Secondary Music
This week Year 7 have studied Chinese Jianpu – the main way that Traditional Chinese music is written down. They have looked at children’s songs, notating it and using both Jianpu and standard notation to compare the two methods.
The Year 8s are on the topic of “mood” in music. They are looking at chords and chord progressions in mood. All students are doing very well. When the students are able to distinguish the moods of different chord progressions, they will have to compose their own chord progressions to match different moods.
This week the Year 9s have looked at Mozart’s Symphony no. 40 in more detail and have analysed the first movement. Students have taken notes on the instrumentation, form and variation of the main motif in the symphony – enhancing their understanding and appreciation of Mozart and symphonies in general.
Secondary Art - Part 1
Year 8 have started painting with acrylic on canvas. This
is helping them to understand the properties of acrylic paint and how to use a
variety of brush types. We are focusing on brush strokes and how to achieve
divergent types of line. In addition, the students have improved their
understanding value and shading as a whole. The students will explore contrast
and the use of complimentary colours to draw attention to focal points in their
artworks. They will continue these paintings over the coming weeks practicing
problem solving skills and applying their knowledge as they continue to learn
about the elements of art.
Secondary Art - Part 2
On Saturday the 27th of February the students of years 11 and 12 were taken on an Art excursion to see installations at the Shanghai Stress Relief Museum. Here the students took part in multiple stress relieving activities using a number of interactive installations such as a water bed, a large scale pin print toy, inflatable human hamster balls, photo rooms containing optical illusions, and a demolition room designed for the destruction of objects using a baseball bat. This location was chosen to connect to their current topic selections and served as an opportunity to take photos as primary resources for their coursework. In addition the students had the opportunity to socialise in a comfortable, stress free environment and support each other’s ideas regarding coursework.
