Principal's Message Week 2 Term 4

This week-long celebration of the arts is vital for our school. Engagement in creative and performing arts is essential for the holistic development of a child. Making, creating, devising, composing, and performing in all forms of art provide an outlet for creative expression. I am pleased that we invest in the arts at our College.

Of course, the three Rs of reading, writing and arithmetic are fundamental to school education. All students need to be literate and numerate. All students also need to be able to funnel their creative energies into something that they have created.

Music, drama, visual and media arts, and dance, give a school a soul. I have not seen a thriving school where the arts are not valued and celebrated. Thank goodness, that at ATC we have students who embrace the co-curricular offerings in the performing and creative arts.

Navigating childhood and adolescence can be tricky. Having a natural outlet where thoughts, feelings and emotions can be poured out is a wonderful way to help manage the navigation of this time. We know that talking to a trusted person helps. So does making use of our creative energies. Expressing ourselves through various art media is also a sign of us telling others who we are, and how we feel.

I observe carefully the various media stories about “ATARMaxxing” as it is called, and the many reports on scaling – some of which is highly inaccurate and misinformed. Sadly, in Queensland we are seeing a rapid decline in participation rates in arts courses at the pointy end of education because of the supposed adverse result on contribution to ATAR. Let me be clear on this point – and I am passionate about it – through the following:

1. Your child is not you – he has his own skills, interests, and passions.
2. Whatever he chooses to do at school, and post-school – at university and/or in the workplace, will necessarily not be where he ends up career-wise. Think of your own work history as an example of this. I know that 30% of UQ students change their degree choice during their first year at university alone. Therefore, making choices about subjects studied will NOT determine their life story!
3. We go to school to learn. We learn a variety of things. Some of these things are readily transferrable to the workplace, and others are simply good to have as an experience, or an additional skillset.
4. Music, drama, dance, visual and media arts are also life skills. They are skills in building, creation, composition, aesthetics, and creativity. They are confidence building skills. They are teamwork skills. And they are fun! They provide a counterpoint to other subject areas.
5. The arts are complementary to mathematics, science, and accounting, not diametrically opposed to them.
6. If you have talent, interest, and passion for any subject, you are more likely to do well in it. With respect to how this translates to ATAR, there is no point in taking a high ATAR earning subject if you are very bad at it! It will not assist in the contribution to the ATAR.
7. Some things we do for the love of it.
8. The arts are not an inferior intellectual subject choice. They require complex skills, intellectual and original thought, and evaluation, synthesis, and deduction are part of every bit of engaging deeply with the arts.

Having young men make, create and device original works is essential for their growth as whole humans. Let’s not let the arts die in our country. If we do, there will be no rock concerts, no art galleries, and no plays, musicals or classical music concerts to attend. You may not see another movie in a theatre either!

Come and see what our boys do at ATC. We are a lighthouse school for the arts.

Dr Craig Wattam

College Principal