Creative arts
In creative arts, students discover a variety of art forms through a study of dance, drama, music and visual arts.
Studying the creative arts, students learn to appreciate, compose, listen, make and perform. Each art form has its own unique knowledge and skills, elements or concepts as well as a capacity to inspire and enrich lives.
Students study 100 hours of both music and visual arts in Years 7 and 8. Students also have an opportunity to further develop their knowledge and skills in other art forms through elective subjects including drama, dance, photography and digital media in addition to music and visual arts. Students can then select from a range of courses in Years 11 to 12.
Students have the opportunity to explore their creativity through art, music, drama, and extra curricula programs such as dance. The Creative Arts encourages gifted and talented students to think critically and creatively; to experiment, interpret, innovate, imagine, appreciate and communicate and in doing so, contribute to our cultural life developing a clear sense of their own identity.
Visual arts
Visual arts provides opportunities for students to enjoy the making and critical study of art. It builds an understanding of the role of art in all forms of media, both in the contemporary and historical world, and encourages students to develop their ideas and interests in artworks. Visual arts enables students to become informed about, to understand and to write about art their contemporary world. It enables students to develop their own artworks, providing commentary on the world around them as they see it.
Visual arts is a mandatory subject in Year 7 and 8 and its content refers students to engage with Art Making, Critical and Historical Studies and must precede any electives in Visual Arts.
The students are introduced to visual arts in Stage 4 through an exploration of a variety of subject matter and media.
Year 7
Artmaking is linked to two and three-dimensional forms using a variety of different styles and media including: expressive and realistic figure drawing, abstract painting, sculpture and pencil drawing. Students reflect on their work critically whilst critically evaluating the work of their peers and other artists.
Year 8
Students learn the principles of perspective and use the natural and man-made surroundings of the school as a source for making artworks, producing digital photographs and drawings using pencil and mixed media. They also analyse a range of Australian artists’ works who depict urban and natural landscapes.
Visual arts is an elective subject that is offered as a 200-hour course over Year 9 and 10. In addition, Photography and Digital Media, and Visual Design are elective 100 hour subjects in Year 9.
Year 9 visual arts
In Year 9 students learn how to express themselves by representing their ideas using a range of materials, techniques and styles. They investigate different subject matter and develop skills in two and three-dimensional forms through portraiture, landscapes and sculpture. Students explore how to make artworks in a sustained way and produce a body of work. They also develop the ability to critically and historically interpret art and to make informed judgments about artworks. Students have the opportunity to attend a 3-day art making camp at Bundanon and produce experimental sketches, painting, mixed media books and environmental sculptures.
Year 9 photographic and digital media
This course provides opportunities for students to enjoy making and studying about digital photography and film. The students represent their ideas and interests about the world using innovative practices and study traditional and contemporary works. They explore a range of concepts and develop skills in digital photography, photo media and film. The students explore a range of concepts and go on a photography excursion to Cockatoo Island.
Year 10 visual arts
Students examine historical and contemporary art practices by exploring objects and still life over time. The students experiment with a range of different media including collage, print, stencilling drawing and painting to create a hybrid design.
In addition, they extend their knowledge of still life and use a collection of personal objects as the basis for an artwork and learn the principles of digital photography. Students create a multi-media body of work based on the theme "The Secret Life of Objects". They examine a range of historical and contemporary artists that explore still life and objects through a range of mediums and styles.
Students in Stage 6 visual arts are highly motivated and talented artists with a critical eye on the world. Students in Year 11 develop their skills in a range of artmaking activities and increasingly levels of analysis through critical and historical studies. In the HSC year, students embark on a journey as they develop their own unique body of work (BoW) in any expressive form including time-based art, photography, drawing, painting, sculpture and many more. This strength based approach allows students to develop their practice and achieve consistently outstanding results in visual arts.
Music
All students also have the opportunity to develop their musical abilities and potential. Throughout the course, students will discover how music as an artform plays important roles in the social, cultural, aesthetic and spiritual lives of people around the world.
At an individual level, music is a medium of personal expression. It enables the sharing of ideas, feelings and experiences which students will explore through the learning experiences of performing, composing and listening, within the context of a range of styles, periods and genres. They will also study the elements of music (duration, pitch, dynamics and expression, performing media and timbre, texture and structure).
Manly Campus provides a comprehensive Stage 4 Music program exploring a variety of music in context and music in practice. Throughout the course, students actively engage in performing, composing and listening, developing both their practical skills and their understanding of how music works through the elements of music.
Students are encouraged to learn a new instrument, while also having the opportunity to further refine skills on their current instrument. They apply their learning across a range of experiences including composition, arranging, improvisation and performance, building confidence, creativity and musical independence along the way.
Music in Years 9 and 10 exposes students to a broad range of musical styles, genres and historical periods, including Baroque, Classical, Jazz and Opera, as well as a variety of ensemble settings. Through the study of music in context and music in practice, students deepen their understanding of the Elements of Music while strengthening their performing, composing and listening skills.
Students engage in diverse musical experiences such as exploring ethnomusicology, composing radio plays, improvising using jazz language, performing music from different cultures and analysing scores from significant works across history. These experiences encourage critical thinking, creativity and musical confidence as students continue to develop as independent musicians.
In Stage 6, students build on the knowledge and skills developed in the elective course, applying them in a strength-based approach in the senior years of Music.
Music 2 is a 2-unit course. The Preliminary course focuses on the mandatory topic of Music from 1600–1900, alongside an additional topic chosen by the class. The HSC Music 2 course focuses on the mandatory topic of Music of the Last 25 Years (with an Australian focus) and an additional topic individually selected by each student in consultation with their teacher. This allows students to work in areas of personal strength and develop their skills in ways that suit them.
In HSC Music 2, students complete an aural and Musicology examination, a composition of up to two minutes, and a performance with sight-singing based on the mandatory topic. They also choose an elective in Performance, Composition or Musicology, aligned with their strengths and additional topic. This approach helps students develop their practice and achieve consistently outstanding results in Music.
Students may also choose to undertake Music Extension, a 1-unit course that builds on Music 2 and allows specialisation in Performance, Musicology or Composition. Performance students prepare a recital of two solo pieces and one ensemble piece, up to 20 minutes in total. Musicology students produce a 3,000-word essay, and Composition students create two contrasting pieces of up to six minutes combined. Music Extension provides a pathway for students to deepen their practice and achieve excellence in their chosen area.
Every year, the staff at Manly Campus organise incursions and excursions to support Music 2 and Music Extension students. These include sessions with professional composers and performers who work one-on-one with students, providing specialist instruction and reinforcing the work undertaken in the classroom.
As part of the HSC Music support program, our campus participates in HSC Music Day, held at one of the Northern Beaches Secondary College campuses each year. This day brings together students from all five campuses to take part in workshops specific to the Music 1, Music 2, and Music Extension courses. Music 2 students participate in workshops across the four learning areas, aural, musicology, performance and composition, receiving valuable feedback and insights from both staff and peers across the college.
In addition to these cross-campus days, students regularly attend Encore, the showcase of exemplary works from previous HSC years. This performance, held at the Opera House, is always a highlight of the year.
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