Arts expertise in action - HALTs shaping curriculum resources

Two Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers (HALTs) from Stella Maris School, Maroochydore, Inez Durrer and Melanie Peters, have contributed a suite of Arts resources to the BCE Curriculum Hub.

The Curriculum Planning Hub provides a collection of flexible resources to support schools and teachers with planning, allowing teachers to refine and adapt content for the unique learners in their classrooms.

Drawing on their expertise, Inez and Melanie have designed resources that are curriculum-aligned, scaffolded, and easy to use for teachers.

Prep to Year 6 Classroom Music Specialist, Performing Arts Coordinator and Lead Teacher, Inez, focused on developing Music units for Years 3-6.

Designed to span curriculum bands, the units support consistency across year levels while remaining engaging and relevant.

Melanie, who teaches visual and media arts, dance and drama and is a Highly Accomplished Teacher, contributed to the design of unit overviews and supported connections across curriculum areas, general capability and assessment opportunities.

The Arts curriculum is a complex subject area for resourcing as it often requires digital stimulus, production technology and balancing creativity and teacher confidence, all that can vary widely between schools.

“Finding quality digital tools, artists and resources, takes time,” Melanie said.

“For time poor teachers, having these resources ready to use makes a real difference.”

Both educators hope the resources provide a clear structure for teaching The Arts, while still allowing for flexibility, creativity and student voice.

“For both specialist and non-specialist teachers, the resources act as a guide to deliver meaningful, engaging Arts lessons that align with the curriculum and support student expression,” Melanie said.

“When we [as teachers] allow ourselves to focus on exploration and experience, we also allow the students to grow, and it is the intent of these units to assist teachers and students to achieve this in their learning of the Arts,” Inez said.

The Arts ultimately play a vital role in supporting learning across other key curriculum areas, including literacy, numeracy and health.

“The Arts are a truly valuable resource tool for learning at all ages,” Inez said.

“Ensuring students have access to all Arts strands supports their development beyond the Arts classroom.”

Inez and Melanie are HALT certified and play an important role in strengthening practice across BCE by sharing their expertise to lift teaching and learning beyond their own school contexts.

“My certification has strengthened my ability to design more purposeful, high-quality Arts resources that are grounded in curriculum and practice,” Melanie said.

“As a Lead teacher, I have been able to work with colleagues at Stella Maris as well as specialist teachers in other schools to assist them in developing lessons for teaching Music,” Inez said.

Manager - Curriculum Design and Development, Clare Kuschert said she was grateful for teachers like Melanie and Inez for sharing their expertise.

“We have seen significant uptake from teachers using the resources on the Curriculum Planning Hub in the first half of the year,” Clare said.

“Key to building classroom-ready resources is aligning these to current classroom best-practice and the contribution of our HALTs and other school leaders has been invaluable to this success.”