Creative and Practical Arts
	Creative and practical arts provides an opportunity for students to appreciate, experience and develop artistic and performance skills. Our students enjoy participating in a variety of visual arts, music, drama and dance activities via the curriculum and through additional programs at Mortdale Public School. These opportunities are an essential element of self-expression for our students and contribute to the 'connectedness' important for quality teaching. Our visual arts program provides students with experiences in a wide variety of media including paint, watercolour, pastel and pencil, developing skills in drawing, colour mixing, perspective, line and texture. All students from K-6 are involved in our School Music Program. This program has many components to ensure all students have opportunities to develop their understanding of musical concepts as well as developing a love and appreciation of music. Students in all classes are introduced to the main musical concepts for their developmental stage including beat, rhythm, pitch, dynamics and musical appreciation. Students make use of tuned and untuned percussion instruments in the classroom environment. Students in Years 1 and 2 also learn to play the recorder as part of the program. Mortdale PS also utilises the highly acclaimed national music program Musica Viva. This program complements the students classroom music program and incorporates concerts from professional ensembles during the year. Drama is incorporated into teaching programs, usually along with a focus book or Human Society and its Environment unit. Students may be involved in performing plays, choral reading with expression, silent movement, mirroring activities and a variety of other drama techniques designed to develop interpretation and personal expression skills. Kindergarten through to Year 2 students participate in dance activities on a weekly basis, performing popular dances as a group. Dance is also incorporated into the curriculum as part of cultural studies. Students from Years One through to Year 5 also participate in Mortdale's Dance Performance Group .