PUBLIC SCHOOLS NSW – LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP WWW.SCHOOLS.NSW.EDU.AU

Creative Arts transforms learning.

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Contents

Rural and remote learning 1

Creative Arts K-6: Visual Arts 2

Professional learning 3

Calling all teachers 4

Class Movies 4

It’s over to you 4

Rural and remote learning The anticipation was palpable as

we prepared to leave the city for a

few days. Funny how we often get

distracted by the urban sprawl and

seldom escape to another place.

Understanding rurality & remoteness provides a valuable insight into the types of disadvantage experienced by those residing outside the city. Most often big cities signify opportunity and access, and yet in rural settings we discover a richness only found in places where the landscape offers solace, strength, safe havens and blue sky thinking.

The Rural and remote blueprint is a detailed plan to improve student learning in rural and remote public schools across New South Wales. The NSW Government has allocated up to $80 million over the next four years to take the steps necessary to reduce the gap in educational achievement between rural and urban schools.

Strong small community networks offer focus and address challenges often sidelined in an urban environment. A hundred kilometres is a short drive for the RDE team of non-city dwellers as they traverse and connect teachers across the state.

We visited various primary and secondary sites in Bathurst, Cowra, Grenfell, Bedgerabong and Dubbo hearing local stories of quality teaching and learning.

We also visited Connections, a project of the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities (NSW DEC) unit - Distance And Rural Technologies (DART). Connections provides and co-ordinates video conferencing excursions for DEC schools, TAFEs and non NSW DEC schools. Students and teachers come face to face with experts across the globe. These excursions enrich and supplement curriculum across all stages and key learning areas.

Creative Arts K-6

eNews 4

Rural and remote road trip with primary and secondary team at Bedgerabong Public School Photo MBradley Phio

CREATIVE ARTS K-6 ENEWS 4

PUBLIC SCHOOLS NSW – LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP WWW.SCHOOLS.NSW.EDU.AU 2

‘Things That Can’t Be Ripped Down’ I have always had a passion for and great love of Visual Arts. I often try to integrate class art activities with the units of work we are studying and expose my students to a broad range of artists and media. I believe that ‘good art’ can’t be rushed and that it is important to explicitly teach students methods and skills across a variety of traditional, non-traditional and electronic media. Teaching these skills, along with engaging students in the study of magnificent and interesting artworks and artists, gives students the means by which to express their imaginative thoughts, dreams and ideas in art forms. Helping students to develop their own ‘toolkit’ of art skills also enables them to produce artworks that they are proud of and that are meaningful to them. With the implementation of the new K-10 English Syllabus we are striving to develop in students the ability to think, compose and respond imaginatively and creatively and their capacity to ‘express themselves and their relationships with others and their world’. Visual Arts is intrinsic to visual literacy and is the perfect vehicle through which students can use their imagination, embrace creativity and express themselves. Therefore, our teaching of Visual Arts is now more important than ever. Jo Hunter 2J

Family Portraits

2J used pen, ink and crayon to create family portraits as an art activity that was integrated with the Stage 1 Unit Community & Family Relationships.

Students learnt skills in drawing faces and used the decorative, patterned

works of the famous Austrian painter, Gustav Klimt, as a stimulus for the

colourful clothing.

Creative Arts K-6

Visual Arts

2J students talk about Visual Arts When asked how they felt about being exposed to the works, methods and ideas of different artists and about creating their own artworks at school, 2J students said the following: Seth “It’s fun to get to develop and learn stuff about art and the artists. You can look at their paintings and just wonder… Will I be able to do that?” Sophie “It’s great to look out the window and discover new things to draw, like leaves and trees.” Nathan “It gives you inspiration for doing different things.” Aaron “You are proud of yourself when you make art.” Jessica “When you do art you can make stories with pictures like the Aboriginals made paintings on rocks... not things that can be ripped down.” Elisabeth “You can do art at home from the ideas you get at school.” Sofia “It feels special to you.” Lachlan “You learn everything from art. You can make anything, do anything with it. It’s worth it even if it takes a long time. Once you start you can’t stop. You can do it anywhere.”

You too can explore these ideas. Remember visual arts learning occurs by Making and Appreciating and engaging students with the concepts of artists, artworks, the audience and the world. Teach explicitly by facilitating, modeling, participating, investigating and practising with your students. Establish relevant criteria for a range of creative responses and assess the work based on evidence drawn from both the processes and finished artworks. Assessment strategies include observation, discussion, assessment of process and student work samples as well as record keeping.

My Family by Seth 2J

Work sample photos J Hunter

My Family by Sophie 2J

My Family by Jessica 2J

CREATIVE ARTS K-6 ENEWS 4

PUBLIC SCHOOLS NSW – LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP WWW.SCHOOLS.NSW.EDU.AU 3

Replace grey box with a photo of the

same size

Meet Rose

Professional learning with Musica Viva In Schools

Recently the Learning and Leadership team were introduced to this pedagogy by Natalie from the Riverwood Office. Allan Hall at Dubbo office runs 8 Ways training and story sharing. It is important to address cultural protocols when exploring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material and to liaise with your local community and AECG (Aboriginal Education Consultative Group).

