9. Arts Education. 9.1 Visual Arts Mrs. P. Kam

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1 9. Arts Education 9.1 Visual Arts Mrs. P. Kam Introduction & Curriculum Arts education contributes significantly to students aesthetic development, which is one of the five essential learning experiences for whole-person development. Our Visual Arts curriculum helps our students develop art skill, construct knowledge, cultivate positive values and attitudes, and develop generic skills and a lifelong interest in Visual Arts. Teaching Approaches & Strategies Our teaching-&-learning activities have been designed in accordance with the four key learning targets set by the EDB, i.e. developing creativity and imagination, developing skills and processes, cultivating critical responses and understanding arts in context. The thematic approach has been adopted in our holistic curriculum planning. Diversified opportunities of learning various visual art forms and learning across the KLAs have been some of our themes. Our strategies of e-learning and adopting assessment for learning have also helped our students become self-directed and lifelong learners. Other Learning Experiences Taipei Study Tour for Visual Arts and Chinese History From the 5-day-4-night guided tour, the twenty-seven students and our Chaperon Teachers received much more than what we expected. We visited the Palace Museum and the Fine Arts Museum of Taipei, and witnessed the concealed tunnel of the Taipei Grand Hotel as well as the changing of the guards ceremony. Apart from sightseeing in two old districts, we participated in interactive tours of puppet art culture and old-styled letterpress printing. By attending a DIY workshop in Yingge, a famous pottery town, all of us made a pottery piece each. The pots were then glazed, fired and delivered to our School. Visual Arts Club The highlights of the Visual Arts Clubs were horizon-widening visits to the Fashion + Paper, Scissors & Rocks Exhibition of local fashion designers, Rafael Moneo s architecture exhibition, Konstantin Grcic s product design exhibition and the graphic design exhibition of the University of Art and Design in Lausanne. The artist-in-school workshop conducted a tape art mural outside our swimming pool, an unforgettable experience that showcased the collective creation of our members. Workshops The large-scale mural display at the annual Arts in the Park Mardi Gras, organized by the Standard Chartered Bank in Victoria Park was another experience of collective creation for us. We showcased 70 canvases of paintings there. 1

2 To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, a group of students were trained by Mrs. P. Kam and Mrs. C. C. Wong to prepare layout entries with the idea of using Fei Cu to a corresponding competition organized by the HK Jewellery and Jade Manufacturers Association. Talk A drama illustrating the interactions between different roles in a drama production was performed in our School by the HK Art Centre. It was followed by a pleasant sharing session. The whole Form One and Form Four got the precious opportunity of knowing more about drama careers. External competitions We are grateful and proud to achieve the following results from external competitions: International Competition Prize: 1 International Top 10 Finalist: 1 International Bronze Prize: 1 International Honorable Mention/ Merit/ Diploma: 4 National 2 nd Class Honour: 4 National 3 rd Class Honour: 1 National Highly Commended: 2 Hong Kong Champion: 1 Hong Kong 1 st Runner-up: 1 Hong Kong 2 nd Runner-up: 3 Hong Kong Top 10: 1 Hong Kong Outstanding Performance/ Merit: 8 The success of the Art Department results from the efforts of our dear teachers and students who have been involved in the curriculum and the activities of the department. I am also grateful for the support of the School Council, Mrs. Doris Ho, JP, Mrs. Stella Lau, SBS, JP, the PTA and the DOGA. 9.2 Aesthetic Development Mrs. Y. Chan The focus of Aesthetic Development in the NSS curriculum is to help students develop a heightened awareness of and appreciation for art and beauty through an exploration of the creative processes involved in music, drama and visual arts. In Secondary Four, students experimented with script-writing and producing a ten-minute play. Students from 4W, X, Y and Z were divided into twelve groups, out of which the best three English and Chinese groups of the year were selected to perform their plays on stage in a finale performance. In Secondary Five, students could opt to specialize in one of the following five areas: English Drama, Chinese Drama, English Musical, Stage Make-up (conducted by an external guest tutor), and last but not least, Set and Prop Design. Through these workshops, students were introduced to practical skills that were essential to producing an effective play. 2

