Visual Arts
Visual Arts is an integral part of our school culture at Guardian Angels. It allows our students to obtain skills such as creative thinking, problem solving and social awareness in a safe, supportive and fun environment. The practice of Visual Arts allows children to explore new ideas and concepts and make connections with their learning from other key learning areas.
It has been proven that involvement in the arts is associated with gains in mathematics, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skills. Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork.
Visual Arts allows children the opportunity to grow, build self esteem and foster their individuality and creativity. It teaches them that it’s okay to take risks and make mistakes, which in turn empowers them to become more confident individuals across all aspects of life.
“Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more like everyone else.” – Sydney Gurewitz Clemens Innovation and Invention (Design Technologies)
Technologies is an exciting and dynamic learning space that combines both design and digital specialisations.
From the garden to the kitchen, manual arts to home economics, engineering to construction, planning to project management, iPads to robots and just about everything in-between. Students are introduced to a range of analogue and digital technologies and develop computational thinking skills to seek creative solutions to a broad range of problems or opportunities.
In an ever changing world, inventions and innovations are superseded before they are even released, and jobs that our kids will be employed to do don’t even exist yet. The technologies program at Guardian Angels seeks to equip students with an array of skills and competencies ensuring they approach future challenges with confidence and capability.
Drama & Performing Arts
All children in classes from Prep to Year 6, excluding Year 3, take part in Performing Arts classes at Guardian Angels. Performing Arts includes the curriculum strands of drama, media arts, dance and music. If acting, dancing, singing and film making are your thing, you will love the array of opportunities these classes provide. We have a wonderful green room facility that we use widely in media arts, and to make our GA News. Our wonderful choirs consisting of Junior Choir and Senior Choir, regularly perform at our amazing Friday assemblies. Over the past 3 years we have staged a variety of musical theatre productions including: the fantastic “Kids At Sea”; the motivating "Reach For The Sky"; and the ‘glitzy’ “Primary School Christmas Musical.”
Gross Motor Program
At Guardian Angels we have a fundamental motor skills program which aims to introduce our younger students to essential play skills such as running, jumping, kicking, throwing and catching. It currently operates in our Prep and Year 1 classes.
Industrial Design
Guardian Angels is very fortunate to have a workshop space where Year 6 students learn all about safety, tools, machines and materials. The students follow instructions to create many products such as candle holders from plastic to money boxes from timber.
Japanese
Learning to communicate in two or more languages is a rich, challenging experience of engaging with and participating in the linguistic and cultural diversity of our interconnected world. (The Shape of the Australian Curriculum Languages 2011)
The Australian Curriculum: Languages forms the basis of our Japanese language program at Guardian Angels. The program is designed to ensure that students develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to communicate in Japanese while becoming aware of the customs, traditions and celebrations of the Japanese people. Japanese school visits, participation at the Gold Coast Speech Contest at Griffith University and the use of technology are some of the activities that extend students’ learning beyond our language classroom.
It is a well researched fact that studying a foreign language provides significant benefits to all students. These include:
At Guardian Angels Primary School, we take pride in being able to implement language learning from Prep to Year 6. It is always exciting to see students expand their intercultural understanding in our interconnected world.
Music
Guardian Angels has an extensive and varied music program incorporating classroom music, instrumental music and choir.
There are five bands of varying levels that rehearse weekly at the school.
There are two choirs that rehearse weekly developing their repertoire for performance.
Senior Band
Senior Band rehearses on Wednesday mornings before school. This senior ensemble consists of all Year 6 instrumentalists and selected students from other years. The Senior Band will perform on assembly as well as participate in the Band Camp and perform for tours later in the year.
Some students are invited to join the Jazz Band for which a high level of skill and commitment are expected. This performance ensemble has demonstrated their skills in pubic at the Broadbeach Blues Festival, the Warwick Jumpers ‘n’ Jazz, at local shopping centres and other community events.
Year 5 Band
Students in Year 5 who play band instruments will form the Year 5 Band. This band will develop its skill in reading new material, composing short pieces for the band, improvising using set scales and playing increasingly difficult band music. Each section will have a half an hour group instrumental lesson per week.
Year 4 Band
These students are in their second year of playing. The Year 4 Band will rehearse once a week, developing their skills in reading, simple composition, scale practice and performance. Each section will have a half an hour group instrumental lesson per week.
Year 3 Instrumental Program
All Year 3 students will participate in the band program. These are our very beginners and each student is expected to commit for 6 months as a minimum. At the end of 6 months each student will be assessed for their level of skill. Assessment will occur again at the end of the school year.
Senior Choir
Senior Choir is open to girls and boys from Year 4-6. Each week at rehearsals they develop their vocal abilities through technical exercises and progressive songs. A set piece is rehearsed for performances at assemblies and concerts.
Junior Choir
During Junior Choir sessions, the voice is strengthened through breathing exercises and ears are trained in listening. Set pieces are rehearsed for performances.
Classroom Music
Music is taught by specialist music teachers to all students from Prep- Year 2. These classes follow the Australian Curriculum with an emphasis on making music through singing and performing on musical instruments.