Gifted and Talented Education – Art Program
Places in this program, which has been based at Kalamunda for 20 years, are offered after 3 days of school based art testing, short-listing and interview. The consistent excellence of the art works produced results in:
Many annual winners and place-getters in state and regional art competitions and festivals (eg – City of Armadale, Darlington, High Wycombe, Subiaco Street Festival, Art Rage, Autumn in the Hills, Young Originals and Quest for Excellence).
Invitations for our students to undertake public art works for Kalamunda and Mundaring Shires, Transperth and local enterprises.
Purchase of student work by the Art Gallery of WA, Department of Education and Training, Swan District Office and by the school as part of our Art Acquisition Program.
The program has led to high achievement in art for students in Year 12. In the past 5 years we have won two Subject Exhibitions in Art as the top TEE Art students in Western Australia, and one Certificate of Distinction in Art and Design. Kalamunda consistently appears as a top ten school in Art and Art and Design.
Academic Excellence Program
The program was introduced in 2004 to attract top academic students from our feeder primary schools and to meet the academic needs to the GATE art students. Student applying undergo ACER testing and the top 25-30 students are offered places in Year 8.
Any remaining places are offered to these students who were not able to sit for the tests but have outstanding primary school achievements. To supplement this program four academic excellence scholarships ($500), are offered to Year 8 students enrolling in the school. Presentations to the winners are made at their primary schools at the end of Year 7.
Application for approved specialist program status is being made in 2008 for 2009.
Music / Theatre / Arts / Dance
The school has strong programs in each of these areas, each of which makes use of the adjoining Performing Arts Centre.
The music program is vibrant with students able to participate in ensembles, school orchestra and choir. The students are invited to perform at many venues and events including Education Week, Kings Park Wildflower Festival, Jazz in the Park, local shopping centres, Kalamunda Markets, primary schools and retirement centres.
The drama and dance students perform in bi-annual productions including the Boardwalk Drama Festival, Year 12 drama production, Hill’s Regional Dance Festival, Achper Dance Festival and Gala Dance Festival.
Outdoor Adventure Program
In 2007 a new specialist program – the Outdoor Adventure Program –was introduced into Year 8. The course is designed to enhance the learning of students across all learning areas in an outdoor education context. A selected class of Year 8 students began in 2007 and these selected students will continue their Outdoor Education Program through to Year 12. To complement this focus Kalamunda has been trialling the new Year 11/12 Outdoor Education courses of study. These senior students will act as mentors and leaders to the Year 8 group.
Application for approved specialist program status is being made in 2008 for 2009.
Languages
The school offers 3 languages – Japanese, Italian and Indonesian to Year 12 level. Annual exchanges occur with our sister schools in Japan. In 2008 there are trips planned to Malaysia and Japan. An expression of interest for approved specialist program status for Japanese is being made in 2008 for 2010.
Getting it Right (GiR) Literacy Program
GiR is a targeted and coordinated program of additional specialist personnel, professional development and support provided to public schools. The strategy is designed to improve literacy and lead to greater parity of literacy achievement across all groups of students – in particular Aboriginal students, ESL students, boys and students in rural or remote communities. It supports and is consistent with the implementation of the Plan for Public Schools 2008 – 2011, the Classroom First Strategy and other key initiatives.