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 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.

CAPA / LOTE

Mrs Katrina Burne (HT)

Mr David Conley

Mrs Natalie Simon

Ms Melissa Hunter

Ms Victoria Zaw

Mr Christopher Pace

CAPA includes the subjects of Visual Arts, Visual Design, Music and Visual Literacy at Blacktown Boys' High School, with an emphasis on large project development and external venues for exhibition. Partnerships have been encouraged, with successful links made to the AGNSW through ACCESS programs and Citibank Australia.

The faculty encourages individual and independent development in the Arts, along with the collaborative forays into technology and cross-curricula initiatives within its teaching practice. 

Student projects will be featured in Café d' Art in 2021. On the same evening Music students from years 7 to 12 will present both solo and ensemble performances to the live audience. Year 12 Music continues to access this event as a means to be assessed and to give a valuable rehearsal for the HSC practical examination. The accompanying art exhibition will feature over 300 works from Visual arts and Visual design classes in all years. Café’d’ Art remains the signature event in CAPA after nearly 30 years.

LOTE

The Languages faculty aims to enable students to develop communication skills, focus on language as a system and gain insights into the relationship between language and culture, leading to lifelong personal, educational and vocational benefits. Students study the four language skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening in the Italian language as well as analysing the similarities and differences between the Australian and the Italian cultures. Students who enjoy and are successful in the study of languages can further their studies by choosing Italian as an elective subject in years 9 and 10 as well as years 11 and 12.

Curriculum outline

Music

• Stage 4 – Students begin studying the basics of Musicianship, Performance, Musicology and Composition though the study of various instruments and styles of Music.
• Stage 5 elective music – Students select a focus instrument and explore the repertoire available through various topics and experiences in Performance, Composition, Musicology and Listening.
• Stage 6 elective music - Students development on their principal instrument continues and explore the repertoire available through various topics and experiences in Performance, Composition, Musicology and Listening in preparation for final HSC Performance and Aural Exams.

Visual arts

• Stage 4 – An Introduction and Investigation of Visual Art practice
• Stage 5 elective – emphasis on introductory investigation, site specific practice, 2,3, and 4 dimensional art making, exhibition and diary work.
• Stage 6 elective – emphasis on Critical and historical studies and art making for the Preliminary and HSC coursework.

Visual design

• Stage 5 elective – Students explore the Principals of Design through examination of Architecture, interior design, Comic books and Desktop Publishing.  
• Stage 6 elective - Emphasis is placed on refining technical and theoretical skills and extending knowledge of The Principals of Design. 

Italian

• Stage 4 - Students get the opportunity to learn about the Italian Culture and learn basic Italian communication skills for certain everyday situations. The school day, shopping in Italy, Sharing a meal -100 hours Italian - Mandatory