Student opportunities and activities

Debating and public speaking

South Coogee Public School provides opportunities for students in all years to be involved in classroom and competitive Public Speaking activities.

Our school participates in the Sydney Region Public Speaking Competition, which is integrated in to the school’s English Program. All students are introduced to the elements of successful Public Speaking and are required to produce and perform a speech for yearly assessment. Successful students then compete and represent the school in a competitive environment.

Year 5 and 6 students are also able to participate in the Sydney Region debating competition and the Premier’s Debating Challenge.

Sydney Region debating is an opportunity for interested confident public speakers to develop their skills further. This competition is at introductory level as students receive their topic a day before debating. They are then able to prepare their arguments and have limited availability to a teacher to help guide them in their debating preparation.

Premier’s debating is at the highest level for students in Years 5 and 6. Every debate in the challenge is a 1 hour preparation debate. Teams do not know the topic or which side of the debate they are on until 1 hour before the debate starts. Once the preparation time is up, 3 speakers from each team take turns to speak, with a 4th silent speaker helping out during preparation and during the debate.

Creative and performing arts

In creative arts, students discover a variety of art forms through a study of dance, drama, music and visual arts where they learn to appreciate, compose, listen, make and perform.

Each art form has its own unique knowledge and skills, elements or concepts as well as a capacity to inspire and enrich lives.

Choir

The school is fortunate to have an exceptional choir program led by experienced classroom teachers. Both our Junior and Senior Choirs perform at a variety of school functions and events throughout the year.

Band

South Coogee Public School has a thriving band program, consisting of many bands ranging from beginner to advanced. All bands help to develop each child’s musical ability at their own level, while still having fun! All students attend group instrumental tutorials with a specialised tutor during the week. The junior band is for beginner students who are in their first year of playing their instrument. The concert band are for students in their second year of playing and begin to learn more challenging music.  The senior band is for students in their third or fourth year of playing. Band membership is open to all children in years 3-6.

Band members have many opportunities to demonstrate their expanding musical abilities at performances and workshops throughout the year.  This includes the following events:

• Special days of celebration/Education Week
• Mid-year and end of year Musicale
• Annual NSW School Band Festival
• Daceyville Big Bash event

All enquiries about the Band program should be directed to the Directions in Music website.

Dance

South Coogee offers a number of opportunities for students in Years 1-6 to be part of non-competitive and competitive dance ensembles.

Students in Years 1 and 2 can take part in the Junior Dance Ensemble Group. The other non-competitive group is the Year 3 and 4 Intermediate dance ensemble. Rehearsals for these groups are held once a week at lunchtime. These groups perform at the mid-year and end of year Musicale.

Students in Year 3 -6 also have the opportunity to trial to be a part of two competitive Dance Ensembles. Auditions are held at the beginning of Term 1 each year. There is an A and a B group which accommodates up to 30 students. This is a talented dance program for students who study dance outside of school as they only have 1 session per week. The groups work towards a couple of events each year. The first is an Audition for the NSW Public Schools Dance Festival, and our teams have been successful in this process for 10 years. They also perform at Showcase@the Juniors, and also at both the Mid Year and End of Year Musicales, and at the Fiesta.

Music

To supplement classroom music lessons, students have the opportunity to be members of a variety of specialist music groups.

• Junior Choir Years K-2
• Senior Choir Years 3-6
• In Years 3 – 6 the children can join the school band. Students attend tutoring and Band rehearsal once a week.
• Special performances, concerts, assemblies and other functions provide opportunities for the development of musical talent.

The Music Programs at South Coogee Public School are a very positive element of our school. The program provides a variety of musical opportunities for children at our school. The current ensembles in the school cater for a wide variety of students with each ensemble rehearsing weekly and performing regularly at school and external events.

Students can also unleash their creative flair through dance groups and performances, competitions, exhibitions and other programs.

Students with particular interests and talents can participate in local and statewide activities in visual arts, music, dance and drama.