Creative and Performing Arts

The Creative and Performing Arts faculty at Woolooware High School is an energetic team. We offer innovative, challenging and exciting learning experiences for our students. The KLA at Woolooware encompasses Dance, Drama, Music, Photography and Visual Arts.

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Dance
Every movement tells a story

Dance is offered as an elective course in Stages 5 and 6. Dance provides students with opportunities to experience and enjoy dance as an art form as they perform, compose and appreciate dance. The courses enable students to express ideas creatively and to communicate physically, verbally and in written forms as they choreograph, perform and analyse dance. There are many opportunities to extend their skills in our extracurricular program at Woolooware High School.

Year 9 and 10 Elective Dance

Stage 5 Dance is a practical, skills-based elective that develops technical, choreographic, and analytical skills through three strands: performance, composition, and appreciation. Students gain experience in solo and ensemble dance, explore choreographic processes, study various styles, and critically reflect on dance as cultural expression. Assessment is school-based against Stage 5 outcomes, including choreographic tasks, dance analysis, and live or recorded performances.

Year 11 and 12 Elective Dance

Senior Dance is an in-depth study of performance, composition and appreciation with a stronger emphasis on independent, sustained practical work and critical study for the HSC. Students choose and develop extended performance and composition projects, investigate professional practice and contexts, and complete written/analytical components (appreciation).

Drama
Where characters come alive

As an introduction to Drama, Year 7 and 8 students participate in taster lessons. In Stages 5 and 6, Drama is offered as an elective course. Students discover that Drama is an expression of culture through making, performing and critically studying drama and theatre. Drama students develop skills in script writing, improvisation, play building, lighting, set design and characterisation. Drama is also offered as a sport option for Years 7-10.
There are many opportunities to extend their skills in our extracurricular program at Woolooware High School.

Year 7 and 8 Drama Taster Lessons

Students explore the Drama space through unscripted individual and group activities, including improvisation and theatre sports.

These lessons develop confidence, creativity, and collaboration in a fun, performance-based environment.

Year 9 and 10 Elective Drama

This course builds on students’ early experiences, deepening their understanding of dramatic elements and performance dynamics.

Students develop skills through collaborative ensemble projects and individual monologue creation and performance. They explore a variety of theatrical styles while strengthening teamwork, reflective practice, and Drama skills that contribute to the RoSA.

Year 11 and 12 Elective Drama

This course builds on the strong foundation students develop in the junior years, deepening their understanding of performance dynamics and allowing them to apply their skills in sophisticated and deliberate ways.

The course strengthens students’ abilities as makers, performers and interpreters of Drama. They explore a range of theatrical styles and create both group-devised and scripted work while studying key theatre practitioners and forms.

In the HSC year, students complete a Group Performance and an Individual Project, giving them the opportunity to specialise in an area that reflects their interests and strengths. Learning is enriched through excursions to live theatre, providing insight into contemporary practice and professional performance.

Drama Sport Option

Students work on a full production from start to finish. They take on a variety of roles, including performing, lighting, sound, costuming, stage management and promotion. These productions are often presented to partner primary schools, giving students real-world experience in collaboration, leadership, and performance.

Music
From practice to performance

Music is studied from Year 7 and offered as an elective from Year 9. Our HSC music students achieve outstanding music results. It is an engaging practical subject where students actively perform and compose in groups and individually. They learn about various topics, some of which include Australian music, film music, rock music, and jazz music. There are many opportunities to extend their skills in our extracurricular program at Woolooware High School.

Year 7 and 8 Music

Students are offered opportunities to experience playing a range of instruments (keyboard and guitar) learning about music through the ages. They compose their own music in a variety of styles using traditional methods and emerging technologies.

Year 9 and 10 Elective Music

This popular elective builds on our stage 4 program immersing our students in a world of creativity. Listening, analysing and learning about music, developing performance skills and producing innovative and diverse compositions.

Year 11 and 12 Elective Music

Music 1 is a course for musicians who enjoy contemporary performance and also offers elective choices in composition and musicology.

Photographic and Digital Media
Moments captured, stories revealed

Photographic and Digital Media courses are electives in Stage 5 and 6. Students develop knowledge, skills and understanding of traditional analogue photography, the darkroom, the use of digital SLR cameras, digital imaging, video production, and animation through the study of photography and film and through their own photographic practice.

Year 9 and 10 Elective Photographic and Digital Media

This course explores both darkroom and digital photography. Students have opportunities to develop prints in the darkroom and build confidence with DSLR cameras and studio lighting. Students will enhance their technical skills and confidently express creative ideas through their own photographic style. Students will utilise photoshop skills to create striking montages and edits.

Year 11 and 12 Elective Photographic, Video and Digital Imaging

This 2 unit Non-ATAR HSC Course over two years offers students industry ready experience. It will provide students with the opportunity to utilise a variety of state of the art equipment and give them a solid understanding of techniques and technologies used in Photography, Video and Digital Imaging in a purposeful, creative and exciting way. Student will explore darkroom complexities of darkroom image development, photography and video filming/editing.

Visual Arts
Discover the artist in you

Visual Arts is studied from Year 7 and offered as an elective from Year 9. Students explore a range of media, techniques, artists and their works. Expressive forms available for students at Woolooware include: drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture, etching, lino printing, video, animation, digital imaging, textiles and fibre and installations.

Year 7 and 8 Visual Arts

All students study Visual Arts in Years 7 and 8, where they explore a variety of media, techniques, and artists. The emphasis is on creativity and enjoyment as students develop foundational skills across a range of expressive forms. They are also introduced to the language of art, learning how to write and think critically about Visual Arts.

Year 9 and 10 Elective Visual Arts

In Years 9 and 10, students may choose to continue their Visual Arts studies. They extend their practical skills through expressive forms such as drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture, etching, lino printing, video, animation, digital imaging, textiles, fibre, and installation art. Alongside their artmaking, students deepen their understanding of art theory through engaging and enjoyable Critical and Historical studies.

Year 11 and 12 Elective Visual Arts

Years 11 and 12 offer an opportunity for students to further refine their skills and specialise in their preferred mediums. They express their individual ideas and interests through the creation of a major Body of Work, which is proudly showcased in a highlight event on the school calendar. Critical and Historical studies continue at a more advanced level, allowing students to expand their understanding of art history and undertake in-depth case studies in preparation for the HSC.