Reservoir West Primary School

THE ARTS

RESPONSIBILITY: Wes Morton/Daniela Conte

This domain is taught by specialist teachers and instructors:

Mr Wes Morton - Visual Arts

Mrs Daniela Conte - Music

These specialist programs are supplemented by

• Singing and Performance program
• School band
• Guitar lessons
• Senior and Junior Choirs
• Dance program
• Biennial School Production

The Arts are unique, expressive, creative and communicative forms that engage students in critical and creative thinking and help them understand themselves and the world. In every society the Arts play a pivotal role socially, economically and culturally. The Arts encourage the development of skills and the exploration of technologies, forms and processes through single and multimodal forms.

The Arts domain encompasses a diverse and ever-changing range of disciplines and forms that can be used to structure teaching and learning programs. The domain allows students to create and critically explore visual culture, performances in contemporary and traditional genres, and works that involve the fusion of traditional forms with digital media. Schools use the arts disciplines of Art, Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual Communication to plan programs. Imagination and creativity, pivotal to the Arts, are essential to our wellbeing because we create much of our world in order to enhance our experiences and understandings of the diverse perspectives that constitute our cultural heritage.

Learning in the Arts allows students to communicate their perceptions, observations and understanding of structures, functions and concepts drawn from other areas of the curriculum.

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Learning in the Arts is sequential and students should have continuous experience in the different arts disciplines they undertake at a particular level. At Levels 1, 2 and 3 all students should experience learning in Performing Arts (Dance, Drama and Music) and Visual Arts (Art, including two-dimensional and three-dimensional, and Media) disciplines and forms.

At all levels, learning programs in the arts disciplines should provide opportunities for students to experience a range of traditional, contemporary (including digital) and new media/multi-disciplinary forms and genres.

Standards in the Arts domain are organised in two dimensions:

• creating and making
• exploring and responding.

Standards for the Exploring and responding dimension are introduced from Level 3.

The frames of reference – interpreting, responding, performing, presenting, ideas, skills, techniques, processes, context, aesthetics and criticism – are integral to both dimensions as Exploring and responding draws on students’ experiences as creators, makers, performers and/or audience.

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Creating and Making

The Creating and making dimension focuses on ideas, skills, techniques, processes, performances and presentations. It includes engagement in concepts that emerge from a range of starting points and stimuli. Students explore experiences, ideas, feelings and understandings through making, interpreting, performing, creating and presenting. Creating and making arts works involves imagination and experimentation; planning; the application of arts elements, principles and/or conventions; skills, techniques and processes; media, materials, equipment and technologies; reflection; and refinement. Individually and collaboratively, students explore their own works and works by other artists working in different historic and cultural contexts.

Exploring and Responding

The Exploring and responding dimension focuses on context, interpreting and responding, criticism and aesthetics. It involves students analysing and developing understanding about their own and other people’s work and expressing personal and informed judgments of arts works. Involvement in evaluating meaning, ideas and/or content in finished products is integral to engagement in the Arts.

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VICTORIAN ESSENTIAL LEARNING STANDARDS

This table outlines where a student is expected to be at a particular time in his/her educational journey. Most students will achieve the expected standard. Some will achieve to a higher standard. Some may not reach the expected standard.

Click to view a description of the behaviours that a student should display at each progression point in The Arts at Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4.

A student’s achievement is reported to parents at June and December. Click for an explanation of the Report Card.

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