At some point during Stage 4 lockdown, someone said something wise to me, ‘Does it matter? If it does not matter then we need to learn to let it go.’ When asking oneself this question, the follow up enquiry is, ‘What really matters?’

This year, the Arts Faculty have paused live performances, face-to-face clubs and in person group ensembles. What really mattered was that students still had performance experiences, chances to practise as musicians, artists, designers, producers and actors; and connection with their peers. From this was born the Freaky Friday performance via Zoom, Music recitals via Teams, Barbreck’s Greatest Hits, online Art clubs and online rehearsals for the play Two Days with the Queen.

Head of Music, Mr Tim Collins has been sourcing sites around the School where, under current rules wind and brass instruments can be practised in covered but outside venues because this too matters. As I write, a Year 6 student plays undercover in the Wiltondale garden.

‘What matters’ is recognising the work that the Year 11 students undertook for House Arts prior to lockdown, writing scripts, selecting music, some were holding auditions. The students were so excited to have their chance to create their version of House Arts. Now as we navigate the road map out of COVID-19 we look forward to seeing what the students have created for 2020, albeit in an environment unlike the past 15 House Arts performances, but it will be surely one to remember.

When faced with the idea of compressing Unit 4 and 2 VCE Visual Arts to enable a physical exhibition regardless of whether we could even have an audience, that too was ‘let go’. What really mattered was that students had time to resolve their Art, Design and Media products, producing work of which they could be proud and would enhance their portfolios for Visual Arts based tertiary courses.

When asking ‘What really matters?’, the Visual Arts realised that like the Performing Arts, the students required an audience greater than the students who visit the studios to see the work displayed in Wiltondale, so we now have a Visual Arts Instagram (stc_inthestudio) account to showcase work in an ongoing manner across all year levels and are finalising a VCE virtual gallery.

Monday 2 November was spent on-site with professional photographer Kit Haselden who photographed the non-digital Unit 4 artworks exhibited in situ in Wiltondale. Kit’s attention to detail and uncompromising perfectionism has resulted in capturing the body of work in a new format. The ongoing transition of 2020 to new platforms has not stopped, because showcasing the quality of a St Catherine’s School experience does matter and while transformed, has not been ‘let go.’