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NSW Curriculum
NSW Education Standards Authority

11–12Music Life Skills 11–12 Syllabus (2025)

Implementation from 2027
Expand for detailed implementation advice

Content

Life Skills

Life Skills for Stage 6

Through collaborative curriculum planning, it may be decided that Life Skills outcomes and content are the most appropriate option for some students with intellectual disability.

Music for screen, stage and story

Students explore how music serves a specific purpose within artistic, social or communicative contexts through one of the following styles:

  • Music for visual media
  • Music for theatre
  • Music for dance
  • Music for entertainment
  • Music for ritual and ceremony
  • Music for communication and storytelling.

Students perform, create, listen and respond to music to explore how music can be used to tell stories, express emotions or support important moments within a broader medium or experience. They explore how different musical sounds, styles and techniques are used to reflect the story or mood. Students examine the role of expression and performance techniques in supporting dramatic or narrative function and understand how music can be made or adapted to fit a scene or story.

Music context and Elements of music should be integrated with this focus area as appropriate to the needs, abilities and prior learning of students.

Performing
  • Experiment with ways that music can be used to develop mood and create atmosphere

  • Experiment with ways that music can be used to support the setting or theme

  • Experiment with ways that music can be used to reflect a character or the relationships between characters

  • Use the Elements of music to support storytelling for performances

  • Participate in performing music for aspects of screen, stage and story

  • Participate in a group performance with an awareness of others

Listening and responding
  • Engage with screen or stage productions to recognise live and recorded music

  • Engage with music that supports storytelling in a range of contexts

  • Communicate preferences for live or recorded music

  • Explore ways that stories and emotions are conveyed through music

  • Explore how lyrics are used to support a story or character in music

  • Recognise the influence and role of technologies in the creation, performance and production of music

Creating and composing
  • Make choices about sound sources to create music

  • Explore compositional techniques used

  • Experiment with the Elements of music to compose music

  • Make choices about structure when composing music

  • Participate in composing lyrics for a piece of music

Safe and ethical practices
  • Demonstrate safe practices when listening and responding, creating and composing or performing music

  • Demonstrate hygiene protocols when sharing instruments and resources

  • Demonstrate respectful and cooperative behaviours when working with others

  • Demonstrate appropriate protocols when engaging with live or online music

  • Acknowledge composers, arrangers and/or collaborators when performing, creating or composing pieces of music

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