Congratulations to our Coro d’Oro for their terrific performance at the Italian Festa on October 6th. Isabella, Esmé and I, and all the students’ fabulous family fans were excited, delighted and so proud of our singers. What an inspiring way to start Term 4. We thank all the Coro families for supporting this event on the last weekend of the school holidays, and thank the singers for their dedicated learning.

Happy Term 4 to everyone, and welcome back to school. All the activities for Music and the Performing Arts are emerging with explorations in multiple directions, some with ‘destinations unknown’ and others that we know will be exciting… the Bazaar is around the corner! Please read on for more Music/Performing Arts news.

Across the Junior school we are venturing further into our music literacy skills. This might sound very dry and sensible, but what is making this exploration fun is that we are using some devices that contemporary composers employ. Frustrated by the limitations of traditional Western notation, 20th century composers have sought ways to visually represent sound that traditional notation doesn’t encompass. You’ll notice some ‘funky’ pictorial symbols appearing in the student’s music phrases below. These are their ideas, adding humour and rhythm, whilst interjecting pitch with spoken words. It’s a simple device, but just adding this touch of lively originality ignites energy to create the traditional context that such ‘funkiness’ can pop out of! The phrases below are built on the lower three lines of the treble stave. Students call out the note values and pitches, then, we sing it!! Next week we’ll add another line of the stave, a couple more traditional note symbols and who knows what else!

The Performing Arts Inquiry in the Yr 34 Neighbourhoods is heading in 2 very different directions. As was mentioned in the last Talking Point issue, 34 Ngh1, has a passionate fascination with the Tudor King Henry XIII, and understandably so for all the ‘Social Media’ style headlines that define his reign. Digging a little deeper though, the whole Neighbourhood has become intrigued, inspired and indignant about aspects of Tudor life. Shifting perspectives about how Henry XIII is represented by historians and contemporary educational videos has lead to fascinating discussions about whether he was a great King or a tyrant with a concussion induced mental health illness; intriguing! The Tudor age was prosperous, 50% of economic growth grew on the back of sheep; the wool industry! The printing press arrived in England 1470, music, drama and the Humanities in general thrived and inspired the Western world. It was the first era when education could be accessed, freely, for everyone, unless your family needed you to leave home to take up an apprenticeship at the age of six. Girls could get an education, but one that fitted them appropriately as a future wife and mother. The school day started at 6am in Summer, 7am in winter and concluded at 6pm. Children attended school six days a week, and there were three, two week holidays a year. The ‘place’ of women and girls in society raised questions of fairness and rights amongst the 34 students, whilst sustainable Tudor farming practices resonate with our desire for responsible land care practices. We are all curious to explore, compare and contrast the way we live, with how daily life was back in the Tudor age, and look forward to revealing how our learning can be shared with the community.

In 34 Ngh2 we are wondering how an Inquiry into eco systems and Indigenous plants and animals might be expressed through music and movement. We are delighted that the movement/dance artist, Tony Yap, is returning to work with our students to help 34 Ngh2 consider their research from a different perspective. Tony is a wonderful collaborator who first worked with our students during the Wellbeing Festival after the COVID Lockdowns of 2020-21. To see the students respond to Tony’s ideas of how to free our busy minds through movement is refreshing and inspirational. He is especially interested to explore the ‘evolution of movement’ for us, as humans, and to bring students’ awareness to their bodies as bodies that have evolved to be as they are.

For all our talented performers, the event of the year, the one we ‘count down the sleeps’ until, is not so far around the corner: the PHPS Bazaar! Now is the perfect time to start dreaming and preparing for the Bazaar Talent Quest. Please listen out for announcements about recess-time meetings and rehearsals, and support your child’s performing dreams. Performance comes in many forms and we are looking forward to celebrating the originality, courage and skill of our young performers.

Many thanks to everyone for a lovely return to our final Term for ‘24. With best wishes, Deb.