Specialist Learning Areas

The students at St Agatha’s are fortunate to be able to participate in four 50minute specialist areas that include Physical Education, Performing Arts (Dance, Drama, Music), Visual Arts, and Languages - Japanese.

Health and Physical Education

There are ample opportunities for all students to participate in physical education activities. The students, as part of the physical education program will develop their knowledge and skills in team games such as netball, basketball, soccer and football. The senior students compete against other schools in the area in an Interschool School competition. There is a Foundation to Year Six swimming and water awareness program and the whole school enjoys participating in an Athletics day at Casey Fields.

Health and Physical Education aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to enable students to:

• Access, evaluate and synthesise information to take positive action to protect, enhance and advocate for their own and others’ health, wellbeing, safety and physical activity participation across their lifespan
• Develop and use personal, behavioural, social and cognitive skills and strategies to promote a sense of personal identity and wellbeing and to build and manage respectful relationships
• Acquire, apply and evaluate movement skills, concepts and strategies to respond confidently, competently and creatively in a variety of physical activity contexts and settings
• Engage in and enjoy regular movement-based learning experiences and understand and appreciate their significance to personal, social, cultural, environmental and health practices and outcomes
• Analyse how varied and changing personal and contextual factors shape understanding of, and opportunities for, health and physical activity locally, regionally and globally.

Languages - Japanese

The Languages curriculum (Japanese) aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure that students:

• Communicate in the language they are learning
• Understand the relationship between language, culture and learning
• Develop intercultural capabilities
• Understand themselves as communicators.

Performing Arts

All students take part in a weekly Performing Arts lesson with a qualified performing arts teacher. Throughout the year, students are provided with the opportunity to learn dance, drama and music. St Agatha’s proudly supports students in their Arts learning through a musical production.

The Dance curriculum aims to develop students’:

• Body awareness and technical and expressive skills to communicate through movement confidently, creatively and intelligently
• Choreographic and performance skills and appreciation of their own and others’ dances
• Aesthetic, artistic and cultural understandings of dance in past and contemporary context sits relationship with other arts forms and contributions to cultures and societies
• Respect for and knowledge of the diverse purposes, traditions, histories and cultures of dance by making and responding as active participants and informed audiences.

DRAMA

The Drama curriculum aims to develop students’:

• Confidence and self-esteem to explore, depict and celebrate human experience, take risks and challenge their own creativity through drama
• Knowledge and understanding in controlling, applying and analysing the elements, skills, processes, forms, styles and techniques of drama to engage audiences and create meaning
• Sense of curiosity, aesthetic knowledge, enjoyment and achievement through exploring and playing roles, and imagining situations, actions and ideas as drama makers and audiences
• Knowledge and understanding of traditional and contemporary drama as critical and active participants and audiences.

MUSIC

The Music curriculum aims to develop students

• Confidence to be creative, innovative, thoughtful, skilful and informed musicians
• Skills to listen, improvise, compose, interpret, perform, and respond with intent and purpose
• Aesthetic knowledge and respect for music and music practices across global communities, cultures and musical traditions
• Understanding of music as an aural art form, its relationship with other arts forms  and contributions to cultures and societies.