Exploring Emotions Through the Arts

At this difficult time for all of us the arts can be an excellent way for students to explore their emotions and feelings by expressing them in different artforms.  At some point this term students will be exploring their emotions in their work through Music, Drama and Visual Arts.

Visual Arts

In the Visual Arts students have looked at how artists have expressed emotions in different ways in their art work with things like colour, shape, movement and expressive brush strokes.  They are now starting to create their own pieces of work in a media of their choice.  There is lots of great work being done and we are excited to see the final outcomes.

Drama

In Drama the year 7s have begun an introduction to Drama techniques exploring what performance means to them.  They have created videos on storytelling and they have also begun a set design project.  Year 8 and 9s have been exploring documentary making and looking at expressing their feeling on what 2020 meant to them.  iGCSE year 11s are working hard preparing for the written exam, exploring theatre practitioners, set design and exam techniques. 

In January 2021 there will be an online musical theatre workshop with students who are performing and training in Drama schools in the UK.

Music

In Music lessons, students are taking advantage of the best software available to express their feelings by creating and sharing great music. In line with our curriculum, students are learning how to apply their musical knowledge to compositional tasks, being very productive and engaging with the technology at hand.

The software BandLab educational allows students to create their own music while they learn Music & Technology skills in an educational platform, where the teacher can set up assignments, check progress, give formative feedback and share their music. This is all completely integrated with Google Classroom. Flat I.O is a free cutting edge music notation software that allows students to write music on score; again, in connection with Google classroom. As they learn about note values and note identification on the stave, they do it by experiencing what it is like to write a melody for violin, trumpet, or any classical instrument.

Students are being challenged to participate in a Music Technology composition competition, where hundreds of great tracks will be created.  There will also be a live talent show coming up in the next few weeks and look out for our upcoming live concert which will be open to all of the BCB community.