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 must study 100 hours of both music and visual arts during Years 7 to 10. They also have an opportunity to further develop their knowledge and skills in other art forms through elective subjects including drama, dance, photography and visual design. Students can then select from a range of courses in Years 11 to 12.
The creative and performing arts (CAPA) faculty is an active and enthusiastic department which includes the subjects, such as drama, music, photography, vocational education training entertainment and visual arts.
The CAPA department at our school creates opportunities to make meaningful and relevant links to learning by enabling students to perform and display their works in a variety of settings within the school and wider community.
Killarney Heights High School provides the following specialist facilities for students studying CAPA subjects:
- drama studio
- photography darkroom
- art studios with technology access
- music rooms
- music keyboard lab fitted with 15 computers and compatible keyboards and software
- kilns.
Drama
Drama is taught at Killarney Heights High School Years 7 to 10 and into Year 11 and 12 for the higher school certificate (HSC) as a two-unit Australian tertiary admission rank (ATAR) subject.
Performance opportunities exist for drama students throughout the year, including the metropolitan north drama camp and drama festival, showcases and official functions.
Students from Killarney Heights High School have successfully auditioned and been selected to perform with the state junior and senior drama ensemble as well as the state senior drama company, all of which are run as an extra-curricular activity by the performing arts unit. Training with these ensembles and companies leads to performance tours throughout NSW as well as performances at the state drama festival and plays at the Seymour Centre.
In Years 7 and 8, students are introduced to the elements of drama as a basis for characterisation and performance. Throughout Years 9 to 12, students engage in the making, performing and appreciating of a variety of theatre forms and styles such as commedia dell'arte, realism, slapstick and parody, as well as investigating Australian theatre and world theatre to create a well-rounded experience of theatre, cultures, and histories. Students can also produce design works in set and costume, and perform monologues, duologues, the original group devised performances as well as published scripted material.
Drama increases confidence, communication skills, oral literacy skills, problem-solving skills and interpersonal skills, that enable students to work in and mediate group projects. These sorts of skills are highly regarded and sort for in all workplace environments. The skills and knowledge acquired through the study of drama may be further utilised and employed including, but not confined to, the arts, media, theatre, radio, television, film, communications, design agencies, advertising, and community cultural development.
Vocational education and training entertainment
The entertainment industry curriculum complements the current courses in drama and music that are widely offered 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, props, scenic art, set building, audio, lighting, staging, vision systems, customer service and front of the house.
The entertainment industry curriculum provides an opportunity for students to gain nationally recognised industry qualifications, namely a statement of attainment towards certificate III in live production and services or, after completing extra units, the certificate III in live production and services. This can be done as part of their HSC.
Apart from being nationally recognised, these qualifications articulate into higher-level qualifications within the entertainment industry which students may pursue post-school.
"There are many career choices across the entertainment industry. Some jobs are highly creative or technical, while others are management or customer service oriented. Expertise in technical production is sought after in a range of live performance and event contexts. Key industry priorities are to ensure maintenance and improvement of technical skills and expand capacity to utilise opportunities offered by digital technology, as well as training and development for a new generation of skilled workers to meet workforce needs." BOSTES Entertainment Industry Curriculum Framework Stage 6 Syllabus
Visual Arts
Killarney Heights High School offers an innovative and exciting visual arts program for students in Year 7 through to Year 12. Stage 4 visual arts is mandatory and elective in Stages 5 and 6.
Our students enjoy the experience of making art and experimenting with a wide range of materials, learning to take risks with their own art making practice and understand art as a tool for visual communication.
Students experiment with traditional art-making techniques including drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics as well as more contemporary techniques including installation and digital media, Photoshop, stop-motion video, film and digital photography.
Killarney offers 3 specialist visual arts classrooms, a well-equipped ceramics room, printing press, and a huge selection of digital photography equipment. We are one of the few schools that still offers a fully operational wet darkroom for traditional photography methods.
Killarney's team of passionate and dedicated visual arts teachers are committed to achieving a high standard of visual arts in the school and realising the potential of all students.