The Arts (Art, Drama, Music, Media)
In Years 7 and 8, students engage with ICHK’s Arts Carousel Curriculum in which they study art, drama, music, media and showcase. In Year 9, students select one arts elective from visual art, drama, music or media production.
In Visual Arts students are encouraged to think like artists and let the classroom become their studio.
Music is learned as a universal and uniting experience, albeit differently experienced and enacted in different cultures.
In Media, students work in highly-practical workshops and projects based on photography, film and graphic communication.
Drama is an exciting, experimental and inspirational subject and every student is exposed to the innovative and dynamic world drama creates in their lessons.
At ICHK we don’t do school plays, we do theatre.
Anyone who has been fortunate enough to be in the audience for one of our award-winning shows will know that our inspirational teachers have a miraculous talent for staging the most extraordinarily complicated, intricate, compelling and absorbing ensemble performances.
These shows are carefully choreographed from students’ collective imaginations, leaving audiences in no doubt that at ICHK, students do not play at anything, they inhabit it, they dwell within it, they own it.
Every year our Showcases and drama productions see students from across year groups mix physical theatre, dance, music, motion and special effects to create visual extravaganzas.
This approach has resulted in a peerless record of success at the prestigious Hong Kong School Drama Festival. At the last event we swept the board with wins in the Award for Outstanding Director, Award for Outstanding Actor, Award for Outstanding Stage Effect, Award for Outstanding Cooperation and Award for Commendable Overall Performance categories.
These awards are a true testimony to what ICHK stands for. In our performances we see our 5+1 pastoral model come to life: young people, expertly supported by passionate teachers, encouraged to explore their interests and talents to the full.
We see the culmination of always believing in students as learners – whether in the field of drama, sport or other settings. We witness students who are carefully challenged out of their comfort zones, respond and develop the resilience and grit they will need to deal with all the challenges that life will present.
Our award winning team also works with colleagues at primary, to deliver a drama exploration programme, helping students to create characters and plot lines. This begins in Year 5 and is expanded on in Year 6 with the end of school production which combines drama, dance and movement. This work sets the foundation for Year 7, when students are encouraged to become more skillful in communication and collaboration.
By way of insight we are proud to share two short films here and here, which show four Year 9 students rehearse one of the sections of physical theatre that will in time add up to a spectacular whole. The films are a beautiful and revealing look at the ways in which well planned, well executed, serious dramatic engagements can liberate student performance.