Mooroolbark College Newsletter – September 2025

Welcome to a very special edition of the Mooroolbark College Newsletter!

In this edition, we shine a spotlight on the wonderful things happening in The Arts this year. We are very fortunate to have a thriving and diverse curriculum at the College. Our junior students begin developing their creativity in Art, Visual Communication Design, Music and Drama in Years 7 and 8. During the middle years, students diversify and begin to find their specialised areas, which include Art, VCD, Media, Photography, Drama, Music and Ceramics. These subjects offer the perfect pathway into Senior School and beyond.

This year has been filled with colour, creativity, and talent. It has been inspiring to see the incredible artworks and performances our students have brought to life using so many different mediums and materials. While this edition of the newsletter showcases some of the amazing work, we can’t wait to exhibit the best of the best at our annual Night of Excellence coming up in Term 4. The evening will feature work on display from students in Years 7 to 12 with the night providing our senior students a chance to showcase their amazing finals that they’ve been working on for most of the year. We can’t wait for you to experience their hard work, passion, and imagination on display!

Matthew Neil-Holland.

THE ARTS KEY LEARNING HEAD

Art Club is a welcoming, safe space where students come together to explore their artistic talents and express themselves through a variety of mediums, such as painting, drawing, sculpture and digital art. Open to all skill levels, the club encourages experimentation and personal growth. Members meet each Thursday lunchtime in D6 to share ideas, learn new techniques, and work on new or existing tasks in a supportive, inspiring environment. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or just curious to try something new, Art Club is the perfect place to unleash your creativity!

Last semester, our Year 9 Art students created some fantastic artworks. Throughout the semester they completed Element Hands (hand artworks that incorporated each of the Elements of Art), Linoprint Artworks and some fantastic watercolour artworks. Below is a selection of their fantastic work.

Semester 2 Year 9 Art students recently attended YRTS  to undertake a day of creativity utilising the latest forms of technology including AI programs such as Leonardo, Procreate and Virtual Reality software that allowed them to draw and create in digital 3D environments. It was incredible to see what they could achieve is such a short time using this amazing technology.

Year 7 Art students are currently working on their first CAT, which involves designing and making a sculptural piece using white earthenware clay, acrylic paint and varnish.     This task focusses on different bodies of waters, such as oceans, lakes, ponds etc. and the creatures that live in and around them. Students enjoy the tactile quality and creativity of sculpting with clay and will often choose to remain in class during break times to continue working on their fabulous artworks.

Year 10 Art: Ceramics & Printmaking students are currently working on their first CAT, which involves sculpting with their choice of clays and finishes to produce a utilitarian piece. They have a choice of finishes, that include stains, oxides, underglaze and glaze, as well as a variety of decorating techniques that will further enhance their artworks. Students really enjoy working with clay and will often remain in class during breaks to maximise the time they get work on their impressive artworks.

Year 10 Media

Our Year 10 Media students began the semester by completing their first filmmaking challenge: The Chocolate Bar. Students were tasked with planning, filming and editing together a short sequence all in under one hour. They all did such a fantastic job.

They then moved on to creating some fantastic Movie Mash-Up Posters for CAT 1. Students were tasked with combining at least 2 film/tv ideas into the one poster. Their creativity and expert skills in the use of Photoshop has created some fantastic work. Well done everyone.

Year 11 Media

Last semester, Year 11 Media students completed some amazing film posters. Using Photoshop, students were tasked with creating a series of film posters to represent an idea. The posters had to work as a standalone poster or as a trio. Here is a selection of their amazing work. Fantastic work everyone.

The Year 11 Media students are currently working hard on their short films that they can’t wait to premiere at our upcoming Film Festival on September 17^th. We can’t wait to see you there.

From July 28^th to 30^th, the Performing Arts students took the arduous journey to Mt Evelyn for our annual Performing Arts Camp. Instrumental Music students, Production cast and crew, and VCE music students were all invited to participate in the three-day, intensive program.

The IM and VCE students formed the Performing Arts Camp Band, better known as the PAC Band. Students broke into sections and learned their various pieces for the PAC Band, worked on songwriting, as well as spending time on other performance pieces they are continuing to develop.

Production students ran intensive dance, acting and singing rehearsals in the lead up to production week. Finishing touches were added to set pieces, “Let Us Dance” posters were painted, and the show itself was polished.

During downtime students had the opportunity to chill, jam, continue writing songs, or work on their talent show acts, but during this time we also had a lot of mentoring with our more experienced students supporting younger or more inexperienced students with their instruments, lines, acting, singing, and dancing.

On the last night, the attendees and staff of the camp were blessed with the talent show, where students are free to explore their talents in a completely supportive environment. During the talent show we see everything from original dances and compositions to stories being read and quick facts about fire stations. Of course, we also had the latest episode of the serial dramady “Italian Man”, which has been running for four years.

On Friday morning after the cleanup, each program has the opportunity to perform for each other before heading home for a well-earned rest. Although we’re not on high ropes, canoes, or trekking up mountains, it really is an intensive camp and makes such a difference to every attendee, in their performing arts skills as well as their social connections.

Performing Arts Camp will be running again in 2026, and information will be available to all students in the Performing Arts programs in Term One.

In August, we lost our blues at Karralyka when we performed our musical, Footloose! On Thursday 14^th and Friday 15^th August we performed three shows to local primary schools, and the school and wider community.

Auditions took place in early February, and twice-weekly rehearsals started in late February, with everything coming together late in Term 3. Our performances are only getting more impressive, with our leads and ensembles managing an amazing three-part harmony, and many junior performers stepping into roles with solo singing. The dedication of our students to acting, learning lines, singing, and dancing is to be commended.

Alongside our cast, our stagehand team transitioned our scenes smoothly, made sure every prop was in place, and I’m fairly sure our lighting tech is soon going to be plotting and running the show himself in a few years’ time!

Feedback from the community was only positive, with compliments ranging from celebrating our whole cast’s dance moves and singing, all the way to the primary school audience being impressed with the way the scenes change in the dark.

We’re very sad to be saying farewell to our Graduating year 12 students, Laura Harrison and Summer Hathaway, who have both played integral roles in Footloose and previous productions. We hope their time on the stage is not over, and they continue to pursue the performing arts in their future.

It’s always a bittersweet feeling once the show has wrapped and we’ve bumped out of the theatre. The excitement of show week, everything we’ve been working towards, is quickly replaced with the set back in the shed, the costumes hanging back in the store room, and the MPR silent on Monday and Thursday afternoons. Thankfully, the silence won’t last too long, as we’ve have recently been successful in securing the rights to next year’s production, which by now should be announced on our socials pages! All students in years 7 to 12 are welcome to become part of the show, whether they are on stage singing, in the wings helping organise props and sets, or up in the tech box working on lighting or sound.

The instrumental program had a fantastic night showcasing the talent and improvement of students learning instruments in 2025. With a focus on perfecting performance craft and ensemble work, students shared the amazing piece they worked on throughout Semester 1.  A big thank you to the parents, teachers and students that supported the event.

Running on Wednesday at lunch, Music Club is a place that welcomes all students to make, create and play music. Students have access to the rehearsal rooms, instruments and other like-minded students to rehearse and play music in a safe and welcoming place. Students also can repair and assess their instruments and learn about how musical equipment works.