In The Arts Learning Area at Como Secondary College students develop creative skills, critical appreciation and knowledge of artistic techniques and technologies in drama, media, visual arts dance and music. Engagement in the arts provides young people with authentic and meaningful learning experiences that engage their minds and creative spirits and fosters an understanding and lifelong appreciation for arts and culture. The Arts engages students in learning multiple skills and abilities, nurturing the development of a wide range of cognitive, social, and personal competencies.
Students are able to study The Arts throughout their schooling, with pathways offered in a variety disciplines from Year 7 through to Year 12.
Drama is for all students who love the idea of performing or would like to develop their ability to perform to an audience or camera. The Drama courses foster fun, creativity and spontaneity and refines each student’s talent in performance, design and theatre making. Students will extend their skills in voice, movement, improvisation, mime and characterisation. Students will be involved in performances of published scripts and their own self-devised material, including a consideration of design elements such as costume, set, lighting, sound and promotion. This is an exciting course for all students interested in acting, performance sound and lighting design.
In Media students are provided with opportunities to explore how media texts are constructed in ways which will impact particular audiences in particular contexts. They learn to think critically about the media texts they read, hear and view, as well as creating their own. Students develop and refine their skills and processes for problem-solving, working as a team, following timelines and using processes and strategies to ensure safe and responsible use of media equipment. Students engage with the wider school community, using skills taught to contribute the publicity of events such as festivals, fundraiser and carnivals.
In Visual Arts students are encouraged to use visual communication to challenge their own original ideas, and the ideas of others, both as arts practitioners, and members of an audience. They will develop and extend conceptual and perceptual knowledge and understanding, critical analysis and practical skills, through the exploration of the world in which they live and experience and the world of the imagination. The Visual Arts course encourages students in an exciting journey of self-discovery, experimentation, and practical problem solving embedded in visual inquiry, analysis, creative problem solving and Visual Arts practice. The Visual Arts course extends students’ critical thinking skills in the analysis and interpretation of artworks, encouraging cultural appreciation of the arts in both a historical and a contemporary context, through the exploration of artists and their works.
Dance is expressive movement with purpose and form. Through Dance, students represent, question and celebrate human experience, using movement as the medium for personal, social, emotional, physical and cultural communication.
Active participation as dancers, choreographers and audiences promotes wellbeing and social inclusion. Learning in and through Dance enhances students’ knowledge and understanding of diverse cultures and contexts and develops their personal, social and cultural identity.
Music has the capacity to engage, entertain, challenge, inspire and empower students. Studying music stimulates imaginative and innovative responses, critical thinking and aesthetic understanding, and encourages students to reach their creative and expressive potential.
Music exists distinctively in every culture and is a basic expression of human experience. Students’ active participation in music, individually and collaboratively, draws on their own traditions and life experiences. These experiences help them to appreciate and meaningfully engage with music practices and traditions of other times, places, cultures and contexts.