3 To put the theories which they learned into practice, students embarked on a long collaborative process to produce five twenty-minute long plays two English plays, two Putonghua plays, and an English musical. The plays were showcased on Drama Night, which was held on 12 th May 2017, so that parents, teachers, and other students could come and celebrate the fruits of the Secondary Five students labour. In Secondary Six, students had the opportunity to learn to read documentary films through a critical lens. A hearty vote of thanks must be extended to the school council, our Headmistress Mrs. Lau, parents, the AV team and technicians. Without their support and guidance, the AD programmes would not have run so successfully in the last academic year. 9.3 Music Miss G. Chiang Unlike in previous years, was marked by major performances which took place throughout the year, in November, May and July, with our musicians taking part in overseas performances and exchanges, as well as hosting the Third School Orchestra Festival of Four Regions Across the Straits. As always, learning, service, and performance continue to be the three indispensible building blocks for Music education at DGS. 1. Learning Music lessons continue to focus on three aspects of music making listening, performing and creating. We continued to fine-tune the listening portfolio to expand students listening repertoire to incorporate various styles of Western Classical music, as well as Chinese music and World music. In-class listening activities were supplemented by concert reports and ensemble assessment, where students integrated conceptual knowledge with their practical skills. Secondary 3 students continued to produce their final creative project, using apps on the ipad and other instruments to compose and perform their original song. In the Senior forms, a handful of students pursued the study of music at the HKDSE level, and took part in the network programme co-organized with Diocesan Boys School, La Salle College and Maryknoll Convent School. The instrumental classes schemes are revised to provide three separate streams for students: (i) individual lessons, (ii) group lessons, and (iii) orchestral coaching for advanced brass players. Student musicians have benefitted greatly from the latter, and we hope to expand the scheme to more DGS musicians. Over the Christmas and Lunar New Year holidays, the annual training camps for the Orchestras and Senior Choirs took place at Chinese YMCA Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village and Jockey Club Tai Tong Holiday Camp, where girls underwent intensive training to polish their technique and further develop their ensembleship. 3

4 2. Service Now into its second year, we continued our monthly sessions of music sharing at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which took place in the afternoon of the last Thursday of each month. The performances ranged from piano solos to vocal duets, from wind ensemble to the Chinese orchestra, bringing smiles to those who heard us at the hospital lobby. In the meantime, our musicians also served our neighbours - the Intermediate Choir took part in Christmas carolling at the Kowloon Cricket Club as well as the St. Andrew s Church 110 th Anniversary Concert, while the Chinese Orchestra performed for the Zonta Club, and the String Orchestra for the SEYSA Award Gala Dinner. 3. Performance In terms of the number of performances, has been a challenging and compact year of unceasing music-making for our five Choirs, three Orchestras, Concert Band and six instrumental ensembles. Besides competing in the annual Hong Kong Schools Music Festival (HKSMF), we also had the good fortune to conduct music exchange with Kagoshima s Joho High School Wind Band, and choirs from Singapore s Victoria Junior College, Tanjong Katong Girls School, and Mayflower Secondary School. We are honoured to be invited by the Kagoshima Prefecture Government to perform as honoured guests at the 43 rd Kagoshima Prefecture Wind Festival in November 2016, which was an especially fruitful tour for our young wind and brass players. In January 2017, we returned to the Shenzhen Concert Hall for a third time and performed as part of their Beautiful Sunday Concert Series. In February 2017, we held the third DGS Concerto Competition, and the five winners performed with the Symphony Orchestra at our Shenzhen-HK and Summer Concert performances. The winners include Sherri Lun (Piano), Charis Chan (Harmonica), Annis Ma (Viola), Kate Lee (Piano), and Renee Tsui (Double Bass). In May 2017, our Senior Choir and Symphony Orchestra were invited to represent Hong Kong at the 1 st Shenzhen-Hong Kong Art & Culture Exchange Festival, as part of the celebration the 20 th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR, performing together with the famed Shenzhen High School Lily Choir and the youth orchestra from Shenzhen Experimental School. The School Orchestra Festival of Four Regions Across the Straits is into its third year, and we at DGS were honoured to host it in Hong Kong this year. In July 2017, we held two concerts, involving some five hundred musicians from nine secondary schools from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Guangzhou, at the Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium. 4

