Without doubt, one of the highlights of the year in the Senior School is House Arts in Term 4. It brings together a year’s worth of preparation for our Year 11 leaders and a week of rehearsals for each member of the House in readiness for a performance evening in the last week of School. To date, we have enjoyed 17 House Arts events.

In 2022, our current Year 11s are underway with the process, having been given their stimulus albums for the end of school year event. Currently they are preparing their first draft of the script by the end of this term, in readiness for developing and refining their work in Term 3.

As we prepare for House Arts 2022, we look back on House Arts in 2021, which celebrated events from the 1890s as an acknowledgement of the decade in which St Catherine’s School was founded, as we celebrated our 125 anniversary.

Head of Performing Arts, Mr James Brown, provided the following reflection in his St Catherine’s News article Greater Than the Sum of its Parts:

At the beginning of 2021, each Year 11 House group randomly selected an envelope that contained a secret stimulus, which were all milestone Australian events from the 1890s; an acknowledgment of the decade in which the School was founded.

These social and cultural moments had a distinctly Australian backdrop – a drought-stricken sheep farm, bushland along the Snowy River, flashback scenes to Dagworth Station, and the streets of Adelaide during the Women’s Suffrage movement.

House Arts’ performance night is the culmination of a year’s worth of preparation for the Year 11 leaders, and a week of rehearsal and collaboration for every member of each House. The audience – both in person and live streaming at home – showed immense appreciation for the effort, passion and talent on display, with every aspect of the performance led and run entirely by the students.

The judges across the five areas of Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual Art were full of superlative praise for the cohesiveness and creativity of the performances by the four Houses.

After yet another close battle, Beaulieu Blair were announced overall winners. House Co-Captains, Emma Froomes and Summer Balla-Kellett, graciously received the Michael Bond House Arts Trophy, awarded in memory of Mr Bond’s legacy as the Head of Drama from 1997-2015, and for pioneering the House Arts competition 17 years ago.

There is much to be admired about the way the Year 11s step into their leadership roles during House Arts, having observed their peers as stewards of the process in previous years. Every year they reflect on the challenges and intricacies of managing such a large project; not just establishing a shared creative vision and teaching the various elements of the production to other Senior students, but the amount of organisation, planning, scheduling and delegation for which they are responsible.

Year 11 House Arts meetings commence as a Year level or House group, then soon divide into smaller teams to refine a plot point, map out the blocking of a scene, sketch a backdrop, add to a musical score, decide upon a costume design, liaise with a staff member about using the drone camera, plan the next 16 beats of choreography, or consider the lighting plot.

The quality and pride in the final presentation of their work is a testament to the collaboration, creativity and dedication of the students, and their willingness to create something greater than the sum of its parts.