At Orewa College, we create, perform, and communicate through the Arts
This page brings together Arts learning at Orewa College, including Performing Arts (Dance, Drama, and Music) and Visual Art. It outlines what students can expect in Years 7 to 13, including junior programmes, course options in Years 9 and 10, senior course pathways, scholarship opportunities, and co-curricular activities.
Performing Arts Department
Dance, Drama, and Music
Orewa College’s Performing Arts Department includes Dance, Drama, and Music. Students have opportunities to specialise and develop skills across performance, creation, and collaboration.
Years 7 and 8 Performing Arts
Two semesters of compulsory Performing Arts
In the Year 7 and Year 8 Performing Arts Programme, students participate in two semesters of compulsory Performing Arts. During this time, students engage in one or more disciplines, Dance, Drama, and/or Music, gaining foundational knowledge and practical experience in each area.
- Music: Students develop an understanding of core musical concepts, including rhythm, notation, and composition. They also acquire basic keyboard, woodwind, or ukulele skills, enabling them to create and perform simple musical pieces.
- Drama: Students explore how voice, movement, and spatial levels contribute to storytelling and emotional expression. Through techniques such as freeze frames and spoken word, they devise original scenes that explore character relationships or reimagine classic fairytales with a twist. This work is enhanced through the introduction of performance technologies, including Foley sound, lighting design, and set construction.
- Dance: Students investigate how movement can be used to express ideas and narratives, with a focus on the dance elements. They also develop an introductory understanding of technical skills and stylistic features associated with selected dance genres.
Years 9 and 10 Dance
Developing dance elements, technique, and choreography
Year 9: Students develop an understanding of dance elements, choreographic process, basic dance styles, and techniques. This course is described as a semester-long course.
Year 10: Students develop an understanding of dance elements and choreographic processes. They look at a range of dance styles and create dances of their own. This course is described as a semester course, with an option for a full-year course.
Years 9 and 10 Drama
Improvisation, acting techniques, and devising
Year 9: This course guides students through elementary drama studies. Students focus on drama creation and performance, developing skills around improvisation and performance conventions, ensemble work, and the impact of theatre technologies on performance. This is described as a semester course.
Year 10: Students focus on drama creation and performance. They develop skills around improvisation and acting techniques, and apply the elements and conventions of drama through original work. This year level is described as having an option for a full-year course which continues to build performance and devising skills.
Years 9 and 10 Music
Performance, composition, and music theory
Year 9: Students perform on an instrument and/or voice, compose their own music, research musicians, and learn about music theory. The course also describes solo and group performance, composition, remixing, sequencing, editing, and mixing using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), with term learning that includes Remixing and Arranging in Term 1 and Songwriting and Genre Exploration in Term 2.
Year 10: Students perform solo and in groups, develop composition and music production skills, and explore a variety of musical styles. The course describes a focus on musical patterns and motifs, and composing original music for film scenes and mythological storytelling. Learning includes practical exploration on own and in groups.
Years 11 to 13 course options
Subjects listed in the sources
Performing Arts and Music Technology
- Year 11: Dance, Drama, Music, Music Technology, Performance Technology Credits
- Year 12: Dance, Drama, Music, Music Technology, Music Technology Credits
- Year 13: Dance, Drama, Music, Music Technology, Performance Technology Credits
Scholarship
Year 13 opportunities for scholarships
Scholarship is available in Year 13 for highly motivated and high-achieving students.
2026 Performing Arts Department
Contact
Find out more about Performing Arts at Orewa College
For more information about Performing Arts, please contact:
Heads of Department: Becky Hilliar - Performing Arts
Email: [email protected]
Head of Department: David Popper - Music
Email: [email protected]