7–10Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus

The Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus contains both mandatory and elective courses.

There are 4 elective courses:

• Visual Arts 100 hours
• Visual Arts 200 hours
• Visual Arts Life Skills 200 hours
• Visual Arts Life Skills 100 hours.

The focus of learning for all courses in the Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus is described below.

The Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus provides students with the knowledge, understanding and skills in art making and critical and historical studies.

Students have the opportunity to learn to make 2D, 3D and/or 4D artforms, drawing inspiration from the world and how artworld practitioners make, respond to and display artworks. Students produce individual or collaborative artworks in a range of art forms and produce written, oral and multimodal texts to demonstrate their understanding of the significance of artworks and the artworld.

Students develop knowledge, understanding, and skills to enjoy making and interpreting artworks informed by their understanding of artworld concepts, viewpoints, and practice.

In Art making, students learn how to represent their interpretations of the world from an informed viewpoint. They learn about practice in art making and how to create artworks across a range of art forms exploring the potential of materials, processes, techniques, styles, and qualities. They focus on practising skills to develop and refine techniques, and learn how judgement is central to making decisions and developing knowledge in responding to the world.

In Art critical and historical studies, students develop knowledge, skills, and understanding of how to represent an informed point of view about the artworld through written and multimodal accounts. Students learn to understand the significance of artworld practitioners, artworks, audience responses, and representations of the world across a range of cultures, times and places in these studies.

Learning in this subject enhances critical and creative thinking skills essential for further education, work, and everyday life. This course deeply enriches a student’s appreciation of different cultures and perspectives, equipping them to engage more thoughtfully and responsibly in our diverse world.

The Visual Arts 7–10 Syllabus contains both mandatory and elective courses.

For students to meet the mandatory curriculum requirements by the end of Year 10, schools must timetable 100 hours of Visual Arts in Years 7 to 8 as coherent units of study and not split over a number of years.

Schools may choose to offer and/or deliver 7–10 elective courses which may be studied in any Year as 100 hours or 200 hours of study.

Elective courses in Years 9 and 10 contribute towards the RoSA.

Students must complete the mandatory Visual Arts course (Stage 4 outcomes and content) before starting the elective courses. The mandatory course can also be completed through Visual Arts 7–10 Life Skills outcomes and content for eligible students.

In the mandatory course, approximately 70 per cent of class time should involve engaging in Art making, and approximately 30 per cent of class time should involve engaging in Art critical and historical studies.

In the elective course, approximately 60 per cent of class time should involve engaging in Art making, and approximately 40 per cent of class time should involve engaging in Art critical and historical studies.