Arts

Drama

Shakespeare Night and Year 10 Commedia Dell’Arte

To be or not to be... that was the question for our Te Aratai stars on the annual Shakespeare Night. Our focus for the evening was Hamlet.

We focus on understanding the play and then performing it. We had a wonderful turnout and the audience was impressed with our performance skills.

Year 10 has been working on bringing their Commedia Dell'Arte performances to the stage.

This is a form of theatre that started in Italy. We create small skits called Lazzi that we perform and make half masks for. Here's a picture of the masks that learners made for the performance.

That Bloody Women Trip

Senior Drama students were treated to a rocking history lesson on July 13th when we were invited to “That Bloody Woman” by Luke Di Somma and Gregory Cooper who hail from Christchurch. This musical tells the story of Kate Sheppard and her fight for women's rights. The students were enthralled with the acting, singing and set design. Ever since, they have been listening to the cast recordings and singing along.

Te Aratai Drama Storms the Capital

Art

Year 11 Portfilios

Junior Art

Te Aratai’s junior art department has been very busy this year. Our ākonga have developed their practical knowledge through learning different mediums like painting, sculpture and printmaking; and developing their ideas by learning to use artist models and their own ideas and critical thinking. The overall theme in the Art Department and one of our ngā uara for this year was Tūrangawaewae.

Years 9 and 10, Term 1 and 2

Junior art runs as a two-term option for students. In terms 1 and 2, we saw the Year 9's and 10’s responding to their Tūrangawaewae by looking at Christchurch artist and sculpture GHOSTCAT. GHOSTCAT creates realist miniature sculptures of buildings, bins, etc, around Christchurch and his local area. Ākonga learnt perspective drawing and new painting techniques to make texture like rust, and went to the SHIFT exhibition. They also went on a walk around school and the surrounding community to connect to their Tūrangawaewae and to see the everyday mundane in a new way and replicate that knowledge into a miniature sculpture of their own.

Year 9, Term 3 and 4

Term 3 and 4, the Year 9’s responded to the NZ artist Shane Cotton. They produced a painting using the conventions of artist Cotton and looked at Tūrangawaewae, belonging and connection to our kura. Ākonga engaged with the story and history of our school, the old and new, and the deeper meaning behind our new school logo. We also looked at the flora and fauna around our kura. They learnt different painting techniques and practical knowledge which they used in their painting.

Year 10, Term 3 and 4

The Year 10s took the theme Tūrangawaewae in a more personal way and responded to the artist model and NZ printmaker Ester Henson, and produced their visual pepeha in a print. Ākonga started by writing their own pepepha and using that to find a range of images that represent their pepeha, layering them into their silhouette. They then used the dry-point etching method to scratch out their print into a sheet of perspex, followed the print making process to produce their final print.

Junior exhibition – end of option

At the end of term 2, the junior Art Department had their end of option junior exhibition at the Linwood Library at Eastgate where they exhibited their miniature sculpture and their drawings from the last two terms. This exhibition is very important as it gets students to celebrate their learning and be a part of the community.

Senior Art

We have had a very productive year in the senior Art Department. At senior level, Te Aratai College offers Level 1 Visual Art. Once they have completed Level 1, they then have the opportunity to complete Level 2 and three where the focus will be on painting or photography. This means that learners this year have had individual pathways to meet their NCEA achievement goals. This can also depend on what their individual circumstances and learning intentions are.

Our seniors had an opportunity to exhibit their artwork during the year at the Linwood Community Arts Centre. This was a student exhibition for all NZQA visual art students around Christchurch. This was an awesome opportunity for our seniors to publicly exhibit their artwork, celebrate their mahi and be part of the greater and upcoming Christchurch Art Community.

We are extremely proud to have 11 ākonga from Level 1 Visual Art. Five ākonga from Level 2 Painting, and 1 ākonga from Level 3 Painting complete their external folios this year in both Level 1 Visual Art and Painting.

Senior Art Winner

This year the The Tony Fomison award for the significant contribution to Visual Art in Level 3 Painting went to Dani Beckley. Dani received this award for showing leadership in the classroom and was a student who demonstrated the following ngā uara, Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, and Rangatiratanga towards herself and others in the classroom. Dani has grown and evolved as an artist and ākonga of Te Aratai College and is off to study animation at YOOBEE next year. We wish her all the best for her future creative endeavours.

Senior Photography

Photography

The senior photographers have had a very big learning year as they were involved in an international project run by French photographer, JR. This project was called the Inside Out, and helps individuals and communities make a stand against issues in their communities by displaying large-scale black and white portraits in public spaces. Through these different “Actions,” communities around the world have sparked collaborations and conversations on pressing issues. More than 500,000 people spanning across 152 countries have participated in the Inside Out Project, with over 2,500 actions created. Together we can turn the world INSIDE OUT!

Our action was about building connections between our Year 7 and 8 learners and the rest of Te Aratai College. Our senior photographers worked with Year 7 and 8 ākonga and displayed each of those ākonga throughout the kura as valued members of our Te Aratai community. Breaking those “walls” between us and bringing us all together!

Photography Winner

This year, Sage Mackay got 1st in senior Photography and has shown Rangatiratanga, and creative thinking and development through the lens of the camera. Sage is a hard-working student who has shown leadership and has participated in a number of internal and external photography opportunities around school this year. Well done Sage.

Music

FoodTruck Alley Music Showcase

Listen to some of our amazing musicians.

Year 12 Music Night

Jazz band

Georgia and Ellie, Year 11

Everlong Music Night

Dance

The Dance department has taken off after only one year of being in the official school subject list. From Year 7-12 a whopping total of 287 students have taken part in Dance classes as a compulsory and or an optional subject. Lots of genres have been explored, and creativity through choreography tasks evolved and took place on our wonderful stage in Te Puna. This is also the first year that Te Aratai College has offered NCEA Dance. These students will go down in history for making their mark in the studio and in our community.

As well as in Dance class, two competitive Hip Hop crews were formed. Choreographer Riley Tukaki from ACE Dance studios got these teams off to a flying start. ‘Fusion’, consisting of students from Years 8-10 and ‘Ignite’ Year 11s, competed in the NZCAF regionals at Cashmere High School. Placing 3rd and 4th respectively, this was an absolutely huge feat for all involved as only 2 students out of the 14 involved had performed in this kind of environment before.

‘Fusion’ went on to compete in the NZCAF Nationals held in Ōtepoti, Dunedin just 3 ½ weeks after qualifying at regionals.

Sets and music were altered by the performers and Ms McLean before heading to Ōtepoti. With the smooth driving skills of Mr G, the trip was an excellent experience. Not placing in the top 3 was disappointing, but a real learning opportunity to draw on for future competitions.

‘Rise 2023’ - with the tagline ‘We rise by lifting others’ was truly a wonderful insight to what our students are capable of. The camaraderie that they demonstrated in the dress rehearsal process was uplifting in itself. Having a huge audience from our community come and support our rangatahi was phenomenal and so appreciated.

As the Teacher in Charge of Dance I am so excited for the future of dance at Te Aratai College. This is something our ākonga can express themselves through, explore different forms of communication, discover knowledge through historical events and simply thrive in confidence of who they are.