Creative and Performing Arts - Courses
The Creative Arts Faculty at Oak Flats High School offer a range of dynamic and exciting subjects for study from year 7 through to year 12.
To quickly jump to a subject or stage, use the navigation on the left.
Stage 4 (Years 7 and 8 - Mandatory courses)
Visual Arts
Human beings have been making artworks as means of communication for much longer that they have been writing. Indeed in some cultures, communication of stories and cultural information about rituals is still via visual images. The making and sharing of visual images is a fundamental human personal and cultural trait common throughout history.
The Visual Arts Mandatory Course provides students with opportunities to learn about the different kinds of creative works that they and others make. It seeks to foster enjoyment and interest in both the making and studying of artworks. By doing this it empowers students to communicate through visual forms using a wide variety of media.
In this course, students learn a variety of traditional and postmodern artmaking techniques including drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, photography and digital media. There is a differentiation throughout the course between artists as studio practitioners and artists as designers.
Students explore themes that relate to their own life such portraits including self-portraits, fantasy, natural environments, myths and legends, sport, the built environment, artists as designers and product and package design. Students study artists and artworks that relate directly to their own artmaking practices n the course.
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Music
The Music Years 7–10 Syllabus contains both Mandatory and Elective courses. The Mandatory course is taught as a coherent study of 100 hours through years 7 and 8. This is a requirement for eligibility for the award of the School Certificate.
Course Description
All students should have the opportunity to develop their musical abilities and potential. Music plays important roles in the social, cultural, aesthetic and spiritual lives of people. At an individual level, music is a medium of personal expression. It enables the sharing of ideas, feelings and experiences. The nature of musical study also allows students to develop their capacity to manage their own learning, engage in problem-solving, work collaboratively and engage in activity that reflects the real world practice of performers, composers and audiences.
What will students learn about?
In the Mandatory course, students will study the concepts of music (duration, pitch, dynamics and expressive techniques, tone colour, texture and structure) through the learning experiences of performing, composing and listening, within the context of a range of styles, periods and genres.
The course requires students to work in a broad range of musical contexts, including an exposure to art music and music that represents the diversity of Australian culture.
What will students learn to do?
In Music, students learn to perform music in a range of musical contexts, compose music that represents the topics they have studied and listen with discrimination, meaning and appreciation to a broad range of musical styles.
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Stage 5 (Years 9 and 10 - Elective courses)
Visual Arts
The course is aimed towards those students who possess an interest and/or have a “natural” talent in Visual Arts and who wish to work in a studio setting. Students learn how to design and make artworks in 2D, 3D and 4D forms such as drawing, painting, photography, digital media, video, ceramics and sculpture. The emphasis is on students developing specialised skills in some of these forms.
Art and design in everyday life are studied through the works of individual artists and historical styles and movements. This study may involve visits to art galleries, virtual tours and workshops by visiting artists.
It is essentially a practical course. The subject contribution fee covers the cost of expendable items such as clay, glazes, paint, canvas, ink, film, paper types and various drawing materials used in art making.
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Visual Design
This course focuses on the role of the artist as a commercial designer in a real world setting. Student learning in this course is matched to the everyday working methods of graphic designers. Students learn graphic design skills in three key areas:
- print (posters, fabric, advertising, cartooning, lettering)
- object (ceramics, containers, stage design, habitat design)
- space-time (video, interior design, environmental design, web design).
Students build a folio of graphic design works over the course to establish potential commercial career options. They study an historical range of graphic designers and their works, and how graphic design has been changed by technology.
The emphasis is on practical skills development. The subject contribution fees covers the cost of expendable items such as clay, paint, inks, film, drawing and printing paper and various construction materials used in graphic design.
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Music
The Elective Music course in Years 9 and 10 is aimed at the student who wishes to further their performance skills and musical knowledge. It is essentially a practical course in which students will learn an instrument of their choice.
The students will be involved in numerous activities including:
- Playing instruments
- Sound recording
- CD production
- Live Performances
- The School Radio Station
- Gaining Technical Staging Knowledge
- Various excursions to venues and educational facilities.
It is preferable that students should have a basic grasp on the instrument of their choice and be looking to further their skills by completing extra curricular activities.
Besides practical work, students are taught to compose their own music and develop an appreciation of music through listening tasks. The $10 subject contribution covers the cost of instrument maintenance and updating.
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Drama
This elective course develops students’ knowledge, understanding and skills, individually and collaboratively, through:
- making drama that explores a range of imagined and created situations in a 2. collaborative drama and theatre environment
- performing devised and scripted drama using a variety of performance techniques, dramatic forms and theatrical conventions to engage an audience
- appreciating the meaning and function of drama and theatre in reflecting the personal, social, cultural, aesthetic and political aspects of the human experience.
