The Arts provide a range of stimulating and distinctive experiences for students essential to their total development. The benefits of sustained involvement in the Arts can only be achieved successfully by working within the uniqueness provided by an Arts focus rather than indirectly through the teaching of skills that may be seen as common to the Arts area. While, for practical reasons, we concentrate on art/craft, drama, graphic communication, media education and music, the definition consistently used is broader. Teachers will focus on key aspects of the Arts as the basis for good teaching and learning. Students need to be engaged in a range of Arts experiences. These include opportunities to:

· compose, perform and listen to music;
· express and reflect on their experiences through dance;
· communicate ideas and information through symbols, plans and diagrams;
· explore, express and communicate their experiences through drama;
· analyse how reality is constructed in the media;
· making sculpture and other art forms;
· communicate ideas through video and audio programs and media products;

· learn about the Arts in their own and other cultures;
· appreciate, respond to and reflect upon the works of others;
· and understand the messages carried in a variety of graphic communications.

The Arts provide us with intense pleasure and enjoyment, a deepened insight and awareness of life and consciousness, and a sense of community. The Arts allow us to explore our own feelings and ideas in ways that are not possible in other forms, and of expressing them in ways that can be readily communicated to others. The development of specific techniques and skills and the emphasis on self-expression will increase our perceptual awareness and appreciation of our cultural heritage.