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Music Camp 2008 has lifted many musicians in the WCHS Senior Band with a two day camp combined with the Calderdale Council music students all the way from England! After many weeks of preparation with Mr Smith and the senior band, as well as Mr Rivett and the Calderdale Band, we were put together for two days to rehearse three pieces of music for the W.A. Concert Band Festival, which was held in  week four at Perth Modern School. We all rushed to school on that Monday morning to start a fun filled day at Point Peron, ready to make new friends as well as ‘polish-up’ the music we had been playing in band.  We were all anxious (and had been since we heard ‘English’ students were coming) to meet these very talented musicians and to hear them play with us. On the arrival at Point Peron we quickly set up the musical instruments and in a flash the Calderdale Students had arrived!  Socialising came with no problem with these very friendly people. In about an hour, myself had made 8 friends!  We got down to rehearsing the three charts we would be playing on Thursday; Clowning Around, Jupiter and Pevensey Castle. We were all blown away by how fantastic the pieces sounded when combined with the two bands. 

It was then time to show the English folk what kind of weather they were missing out on, when we decided to go for a walk in the warm sun.  ‘Point Peron surroundings are so beautiful’ is what Calderdale students were all saying. We were all analysing each others accents and teaching them ‘Aussie’ slang words. ‘BONZA’ was the new word taken by the Calderdale students from the WCHS students, and I’m sure it will be with us forever! Many laughs were made when we told them about the Drop Bears, and what was really funny; some of them believed us!  It was back into practise the next day. Another packed-full day was ahead. Many photos were taken by both bands for memories. All of us were so eager to get straight into playing our 3 charts. Once again we sounded brilliant. Mr Parke was able to listen in on one of our rehearsals, which was really lucky!   Watching the English students swim at the beach was a big ‘Crack up’ for us Australian’s; considering we are in the middle of winter!   But they were all happy to be around us so that was a bonus. (Plus… it was normal for them to swim in 18 degree heat!)  Back up to the instruments we went, to play one last time at Point Peron before the Thursday night performance. It sounded fantastic! Sadly it was time to leave. Everyone helped pack away the instruments to get back to school. Goodbyes were made and many hugs were given by the two groups of people that had become very close in only just two very exciting days! 

The minutes were ticking by all day on Thursday when finally it was time for the big ride up to Perth Modern School where the WCHS Training band (conducted by Mrs Linton) as well as the WCHS Senior band combined with Calderdale students would perform in front of adjudicators and audiences.  When we arrived at Perth Modern School, we were all very eager to catch up with our mates from Calderdale. They were all glad to see us! Training Band was called in for a tune-up just before we went on to perform three pieces; First Concert Overture, Pirates of the Caribbean and George of the Jungle. The nerves were all set off while waiting to get on stage. Next, it was the Senior Bands moment. Calderdale and Warnbro made it into the tuning room to make sure we were all warmed up for a fantastic performance ahead. The smiles on everyone’s faces brought joy to me. Everyone was happy! When we all started playing, I felt a thrill run through me. To have these talented Calderdale musicians playing with us was a once in a life time opportunity.  A nice ‘light-hearted’ piece to start off on was Clowning Around. It brought a big smile to all the parents and teachers who were watching us.We cruised through the beautiful Jupiter, and I swear I saw some tears in the crowd.  The most challenging one was Pevensey Castle. This was my favourite piece to play. It made me feel really good, not only to play with a great bunch of people, but to express the music to such a crowd. Two fantastic trumpet players that I met from Calderdale; Joe and Rob, both had a big smile on their faces after playing and I knew that they had the same grand feeling as I did. The end result was fantastic when the Senior Band received an ‘excellent’ for our Performance! The part I also enjoyed was watching The Calderdale Jazz Band play their three pieces. With my love for jazz, I was thrilled to hear their band play one of my favourite styles of music.  It was nearly time to leave for the night. But before leaving we did have some last minute photos and chats with the Calderdale students. I knew that we had made some good relationships with these fantastic musicians. On behalf of the entire music program I would like to thank Mr Smith for his great effort into putting this experience together for us all. It is great to see the school community put together an event like this, which we will cherish all of the memories with the Calderdale music students forever. This is, and always will be my most memorable moment at WCHS.

Congratulations to all the students and Arts staff involved in Arts Week. There have been so many positive comments where do I start. 

Year 11 and 12 Drama performances were unforgettable.
The Arts In Technology workshops gave students a hands on creative insight to senior schooling courses available for 2009.
Arts Club- Drama, Media, Dance and Visual Art students were grinning from ear to ear when they got a chance to share with each other their performances and artworks, followed by a celebrative lunch.
Media exploded onto the scene with the middle school short films and with every passing year they are getting more creative. The feature film posters made some of the most unlikely teachers’ instant stars.
Year 10 animations made me ponder, ‘Why is Chuck Norris a popular culture icon?’ and ‘No, cats do not have nine lives!’
Year 11 & 12 dance students’ jazz, hip hop and contemporary routines kept the audience in awe.
Our Concert Bands entertained our community members as they sipped tea.
The school is littered with an array of art works, large techno insects are wandering the corridors of the Performing Arts building, personalised cars and masks embody youth culture in the Warnbro Library, and our graduating year 12 Art & Design students reveal how 5 years of studying Art can bring a new perspective to how we view the world. 

Thank you to all the students who presented their artworks and put themselves ‘out for viewing.’

A thank you to all the Arts staff and specialist teachers, who directed and assisted the students in creating artworks.  

Thank you to the parents and community members who supported the events. 

And thank you all for watching. 

