Creative arts is mandatory for students from Kindergarten to Year 6.
In creative arts, students discover a variety of art forms through a study of dance, drama, music and visual arts where they learn to appreciate, compose, listen, make and perform.
Each art form has its own unique knowledge and skills, elements or concepts as well as a capacity to inspire and enrich lives.
Students must study 100 hours of both music and visual arts during Years 7 to 10. They also have an opportunity to further develop their knowledge and skills in other art forms through elective subjects including drama, dance, photography and visual design. Students can then select from a range of courses in Years 11 to 12.
Art therapy
Students are involved in art in numerous ways at Rivendell School. Many students study art as an elective subject either through their mainstream school or through SDEHS.
Art therapy takes place throughout the school. Students have access to a variety of media and can express themselves in the way that is conducive to their therapy.
The Lawson and Yaralla programs have access to an Art Therapist who works with the students either individually or in a group. Students have access to therapy both during and after school hours.
Walker students have access to the Art Therapist outside of the Learning Centre times.
The Paterson and Sulman students access their Art Therapist once a week during school time. There are group and individual sessions that take place.
In 2016, RIvendell Students participated in the inaugural Storyweaver project where they created numerous art works. This culminated in an evening launch where the Rivendell boat house was utilised as a gallery.
Students can select the Art workshop on Fridays if they have an interest.
Music therapy
Music therapy has long been a part of all Programs at Rivendell School, where the students have been involved in weekly sessions. For some of them, this culminates in a performance for the school community at the end of each term. A range of musical expression can be involved in these sessions including drumming, piano, keyboards, guitars and singing, all in a wide range of styles that the students are interested in.
Music therapy has been extremely popular with students who see this as a beneficial way to express themselves and be involved in such an engaging activity.
Music Therapy has been shown by many peer-reviewed academic studies to be beneficial for participants’ mental health and is a protective factor when these individuals are put under stress.
During the Storyweavers exhibitions, some of the students involved in the music therapy sessions perform a highly engaging live set of original compositions. Also as part of our Storyweavers exhibition, the students work with a professional musician to produce recordings of their own work which forms a key part of the artworks.
