Creative & Performing Arts

The Creative and Performing Arts Faculty at Henry Kendall High School is a diverse team. The programs are delivered by highly experienced, progressive, innovative teachers who are dedicated to providing exciting opportunities for students to develop their expressive and creative potential. We provide an inspirational and nurturing environment in which students can explore the varied aspects of creative arts as both lifelong passions and interest and as a potential career choice.

Henry Kendall High School caters for all students, including those in our Stage 4 Academic Stream and students with high potential and gifted abilities. Our Music and Visual Arts programs are designed so every learner can access high-quality, dynamic and challenging creative education from Years 7 to 12.

What CAPA looks like at HKHS (Years 7–12 / HSC)

Across Music and Visual Arts, learning follows a clear developmental pathway from Stage 4 foundations to Stage 6/HSC excellence and beyond:

• Music (Years 7–12): Classroom Music builds performance, composition and listening, alongside Music Technology (recording, sequencing, live sound). Students extend into Jazz Band and Concert Band, and join the Sound & Light Team to run audio, lighting and staging for whole-school events. VET Entertainment/Music Industry pathways provide nationally recognised skills and links to Australia’s creative economy—including copyright literacy and professional engagement with APRA AMCOS.

• Visual Arts (Years 7–12): Studio practice, art criticism and history are enriched by exhibitions, tours and workshops at the Art Gallery of NSW and Gosford Regional Gallery. Students celebrate public success through A Central Vision and NextGen exhibitions and consistently strive for HSC excellence. The student Promotions Team supports whole-school events with photography and social media storytelling—building real-world portfolios and employability.

Connection with Audience

A core value of the CAPA Faculty is strengthening each student’s ability to connect meaningfully with an audience. Through classroom strategies and ongoing reflective practice, students learn to communicate the intention, emotion and cultural significance of their major works—whether musical, visual, digital or performance-based. We recognise that audience connection involves non-measurable aspects of artistic maturity, including a student’s ability to identify, discuss and interpret the social and cultural contexts embedded within their work. This development of personal voice and authentic expression enhances the richness, purpose and impact of every student’s creative output.

Our HPGE Creative Domain commitment

In line with the NSW High Potential & Gifted Education (HPGE) Policy, we intentionally design learning that promotes the Creative Domain. CAPA programs invite students to:

• Produce original designs or responses, explore alternative options, and communicate ideas through innovative communications.

• Embrace risk-taking and experimentation, deep idea exploration, and discover underlying principles in artistic, musical and technical decisions.

• Practise divergence and flexibility, adapt others’ ideas into unique products, and use scenario-based/simulation learning (e.g., live production, exhibition curation, audience-led critique).

• Compare and evaluate creative and mind-mapping tools to select the most effective method of communicating meaning.

• Sequence and refine creative work by shifting between whole artworks and individual elements, analyse how decisions influence outcomes across the creative process, and organise material into purposeful formats including folios, scores and production documentation.

• Challenge assumptions, devise and adapt questions for different stakeholders (audiences, ensembles, clients, galleries), model if…then… consequences in creative decisions, and apply reverse thinking to disrupt predictable patterns and develop original solutions.

• Strengthen their connection with audiences by refining how they interpret social, cultural and expressive influences—enhancing the depth and impact of artworks and performances.

Stay connected

We now have a Henry Kendall CAPA Facebook page which contains all kinds of information, opportunities, events and other happenings going on in our wonderful faculty. If you would like to stay informed, head to Facebook HKHSCAPA and 'LIKE' our page.

The Creative and Performing Arts Team:

• Mr Jarrod Walters - Head Teacher of Creative and Performing Arts & Music Teacher.
• M Jennifer Court - Visual Arts and Photography Teacher, School Photographer.
• Mrs Gemma Lucca - Visual Arts Teacher.
• Mrs Janelle Wilkinson - Visual Arts Teacher.
• Mr Luke Fabila - Music Teacher, Team Leader, Sound and Light Team

Have a question for our principal or teachers?

Our friendly office team can help you get in touch.

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