In their appreciation of drama and theatre, students are made aware of the collaborative contribution of actors, directors, playwrights, designers and technicians to productions through experiential excursions and in-house workshops. Manipulation of a wide range of technologies including traditional, electronic and digital applications helps students develop stagecraft skills, including lighting and sound applications.
This course provides opportunities for students to explore social, cultural, ethical and spiritual beliefs, including the diverse values of Australian culture.
Stage 6 (Years 11 and 12 - Preliminary and HSC courses)
Entertainment
The Entertainment Industry Curriculum Framework complements the current Board Developed Courses in Drama, Dance and Music that are widely offered in Stages 4, 5 and 6 and provides opportunities for experiences in the entertainment industry.
The entertainment industry is a diverse industry covering a wide range of occupational areas including technical operations, costume, make-up, props, scenic art, sets, audio, lighting, staging, vision systems, customer service and front of house. The Entertainment Industry Curriculum Framework allows selection of units of competency from one or more of the occupational areas.
Courses within the Entertainment Industry Curriculum Framework provide an opportunity for students, including students with special education needs, to gain nationally recognised industry qualifications as part of their Higher School Certificate. Apart from being nationally recognised, these qualifications articulate into higher-level qualifications within the entertainment industry which students may pursue post-school. The framework also provides an optional HSC examination, which allows results from the 240-hour course to contribute to the calculation of the University Admission Index (UAI).
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Music
Music 1 is designed to provide senior students with an opportunity to extend skills acquired in elective Junior Music and acquire new skills, knowledge and experiences. The course is accepted by universities for most tertiary courses and caters for students from a wide range of musical abilities. It is essential, however, that students have had some previous musical experience and can read basic music notation and have some practical experience.
Content
In the Preliminary Course students must study three topic from a list of twenty one including:
- Australian Music
- Medieval Music
- Rock Music Jazz
- etc.
Students undertake activities in the following areas:
- Performance
- Composition
- Musicology
- Aural Music
In the HSC Course students study three different topics and are examined in the same four areas using one area as a major focus. Assessment is continual and all four areas must be studied (ie performance, composition, musicology and aural) although students can choose one area or a combination of areas such as a major study.
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Photography, Video and Digital Imaging
This course is designed for students who want to learn about taking and making photographs and videos. Students are taught to recognise and use a variety of still and video cameras. They learn to set up and work effectively and safely in a darkroom to produce photographic prints. Students learn to set up and use studio lighting to obtain specific lighting effects in their work. They use digital cameras to capture digital images and manipulate them on computer. They shoot and edit video in both traditional and digital formats. There is a strong core of computer skills in both still and video photography in the course.
The emphasis in the course is on practical work. Approximately 70% of the course mark is for tasks in making photographic and video images. Students learn practical skills used in contemporary work in visual arts, design, television, film making, video making, and the mass media and multimedia. There are visits to local photographic studios, television studios and a look at photographic applications, such as the use of photography in satellite imaging. Students are encouraged to develop their own portfolio of works during the course. Students are not required to have their own camera.
This course provides students with knowledge, understanding and skills that form a valuable foundation for a range of courses at university and other tertiary institutions. In addition, the course is accredited with TAFE NSW. Students can gain credit transfer from this course into a TAFE course of their choice. The course is a Content Endorsed Course (CEC) and does not count towards a UAI.
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Visual Arts
Visual Arts is about making and studying artworks, artists and the art world. Students do not need to have studies Visual Arts before to do this course.
Students make artwork about themselves, their family, friends, places, objects of personal interest or value, and issues and themes relevant to their life. Students are taught and work in areas like painting, drawing, claywork, photography, print making and sculpture. Students study the world of art by learning ideas and approaches to art criticism, and facts and concepts in the history of art. This is done through research at schools and visits to galleries.
In the Preliminary Course, students learn to work in many of the practical areas above (like painting, photography etc). Students then make artworks in at lease two of these forms. Art Criticism and Art History are covered by broad investigations of facts and ideas ranging from ancient Chinese clayworks to modern video installations.
In the HSC course, students develop a Body of Work, which may be a single work or several pieces loosely related to each other. Art Criticism and Art History are investigated through five case studies.
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Visual Design
This course is designed for students who wish to concentrate on making artworks that are functional. The emphasis is on the link between art and design and the production of works in graphic design, wearable design, production design and interior/exterior design.
Students design and make practical works in ceramics, jewellery, clothing, furniture, posters, and publications. There is a solid core of graphic computer work in this course. The course work is centered around practical making tasks, with approximately 70% of the course assessment for such work. There is study of artists and artwork that are related to the making tasks that students are undertaking.
This course provides students with knowledge, understanding and skills that form a valuable foundation for a range of courses at university and other tertiary institutions. In addition, the course is accredited with TAFE NSW. Students can gain credit transfer from this course into TAFE course of their choice. The course is a Content Endorsed Course, and does not count towards a UAI.
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