The 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning is a teaching through culture pedagogy to support learning for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. It was developed in Dubbo in western New South Wales. Remember the protocols for using the wiki. 8 ways to start the process include: Tell a story. Make a plan. Think and do. Draw it. Take it outside. Try a new way. Watch first, then do. Share it with others. Aboriginal perspectives are not found in Aboriginal content, but Aboriginal processes... This Aboriginal pedagogy framework is expressed as eight interconnected pedagogies involving narrative-driven learning, visualised learning processes, hands-on/reflective techniques, use of symbols/metaphors, land-based learning, indirect/synergistic logic, modelled/scaffolded genre mastery, and connectedness to community. But these can change in different settings. Every place, every People, has its own unique pedagogies. These 8 simple ones are merely a starting point for dialogue. Each school engages in a different way, and produces its own unique frameworks for Aboriginal education through dialogue with the community about local ways of doing things. From the 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning wiki (accessed 29/5/14)

Musica Viva In Schools’ new series called Music Education & Me tells the personal stories of those who engage with the Musica Viva In Schools program. The first episode features Mandy Langlois, a primary school teacher at Neutral Bay Public School, who taught Datiwuy Dreaming last term.

Mandy describes the impact of a school visit from Datiwuy Dreaming Yolngu performers from Elcho Island and North East Arnhem Land, in partnership with NAISDA Dance College. “They feel more connected to the Aboriginal people and culture as a consequence of the learning in the unit.

“Teachers’ primary concern is often not wanting to do the wrong thing and so by implementing a program that has been written in consultation with the traditional owners, it frees you as a teacher to be able to embrace the program.

“It certainly sparked a curiosity for me to learn more. The parents spoke to me about how pleased they were with the learning their children had gained in this last term through the implementation of the Musica Viva program and how excited their children were to be learning about Aboriginal culture and how excited they were to learn through their children”.

View these resources to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture. Aboriginal Perspectives in Creative Arts Bangarra Dance Theatre CAAMA Casey Donovan Corroborree Sydney Garma Festival Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu Hetty Perkins: Art & Soul Jarjums Jessica Mauboy Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival Michael Riley Move It Mob Style National IndigenousTV Skinny Fish Music Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award Troy Cassar-Daley Vernon Ah Kee Warwick Thornton’s Colour Theory

Stringybark at Gulkula North East Arnhem Land

Photo M Bradley

CREATIVE ARTS K-6 ENEWS 4

PUBLIC SCHOOLS NSW – LEARNING AND LEADERSHIP WWW.SCHOOLS.NSW.EDU.AU 4

It’s over to you

REMEMBER TO KEEP SINGING

Do you sing regularly?

CREATIVE PLAY

Are your students creative?

CONTEMPORARY ARTS IN ASIA

Do you have a passion for Asia?

SHARING STORIES IN ENEWS

Would you like to share your stories?

Email an expression of interest to Margaret

Bradley, Creative Arts Advisor K-6 if you wish

to share your ideas and stories of Creative Arts

teaching and learning in and through visual

arts, music, drama and dance.

Email margaret.bradley@det.nsw.edu.au

Stay connected with a range of Creative

Arts K-6 social media

LIKE the Creative Arts K6 FaceBook page

https://www.facebook.com/nsw.creativearts.K6

Try Scoop.it!

http://www.scoop.it/t/creative-arts-k-6

Follow Pinterest

http://pinterest.com/creativeartsk6/boards/

Calling all teachers and coordinators

We’d like to find out more about your experiences and the programs

established in your classroom and school to implement Creative Arts

curriculum. We hope to share stories and experience to support others

grappling with similar issues.

I would love to hear from you.

Margaret Bradley

Creative Arts Advisor K-6

Early Learning and Primary Education – Learning and Leadership

T: 9244 5831 E: margaret.bradley@det.nsw.edu.au

Further information

Learning & Leadership - Early

Learning & Primary Education

Margaret Bradley

Creative Arts Advisor K-6

Level 3, 1 Oxford Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

T 9244 5831

www.dec.nsw.gov.au

© August 2013

NSW Department of Education and Communities

Class Movies

The Department's partnership with ClassMovies allows NSW public schools to create short videos of innovative teaching practices and school programs. Raw footage captured by the schools will be professionally edited in order to bring your story to life in the best possible way. We are looking for schools who are delivering curriculum in exciting and innovative ways, resulting in rich learning experiences for students. We are particularly interested in best practice examples of integrated learning and differentiated learning that engage our diverse student population in authentic learning experiences. To find out more about the project, please visit the Department’s information page If this sounds like your school, please contact Amanda Lee by email Amanda.Lee18@det.nsw.edu.au or phone 9244 5484 to discuss a possible focus area for a documentary. If you fit the bill, there will be no cost for your school, just the opportunity to show NSW public schools how you are inspiring your students every day. To get an idea of the finished product you can view examples of completed movies from other jurisdictions.

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Sharing innovative practice in integrated and differentiated learning

Sea and sand

Photo MBradley