Visual Arts

Visual Arts in Years 9 and 10 is a two hundred hour course that should  be studied over both years.  Students will develop their technical skill in a number of mediums that could include painting, printmaking, photography, film/video, cartooning, design, digital imaging, sculpture and ceramics.  The completion of Visual Arts in Years 9 and 10 greatly improve performance in the preliminary and HSC years, but it is not an essential criteria taking up this subject in senior years.

Students study a number of artists and their practice in relation to the units of practical work they do.

The visual Arts allows students to express themselves individually through art making and historical study while developing skills in a number of different mediums.  The break up of practical and theoretical work in this subject is 60:40.

MUSIC

The Elective Music Course in Year 9 is a 2-year course in which students gain musical experience in a wide variety of styles and mediums.  The course leads to a grading for the School Certificate based on set performance descriptors.  There are 5 periods per cycle allocated to the course. The following areas will be covered:-

Performance
Each student selects an instrument that they wish to specialise in.  Students then select songs that they wish to learn and rehearse them during some of the 5 periods allocated to music.  The students perform their pieces in front of mixed audiences for the final assessment.  Each student learns at least 4 pieces a year of their own choice as well as 4 pieces set by the teacher.  All performances are recorded for inclusion on a class CD.

Theory and Composition
One period per cycle is dedicated to the theory of music and composition. Students create their own compositions in either free style or the style of another composer that relates to their music history study.  Each student records his composition on tape and completes a computer - generated score of the music. Where applicable the students will be required to perform their piece with their classmates.

Listening
The capability to listen discriminatively to music will be developed. The students will be exposed to a wide variety of musical styles and will be required to listen to specific things such as which instrument plays the tune, which instruments do solos etc.

Music History
For the remaining period students will be taken through the history of Western music beginning with the Baroque Period and extending up to the 20th Century. All of the world's greatest composers and their music will be studied. 

In general the Elective Music course allows students to develop musical, social and intellectual skills. They enjoy a range of extra-curricula activities including Band, Musicals and Lunchtime Concerts.

This course is particularly suitable to anyone who wishes to further their skills in and enjoyment of making music.

LANGUAGES

The study of a foreign language plays an important part in developing language and literacy skills across the curriculum as well as a better understanding of how the English language is used and constructed. Students are provided with the opportunity to acquire and develop skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing their chosen foreign language.

In Years 9 - 10 students may elect ONE language. Those offered at Farrer are French, German and Japanese and each syllabus is so structured to provide students with the ability to communicate effectively in the language as well as the promotion of an understanding into the background and culture of the country.

It is expected that as a result of their study of a language, students should be able to understand and express ideas orally in the language, read and understand written material as well as writing in the language. All of these objectives can be achieved within a wide range of topics relating to the typical teenager.  We look at topics such as the family, school, hobbies, the home, a typical day, eating and drinking, shopping, travel and transport, health - basically all vocabulary and structures to enable one to survive linguistically in a foreign land. In addition to this, the language can also be studied through magazines, videos, music, cooking, just to name a few.  We also try, wherever possible, to take students on excursions and expose them to native speakers as well as linking and visiting classes with elective students at Calrossy.

The study of a foreign language is rewarding and challenging.  There are many opportunities in employment such as hospitality, education, immigration, journalism, business, banking, travel/tourism and agriculture, where the knowledge of a foreign language can be most advantageous as well as the personal satisfaction of being able to communicate with someone from overseas in their own language.

PHOTOGRAPHIC AND DIGITAL MEDIA

Photographic and Digital Media play a significant role in our society and this subject allows for specialised learning opportunities for students to understand and explore the nature of Photographic and Digital Media as an important field of artistic practice.

The broad areas of Photographic and Digital Media: print, interactive and moving forms are extremely relevant and of interest to students. Much of students’ knowledge of their world, and their notions of cultural and self-identity, come from the photographic and digital images that permeate the visual arts and design, television, film, video, internet, mass media and multimedia.

New technologies have changed the possibilities of production of artworks and role of the artist. This subject explores the practice and use of photographic and digital technologies as tools for the creation of artworks.

This subject provides opportunities for students to investigate the ways in which fields of artistic practice have evolved and been utilised over the 20th Century and into the 21st century. Practice within the school context is intended to approximate those used in the contemporary world by artists, photographers, videographers, filmmakers, animators and critics who provide real world models for learning and make available career options to students.