Cultural Program
Physical Theatre
Varsity College is acclaimed for the quality of its dramatic performances, with Drama an element of the curriculum from Prep to Year 12. Dance and singing are a component of the drama program on the primary campus.
Our Drama program also aims to develop effective speech and communication skills, build confidence and self-esteem, promote a love of literature and support and enhance oral presentation.
Instrumental Music
The Instrumental program lies at the heart of music at Varsity College. Individual and group tuition is offered in all the orchestral instruments including strings, voice and concert band. Each campus boasts an orchestra, strings and concert band and a range of choirs and smaller ensembles.
In Year 3, students are divided into small groups to learn violin, viola, cello or double bass. Upon reaching Year 4 they begin learning concert band instruments, broadening their experience through a number of performances and concerts.
Music
Classroom music is delivered to all classes (Prep to Year 6) on a term basis. Composing, performing and listening (Analysis) is at the core of all programs, as identified by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Students are exposed to a variety of musical styles and genres with emphasis on the musical elements of rhythm, pitch, dynamic and expression, form, timbre and texture.
In the early years of foundation (Prep to Year 2), students discriminate between sound and silence, beat and rhythm, speaking voice and singing voice and use instruments to accompany performances. Musical games are used to enhance the teaching and learning, as is technology.
The teaching of music, being developmental in nature, continues to build on the elements outlined above and in Years 3 and 4, students begin working with different time signatures and reading the notation of rhythm and notes on the treble clef. Students also explore the way in which songs are structured, for example binary form and ternary form vs verse and chorus form.
In the upper years of primary, students work on the ability to sing and play independent parts against contrasting parts. They also study melodic patterns of major and pentatonic scales. Compound time signatures are explored as well as reading notation on the bass clef.
Visual Arts
The study of Visual Arts is an integral part of Varsity College's complete education.
Students learn to foster critical skills and an understanding of aesthetics. They also develop an appreciation of the nature of visual thinking, cultural change and the importance of art and design in a multicultural society. The interface of art and technology is a key aspect of the College's program.
This varied and rich program includes co-curricular activities such as annual exhibitions, artists in residence, camps and tours, life drawing and a multimedia club. Students from Prep to Year 6 are encouraged to express themselves freely in a visual form through their weekly hour with a specialist Art teacher.
Health and Physical Education (HPE) & Sporting Programs
The Varsity community recognises the importance of promoting active opportunities for all of our students. The sporting programs offered at Varsity College encourages participation and develops sportsmanship, team work and the skills to succeed in any sporting arena. Varsity College boasts impressive sporting facilities which are supported by enthusiastic staff who are passionate about supporting students to make healthy and active choices in everyday life.
Physical Education Programs
Every student participates in a 60 minute lesson per week with a specialist physical education teacher. Within these lessons, students are exposed to a variety of focus areas including:
- exploration of movement
- acquisition of general motor skills
- acquisition of specific motor skills
- general fitness and promotion of a healthy lifestyle
- traditional Aboriginal games
- development of team sport skills including game play, rules and physical components
- development of specific skills linked to our sport carnival events – track and field and cross country
Advanced Sporting Opportunities at Varsity College
Varsity College is committed to providing opportunities for our 'up and coming' sporting students so that they continue to improve and achieve their true potential. Identified students are sent to district trials in all Queensland schools association representative team and individual sports.
Advanced training is offered at school for students excelling in cross country, track and field and sports aligned with interschool sport. Varsity College also boasts strong partnerships with many Queensland community sporting organisations, which allow our students to gain access to a variety of experts in their sporting field.
Finally, our college also offers elite sporting students with the opportunity to be selected in our ASPIRE Athlete Development program. This excellence program allows selected students to develop their sporting potential through participating in personalised weekly lessons within school time. For more information on our ASPIRE program, please see the ASPIRE programs section.
Academic Programs
Language Other Than English (LOTE)
The Languages Other Than English (LOTE) program commences in Prep with students participating in Mandarin. Students in Prep to Year 2 receive a half hour session of LOTE per week whilst those in Year 3 participate in a full hour of LOTE per week. Our LOTE classes incorporate language and culture to give all students an understanding of our neighbouring countries.
Digital Technology
Varsity College has long been a leader in technological innovation. On the primary campus we have a strong commitment to ensuring our Digital Technology program includes an opportunity for students to be exposed to digital systems, where collecting, managing and analysing data is explored and creating digital solutions. The purpose of Digital Technologies is to help students become 'enterprising individuals who can make discerning decisions about the development and use of technologies and who can independently and collaboratively develop solutions to complex challenges and contribute to sustainable patterns of living.' (Australian Curriculum).
The primary campus introduced a digital technology teacher in 2016. This enables all students in Prep to Year 6 to develop programming as a practical skill. It is predicted that the number of people requiring programming skills will rapidly increase in the future. Understanding programming will help students better evaluate, use and develop the information systems which are increasingly becoming a core part of their lives, such as apps and software.
The software program Scratch is learnt by all students in Years 3 to 6. Students in Prep to Year 2 use a range of apps (such as ScratchJnr and WeeCoder) and floor robots to support their understanding of visual programming. The college also has a range of floor robots from Bee-Bots through to We-Do and Mindstorms Lego robotics enabling the students to work collaboratively with their peers. This cutting edge program develops digital learners who are equipped with the ability to use design thinking and innovative practices, ready for the 21st Century.
In summary the program allows the students to make use of -and develop competency in applying- 3 key thinking skills: computational thinking, systems thinking and design thinking.
The Ignite Program is a multiple intelligence based program for identified students with exceptional abilities. Students in this category undertake short and medium term courses in their areas of strength both within the classroom structure and also in regular sessions in the globe.