What was your favourite Arts Week events? Leave a comment

Congratulations to the following students for outstanding achievement in
Dance Stage 1- Sheena Perndorfer
Music in Society- Daniel Wiggins
Media Production and Analysis Stage 2- Thomas Harbuz
Visual Art Stage 1- Brittanny Morter
Art TEE- Sheena Perndorfer
AIT: Digital Design Stage 2- Mary-Jane Barraclough
Drama Stage 1- Jamie-Lee Munn
Drama Stage 2- David Gush

Congratulations to the following students who have acknowledge for outstanding achievement in the following Arts subjects. 
Media- Lucy Green
Dance- Amber Koeing
Music- Xara Durey
Vocals- Xara Durey
Drama- Scott Blanchford
Visual Art- Kiralee Leffane
Multimedia- Jade Hawley

Awesome is a word to describe the latest artworks being completed by Art Club this semester. Tiles, bowls and plates inspired by Pre-Colombian and Mexican colours and patterns. Students’ Shay Ruka, Aleshya Kent, Katie Roberts, Celestille Jade Turner, Ashley Grisby ( pictured) Montana Hall, Caitlyn Wood Jaimes-Maree Turner (absent on the day)and Ms Tina Harper a special thanks. 

All works will be displayed as part of Arts Week

Mellissa McCarthy

Art Club coordinator

Moorditj:  meaning awesome, brilliant, fantastic, great, well done
Koolang:  meaning young, youth, teenager 

Moorditj Koolangka is the name our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (TSI) students call themselves when they come together as a group every Tuesday morning for community time.The students use this time to identify their cultural needs. They do this by setting their own rules and expectations within Moorditj Koolangka and in the wider school community.Term 1 - Moorditj Koolangka participate in Harmony Week, where they made ribbons, wrist, leg and head bands in the Aboriginal and TSI colours and gave them out into the school community.They also participated in an Aboriginal dance workshop with Ray Buchanan.Term 2 -  Students commenced learning the Noongar language with Tania Bennell our Aboriginal Islander Education Officer (AIEO).Students will also attend an excursion to Yargan (turtle) Spectacle Tours Kwinana, to learn about the Aboriginal birak (fire) bonar (season), Aboriginal stories, dance and bush tucker.  The PALS programme will also recommence, where students will continue creating 4 more mosaics relating to the 6 Aboriginal bonara (seasons) for the indigenous garden.

NAIDOC week is in week 10 and from the 30th June to the 2nd of July the Doorum Dancers will be running workshops for our indigenous and non-indigenous students from Yr’s 8-10. Students will participate in storytelling and Noongar language, Aboriginal art, tools and implements, Aboriginal dance and bush food. Moorditj Koolangka as a group will perform an Aboriginal story through dance which will be narrated in the Noongar language as a part of NAIDOC week.

We would like to invite all parents/guardians to join in the celebration of NAIDOC week by attending and participating in the Doorum Dancers workshops.

Djdja (Teacher) Tracy Dyer-Jardine
Moorditj Koolangka

In 2008 students from years 10, 11 and 12 have been working on photography in Multimedia. Over the last term students have been given the chance to learn about the photography and the different ways to look at our surroundings. This has been very successful with the students producing some amazing and unique pieces of art. From 80 students photography work the following students had their work selected into the finals of the WCHS 3^rd annual photography exhibition “Super.” John Poulsen from Minter Ellsion presented awards to each year for the best and most unique interpretations. The exhibition was an opportunity for students to showcase all their hard work from the last term. I wish to thank Ms DJ and Mr Armitstead for all their hard work in making this event happen.
Tyler Coupland
Nicholas Dyer
Craig Dutton
Rebecca Erdeljac
Sarah Borrett
Jessica Condy
Chantelle Cable
Kamariah Brown
Jake Ward
Chloe Milton
Ashley Platt
Ilona Buckingham- Overall winner for year 10
Liam Cambage – Overall winner for year 11
Donne Snyman- Overall winner for year 12 

By Taylor Clark
Year 10

Arts Monthly is a programme that was initiated in 2007, where student’s works of in The Arts are exhibited each month. The programme’s aim is to exhibit artworks of all abilities.  Each month’s works are photographed and catalogued. Works are displayed in The Arts exhibition space located in the Student Services building.

For the Months of March and April the following students had their art work acknowledged and displayed by their Arts teachers

Chianne Cole, Yr 9 Adelaide
Brent Baron, Yr 9 Anzac
Bradley Campbell Yr 9 Anzac
Daniel Miliage Yr 9 Anzac
Regan Taylor Yr 10

Congratulations to the following students who were recognised for their ongoing efforts in Training Band Term 1

Certificate of commitment
Jack O’Brien
Kellie Snelling
Lucy Green

Encouragement
Joshua Ryan

Performance
Kaitlin Drummond

The raffle was won by Meagan Goddard

Pro- Art is a programme specifically aimed at our Yr 10 Arts students. The programme objectives are to:

• Develop a greater sense of purpose for the creation of art. (entertainment, audience, thought provoking, social comment etc)
• Have opportunities to display, showcase, and perform works to a wider audience through formal and informal settings.
• Develop greater skills and ideas necessary for further learning in senior courses.

Through this each Arts Teacher plans and prepares a curriculum where students are able to presents their works within the school community and wider community through the Arts website. 

Semester one will see our Yr 10 students -

• Media students will present their films to a Middle School audience in Week 6/7 Term 2.
• Drama students will present a poetry concert to a Yr 9 audience, Week 9, Term 1.
•  Music students are currently working with Yr 8 Drama students to create a sound environment for their movement pieces.
• Dance students will perform 2 pieces in week 7, Term 2 to a Middle School audience as well as Dance night,
• Visual Art students will exhibit their works in the library week 6, Term 2.
•  Multimedia students will exhibit their photographic works, Term 2, week 3/4.