Creative and Performing Arts are a vibrant and integral part of the Glenwood High School culture and community. While each Creative Arts subject has specific knowledge and skills content, they all provide students with unique ways to learn about and appreciate themselves, their culture and the world they live in, as well as developing a respect for others’ points of view. These subjects also enable students to develop skills, understanding and values that extend well beyond the classroom.
Across all the Creative Arts, students are encouraged to think individually as they represent ideas in artworks or performance works. Students are involved in creative forms of inquiry and problem solving in their investigation and making of a wide variety of works. They demonstrate their understanding of the particular field in their analysis and writing.
In Years 7 and 8, students will be introduced to Creative and Performing Arts through the Music and Visual Arts mandatory courses.
In Music, students will explore the concepts through performance, composition and musicology. Stage 4 Music has a practical focus with students learning keyboard, guitar and music technology.
The Visual Arts course explores expressive forms such as drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture and photography. Students will also be introduced to artists and artworks through historical and critical study.
There are a number of Creative Arts options in Stage 5 from which students can select. These courses offer more opportunity for in-depth study of their particular areas of interest in Music, Musical Theatre, Visual Arts, Dance, Drama, Visual Design, Ceramics and/or Photography and Digital Media. In each of these courses, students are guided towards becoming more independent as they explore their own ideas and they become proficient in a number of practical and analytical skills.
Students who elect to study Creative Arts subjects in their senior years will gain significant levels of autonomy in regards to their making or performing. They will be given learning opportunities and experiences that enable them to investigate areas of significance to them and to create and resolve works that communicate their ideas to their varied audience. They will be provided with the means to understand and appreciate the contribution that the Creative Arts makes to society both historically and in the contemporary world.
The Creative Arts Faculty offers a variety of extra-curricular activities that students can become involved in. These include art club, choir, band, junior and senior dance ensemble, competitions, excursions and the annual and very successful school musical.
All students involved in Creative Arts, as formal study or extra-curricular activities, are given many opportunities to share their talents. Glenwood High School students have been represented in many competitions and festivals including Schools Spectacular, the Synergy Dance Festival and Drama Festivals and the State Dance Festival, Penrith Eisteddfod, Blacktown Show, the Pixel Prize, Operation Art, Art Express and World Pinhole Day to name a few. They are given opportunities within the school community to perform at formal assemblies and other events. Each year there is a whole school celebration of the Creative Arts with our MADDness evening that is a combination of all areas. There is a Visual Arts, Visual Design and Photography exhibition and a performance that includes Dance, Drama and Music from all year groups.
The facilities at Glenwood High School allow for a wide variety of Creative Arts experiences. There are two specific performance spaces that accommodate larger groups and have been used for audience performance events. One of these spaces has a sprung floor for Dance as well as a stage lighting rig for Drama performances; the other houses a class set of keyboards and has space for setting up various formations of instruments. Each of the Music classrooms has a piano and sound equipment and access to the performance space and instrument store. There is also a large well-lit Visual Arts Studio with adjoining classrooms. The workshop provides area for specialty workshops and for students to work on larger artworks or on group activities. Glenwood High School has a fully equipped darkroom for the exploration of wet photography, computer banks for digital artmaking and a photographic studio for students to create varied effects using studio lighting. There are two kilns and ceramic facilities and equipment for printmaking including an etching press.
Creative and Performing Arts students enjoy the opportunities provided to learn in active and practical ways. They enjoy expressing their ideas and having input into their learning. These students develop skills and confidence in many areas that will accompany them into their future and provide them with post-school opportunities.
Courses of study
Stage 4
In Year 7 and 8 students study:
- music
- visual arts
Stage 5
In Year 9 and 10, students can choose to study:
- dance
- drama
- music
- photography
- visual arts
- visual design
Stage 6
In Year 11 and 12, students can choose to study:
- dance
- drama
- music I
- music II
- photography and digital
- visual arts
- visual design