Here’s what our students learn during our whole-school concert


Whether you went on to a career on the stage or not, most of us have fond memories of participating in a school production. At Woodbury Boston, our whole-school concert is a long-standing tradition. It’s heaps of fun for everyone, of course, but its cross-curricular benefits mean that it's a great learning experience, too.

Benefits-whole-school-concert

Start with a story

This year, the Southern Right Whales (Year 1-2) are re-creating a storybook for their performance. With lots of favourites and lots of opinions, this is an exercise in democracy (but that’s no problem for our students!) Once they’ve made a selection, our students begin the process of deeply understanding the story they’ve chosen.

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The process of close reading involves:

  • Studying the structure of the story

  • Analysing the illustrations

  • Understanding of the narrative features, like

    • Setting

    • Characters

    • Plot

    • Conflict

    • Theme

We use the chosen story as a writing prompt, as well as to expand vocabularies. Our students practice critical thinking by looking closely at certain characters’ actions. This always leads to fantastic whole-class discussions on ethics, consequences, and justice.

All of these skills are part of the WA English Curriculum, which breaks English learning into three sections: 

Language: knowing about the English language
Literature: understanding, appreciating, responding to, analysing, and creating literature
Literacy: expanding the repertoire of English usage

The whole-school concert gives our students the chance to engage in rich English-language discovery, practice, and consolidation — and most of the time, they don’t even realise they’re learning!

Create a world

A big part of our whole-school concert is creating backdrops. All of our students are involved in selecting materials, colours, and objects to help tell their story. Once the plans are made, they love getting their hands dirty — wood, wire, paint, papier-mâché, card and boxes have been turned into beautiful sets for concerts over the years.
Not only that, our students make choices about music, sounds, costumes and lighting, too. These projects are managed independently (age-appropriately, of course), from conception to realisation — in line with the WA Design and Technologies curriculum.

Shine

Participating in the whole-school concert makes our kids feel proud. Confident. Connected. They get a lot out of practicing and rehearsing lines, particularly the children who didn’t think they could do it. 

Their performance skills get a workout as well. We focus on projecting our voices, communicating our emotions through facial expression and body movement, and using eye contact to connect with the audience. 
All of these skills are part of the WA Arts Curriculum, of course. Being part of our whole-school production boosts self-confidence, encourages self expression and plants a seed that we hope will grow into a deep love and respect for the Arts.

 

Recommended Reading

Woodbury Boston Primary School is a progressive independent school nestled in the bush between Denmark and Albany WA. We know that children learn best when they’re happy and having fun. With a strong focus on community, respect, independence and nature-based teaching, our students learn the Western Australian Curriculum and so much more. For more information or to book a personal tour, please ring 9845 1185.

Children, Philosophy & PracticeMartha Barnard-RaeWoodbury Boston Primary School