The Arts
The Arts is a vitally important part of the curriculum. There is a strong relationship between the arts and cultural engagement and educational achievement. The arts speak of human aspiration and spark the imagination to consider possibilities while exciting the emotions in ways that often cannot be explained. The arts ‘feed the soul’ and at Coldstream we aim to expose children to the widest possible range of artistic pursuits across Music, Drama, Fine Arts, Ceramics, Dance and Media Studies. School Productions and Choir represent some of the extra curricular offerings at CPS.
The Art Room is centrally located within the school, giving easy access for all those that want to utilise its wide range of facilities. An extensive window area allows for a great deal of natural light to enter the room creating ideal working conditions. A further benefit of the glass area is the magnificent views of the Yarra Valley that it affords, adding further to the positive ‘feel’ of the Art Room.
The Art program offered at Coldstream is both extensive and detailed. The children are encouraged and given the opportunity to explore a range of art forms to communicate ideas, observations and feelings. Art forms experienced by the children in our program include painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, collage, mask making, textiles, sculpture and design. The subject matter for the lessons is usually based on the integrated studies theme of each particular grade level.
In 2018 the children experienced, in authentic ways where possible, a range of Visual Arts across the second semester while in first semester they had the opportunity to explore the Performing Arts in our 2018 school production Ye-Ha!
The children are also an integral part of the community, regularly participating in events run by Coldstream Voice such as the Community Christmas Carols. The students are encouraged to critically examine their own work and that of their peers. They discuss Arts works in terms of the materials, techniques and processes employed.
