating an Idea for an App”, using the Concepts of Music. They have been exploring these ideas through a variety of listening, performance, and composition activities. Favourite lessons (so far) include where the students used the online software “Soundation” to compose their own techno/dub-step music using loops, and combined performance and composition lessons where the students created original rhythm, beat, and movement routines using basketballs.

Year 8 Music classes have been exploring Rock Music through an introduction to its history, musical characteristics, and famous bands and artists. Year 8 students are currently working on their first assessment task, “Researching a Chosen Rock Band” for a presentation due at the end of Term 1. The students have been exploring these ideas through a variety of listening, performance, and composition activities. Activities students have engaged in this term include creating their own original rock band, album design, and lessons on rock drumming performance techniques.

Year 9 Music classes this term are currently learning about, and discovering, Jazz music. The students began by exploring the Blues through a variety of listening, performance, and composition activities. The students are working toward a Jazz performance assessment task due at the end of this term. The students are currently learning about the sub-genre of Swing. Year 9 has been learning to perform songs by Meghan Trainor, Adele, Robbie Williams, Michael Buble and The Black Keys and how to compose their own original 12 bar blues pieces.

Matilda and Encore

On the 21st of February we travelled up to Sydney to go and see two shows, the first one being Matilda the Musical. The Matilda musical was spectacular, with great child singers, and songs to complement them all. The show was amazing and performed well by all the actors, and the musical score was a treasure to listen to. The next day we went to Encore at the Sydney Opera House. This featured 22 of the best musical compositions and performances from the HSC, 2015. There was a wide range of genres, including Jazz, Metal and Classical and these performances were really inspiring. Encore showed us that if you do something you love, and do it well, you can score well. Encore