5 A summary of the performances can be found below: 19 Sep 2016 Chinese Orchestra National Day Celebration 30 Sep 2016 Senior Choir DGS PTA AGM 1 Oct 206 Senior Mixed Choir National Day Flag-raising Ceremony 5-7 Nov 2016 Concert Band 43 rd Kagoshima Prefecture Wind Festival 15 Jan 2017 Symphony Orchestra, String Orchestra, Concert Band and Junior Choir Beautiful Sunday at Shenzhen Concert Hall 11 Feb 2017 Senior, Intermediate and Mixed Choirs, DGS Pre-Competition Concert Instrumental and Madrigal ensembles 17 Feb 2017 Mixed Choirs and Madrigal ensembles DBS Pre-Competition Concert 31 Mar 2017 All Choirs, String Orchestra, Chinese DGS Easter Concert Orchestra and Guzheng Ensemble 26 Apr 2017 Symphony Orchestra 69 th HKSMF Winners Concert 1 28 Apr 2017 String Orchestra, Senior Choir 69 th HKSMF Winners Concert 2 6 May 2017 Senior Choir Shenzhen-HK Art & Culture Exchange Festival Concert (Shenzhen Youth Palace) 7 May 2017 Piano Ensemble 69 th HKSMF Winners Concert 3 7 May 2017 Senior Mixed Choir 69 th HKSMF Winners Concert 4 13 May 2017 Senior Choir Shenzhen-HK Art & Culture Exchange Festival Concert (HK Y-Square) 14 May 2017 Symphony Orchestra and Concerto Competition Winners Shenzhen-HK Art & Culture Exchange Festival Concert (HK Y-Square) 28 May 2017 Symphony Orchestra and Concerto Competition Winners Shenzhen-HK Art & Culture Exchange Festival Concert (Shenzhen Fu Tian Cultural Centre) 21 Jun 2017 String Quartet Variety Show in Celebration of the 20 th Anniversary of the HKSAR Reunification by Guangdong and Hong Kong Schools 1 Jul 2017 Senior Mixed Choir 20 th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR Flag-raising Ceremony 3-5 Jul 2017 Chinese Orchestra Joint-School Chinese Orchestra Concert 7-8 Jul 2017 Mixed Choirs DBS Homecoming Concerts 12 Jul 2017 Concert Band, Symphony Orchestra, and DGS Summer Concert Concerto Competition Winners Jul 2017 String Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Senior Choir 3 rd School Orchestra Festival of Four Regions Across the Straits 5

6 4. External Competitions In our quest for excellence, we believe that competitions allow students to gauge their ability while providing a specific target for them to work towards, whilst never forgetting to appreciate the hard work and strengths of their fellow competitors. On 24 th November, 2016, the Chinese Orchestra participated in the Hong Kong Youth Music Interflows Chinese Orchestra Contest and won the Gold Award. The 69 th Hong Kong Schools Music Festival took place from 27 th February to 29 th March, 2017, and by God s blessing and perseverance of our musicians, our ensembles achieved the following results: Symphony Orchestra (Senior) String Orchestra (Senior) Concert Band (Intermediate) Piano Ensemble Brass Ensemble Chinese Instrumental Ensembles Erhu Ensemble Senior Choir Intermediate Choir Junior Choir Senior Mixed Choir Junior Mixed Choir Madrigal Teams First First Third First Third Second, Third Third First; Best Secondary School Girls Choir (Foreign Language); Second (Chinese) First (Chinese) First (Foreign Language & Chinese) First (Foreign Language & Chinese); Best Secondary School Mixed Voice Choir; Most Outstanding Secondary School Choir of the Year (Foreign Language) First (Foreign Language & Chinese) First, Second Our students also took home 20 First places, 29 Seconds and 37 Third places in the individual entries. As we look back at another challenging year, we are grateful for the many blessings the Lord has given us, the unceasing support and understanding from parents, colleagues, old girls and students, the dedication and love of our conductors, Mr. Chu Wai Hung, Ms. Dorothy Hui, Mr. Felix Shuen, Mr. Leung Kin Fung, our Performing Arts Director, and Miss Cindy Chen, to whom we bid a fond farewell. Last but not least, thanks must be given to our Headmistress, Mrs. Stella Lau, for her unwavering support and guidance for the DGS Music Department musicians. We look forward to bringing more inspiring programmes and music-making experiences to our girls in the future. 6