Faculties
In English classes at LORDS, we endeavour to develop our students’ communication skills and understandings of meaning in texts through a vibrant and balanced program of units.
In the 21st Century, it is more important than ever to know how to use language to express ideas and communicate information. In our English classes, we recognise that opinionative blogs, marketing spiels, and visual literacy are as powerful and relevant as text analysis, reports, and narratives.
That is why, we focus as much attention on the art of persuasive speaking, as we do on storytelling, as we do on understanding literature, as we do on interpreting and utilising various forms of online media.
Our Middle School English program’s diversity ranges from asking students to consider life as a refugee through Zana Fraillon’s novel, The Bone Sparrow, to considering how to persuasively pitch homelessness marketing campaigns to charity organisations, to examining the ways in which dystopian stories can provide us with insight into our own behaviours and attitudes, to considering ways in which visual mediums can be used to express a point of view. It is during the Middle School years that students refine their understanding of genre and their control of grammar, as they prepare for the rigours of senior school.
From Year 10 onwards, we offer the English Literacy Short Course, English Essentials, and General English, ensuring that all students are prepared for a variety of tertiary, workforce, and community pathways. From units that question the impacts of institutions on society through films like The Shawshank Redemption, to units that focus on how to educate workplace wellbeing and safety, from contemporary novel studies in Iranian literature, through Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, to classical text studies that examine humanity itself, from the nuances of persuasive marketing to dialogue surrounding topical news issues, to understanding the journeys of extraordinary people, like Turia Pitt, Tara Westover, Anh Do and Malala Yousafzai, our senior students at LORDS are given a wide variety of opportunities to engage in and appreciate texts. In addition, students develop an understanding that to communicate effectively in modern-day society, it is vital to understand the stories and contexts that surround the people within it. Audience, purpose and intention all play vital roles in the make-up a piece of text.
Here at LORDS, English is genuinely a passion we love to share with our students.
Our Technology area comprises:
- Design
- Engineering
- Design Technology
- Industrial Skills
- Digital Technology
- Home Economics
- Hospitality
- Fashion/Textiles
Performing Arts
Drama
Drama is a unique art form that represents and re-enacts experiences, ideas, stories and emotions. Drama is one of the oldest forms of artistic expression and continues to be significant in all cultures and societies. In the subject of Drama, students have opportunities to learn about a range of forms and styles of the dramatic art form and gain understandings of human experience in different cultures, times, and places.
The classroom experiences in Drama are carefully constructed to provide students with learning contexts whereby they are actively engaged in negotiating, making decisions, and taking action, while developing essential skills in written and visual literacy and creative design.
At LORDS, Drama is an elective and is offered from Year 7 to Year 12.
Opportunities are presented for students to perform for audiences and participate in live theatre experiences.
Music
This course of study is based on developing students’ musicianship. Musicianship is achieved through the knowledge and application of music elements and concepts. Students perform, compose and analyse music from different eras and styles, including popular, classical, jazz, non-western traditional music, and musical theatre. Students are encouraged to develop their talents in music through classroom performance and composition, as well through participation in the various ensembles offered at LORDS.
All Year 7 students complete one term of Music. From Year 8 to Year 12 Music is an elective subject, with the added option for students to select Music Extension in Year 12.
Co-Curricular Music
LORDS offers the following ensembles:
• Piccolo Choir (Years 1 – 3)
• Junior Choir (Years 4 - 6)
• Middle School Choir (Years 7 – 9)
• Senior School Choir (Years 10 – 12)
• Senior Vocal Ensemble (Years 7 – 12 auditioned)
• String Ensemble
• Concert Band
• Rock Music Workshops
• Ukulele Group
Our choirs and instrumental ensembles rehearse once a week and perform at school events, in eisteddfodau, and at external public venues. In their weekly rehearsals, students are not only rehearsing performance pieces, but they are also acquiring foundational instruction in performance, musicianship, musical literacy, and ensemble skills. They are also learning the value of commitment, punctuality, reliability, and teamwork.
Instrumental and Vocal Tuition
We offer individual and group tuition with specialist instrumental and vocal tutors which is available to students in Junior, Middle, and Senior Schools in the following instruments:
Tuition fees apply and are based on Music Teachers Association rates. Payment is on a term-by-term basis, paid directly to the tutor: invoices are issued by the tutors at the beginning of each term, and are payable within two weeks of issue.
Musicals
LORDS produces a musical on a bi-annual basis. Participation in the musical is open to students from Years 7 to12 with skills in singing, acting and dance. We also provide opportunities for students to assist with sound, lighting and stage management. These productions give students a unique opportunity to experience the performing arts as well as learning new skills to build self-confidence.
Visual Art
Our student's work speaks highly of our Visual Art program at LORDS.
You're invited to view their work in our online showcase ArtLORDS by clicking below:
Languages are an important part of the LORDS curriculum, providing students with opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture and society while developing their communication skills in the Japanese language. The LORDS Japanese class is a place of exploration, where every student is encouraged to build vocabulary so that they can ask questions and share their opinions and ideas in Japanese.
All students study Japanese in Year 7, then can choose Japanese as part of the Passion and Purpose Pathways Elective program from Year 8 onwards. To boost their language skills, students are invited to enter the MLTAQ Japanese Speech Contest, the Gold Coast MLTAQ Japanese Writing and Multimedia Contest, and sit the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.
Highlights for each year level include:
Year 7
- A visit to the Mt Coot-tha Japanese Garden to experience Japanese ink painting, haiku poetry, and a bento box lunch
- A trans-disciplinary study of Japanese food: not only learning to talk about food in Japanese but also how to make a range of Japanese dishes in Hospitality class
Year 8/9
- A friendship exchange with their Japanese peers via Zoom with Narakawa School in the snowy hills of Nagano
- A Japanese movie night, complete with a trivia challenge and cosplay competition
Years 10, 11 & 12
- An excursion to the Japan Film Festival, enjoying a cinema experience in Japanese
- A visit to the Japanese Embassy to discuss career and travel opportunities for students of Japanese
Students are also invited to host students from our partner school in Tokyo as part of our Homestay program and enjoy authentic opportunities to practice their Japanese language skills with Assistant Language Teachers from Nagoya University.
To encourage confidence when travelling and build connections with Japan, students of Elective Japanese are welcome to join the LORDS Japan Tour. This 12-day tour of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Hiroshima gives students valuable opportunities to put their classroom Japanese skills into action as they order meals, purchase souvenirs, and spend time with students from our partner school in Tokyo. Participants also visit temples, castles, museums, eat a variety of Japanese foods, sleep in traditional accommodation, and even spend the day at Universal Studios, developing independence, an awareness of the world around them, and an appreciation of the benefits of travel.
The knowledge, understanding, and skills taught through Health and Physical Education enable students to explore and enhance their own and others’ health and physical activity in diverse and changing contexts. Across the course of the study, students will engage in a range of physical activities to develop movement sequences and movement strategies. Students optimise their engagement and performance in physical activity as they develop an understanding and appreciation of the interconnectedness of the dimensions of health.
Physically educated learners develop the 21st century skills of critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, personal and social skills, collaboration and teamwork, and information and communication technologies skills through rich and diverse learning experiences about, through, and in physical activity. Physical Education fosters an appreciation of the values and knowledge within and across disciplines and builds on students’ capacities to be self-directed, work towards specific goals, develop positive behaviours, and establish lifelong active engagement in a wide range of pathways beyond school.
