Arts at Horowhenua College comprises of Visual Arts, including Painting, Printmaking, Design and Photography to Level 3 NCEA, Music, Music Technology and Drama.

The Arts involve people and being creative, performances, Stage Challenge, school productions, Road Show, Talent Quest, jazz concerts, barbershop quartets, exhibitions, murals, art field trips, concerts and much more.

The Outsiders - Major Production 2007

Creating art, whether it is a painting, a production or a musical item, enables us to tell stories about ourselves, to express our personal and collective identities and to participate in the local and global community.

We are a high profile faculty and a very popular student choice; kids love the Arts at Horowhenua College.

Department Information:

Head of Faculty:
Mrs Jeanette Gilroy (Painting/Printmaking)
Arts Staff:
Mrs Robyn Keeling (Junior Art)
Mr Colin Taylor (Music)
Mr Mike Bryant (Music)
Mr Justin Tate (Design/Photography)

Course Information
Visual Arts begins at Year 9 as an option comprising of 12 weeks. In this period you will learn to draw, paint and design. You will study New Zealand artists and explore different ways of making art works.
In Drama, at Year 9, you will create plays and use drama conventions to explore drama and learn about acting and expressing yourself.
In Music, at Year 9, you will begin to learn to read music and explore different musical genres and expressions.

In Year 10 the arts courses run for half the year and the learning is more in-depth - some subjects offer Level 1 NCEA achievement standards. This period enriches the learning towards Level 1.

In the senior school (Years 11 - 13) the arts seperate into different NCEA subjects - Levels 1-3 and scholarship in Art, Design, Photography, Painting, Printmaking, Drama, Music Academic and Music Technology (Music Technology involves sound systems, recording studio work etc).

We have superbly resourced classrooms and studios. The senior art rooms are large, with state-of -the-art E-Mac computers and printmaking facilities. We have a purpose built photography lab and darkroom, a recording studio and a purpose built drama suite complete with stage, lighting and tiered seating.

Homework Policy

All arts teachers give homework. At the junior level homework is given weekly, with research assignments, in-depth study and practice.
In the senior school, homework is ongoing - usually finishing work, research and preparation.