Arts and Music

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ARTS

Arts are integral to the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP). They are a powerful mode of communication through which students explore and construct a sense of self and develop an understanding of the world around them. Arts provide students with a wide range of opportunities and means to respond to their experiences and engage with historical, social and cultural perspectives. The students are stimulated to think and to articulate their thoughts in new ways, and through a variety of media and technologies. The PYP recognizes that not all learning can be supported solely through language, and that arts as a medium of inquiry also provide opportunities for learning, communication and expression. Learning about and through arts is fundamental to the development of the whole child, promoting creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and social interactions.


At OurPlanet we offer Music, Visual Arts and Drama. Each of these arts is a significant discipline in its own right, but the transdisciplinary nature of arts gives them relevance throughout the curriculum. Arts promote attitudes such as empathy and appreciation, and skills such as analysis, that help us to see the uniqueness of each person as well as explore the commonalities that connect us. Work in arts is a way of conveying meaning, sharing a culture, developing one’s sense of self, and expanding knowledge. It provides opportunity to reflect on aesthetic experience, to engage the imagination and explore what is uncertain. Through engaging with and creating artworks, learners are encouraged to reconsider familiar concepts and think about issues of culture and identity. By responding to the work of other artists, they are invited to situate their own creativity within a broader context.

Arts engage students in creative processes through which they explore and experiment in a continual cycle of action and reflection. Such creative processes are seen by the PYP as the driving force in learning through inquiry. From an early age, students have the opportunity to develop genuine interests, to give careful consideration to their work and to become self-critical and reflective. Reflecting on and evaluating their own work and the work of others is vital, and empowers students to take intellectual risks. Exposure to and experience with arts opens doors to questions about life and learning. The process of making and appreciating arts is gratifying and will encourage students to continue creating throughout their lives.

Two common strands have been identified that apply across the different art forms and define the critical artistic processes:

Responding:
The process of responding provides students with opportunities to respond to their own and other artists’ works and processes, and in so doing develop the skills of critical analysis, interpretation, evaluation, reflection and communication.

Creating:
The process of creating provides students with opportunities to communicate distinctive forms of meaning, develop their technical skills, take creative risks, solve problems and visualize consequences. Students are encouraged to draw on their imagination, experiences and knowledge of materials and processes as starting points for creative exploration.

In MYP arts, students function as artists as well as learners of the arts. Artists have to be curious. By developing curiosity about themselves, others and the world, students become effective learners, inquirers and creative problem-solvers. Students create, perform and present arts in ways that engage and convey feelings, experiences and ideas. Through this practice, students acquire new skills and master those developed in prior learning.

Development in the arts is a dynamic process, and not necessarily linear. Students move freely through a creative process towards a deeper understanding of the arts. The process of creating artwork, as well as the product, demonstrates what students have experienced, learned and attempted to convey.

Arts in the MYP stimulate young imaginations, challenge perceptions, and develop creative and analytical skills. The course encourages students to understand the context and cultural histories of artworks, supporting the development of an inquiring and empathetic world view. Arts challenge and enrich personal identity and build awareness of the aesthetic in a real-world context.

MYP arts has four objectives of equal importance and value: knowing and understanding; developing skills; thinking creatively; responding. Although the objectives can be addressed separately to scaffold learning, collectively they enrich teaching and learning of the arts.


Arts stimulate young imaginations, challenge perceptions and develop creative and analytical skills. Involvement in the arts encourages students to understand the arts in context and the cultural histories of artworks, supporting the development of an inquiring and empathetic world view. Arts challenge and enrich personal identity and build awareness of the aesthetic in a real-world context.

The aims of MYP arts are to encourage and enable students to:

  • Create and present art
  • Develop skills specific to the discipline
  • Engage in a process of creative exploration and (self-) discovery
  • Make purposeful connections between investigation and practice
  • Understand the relationship between art and its contexts
  • Respond to and reflect on art
  • Deepen their understanding of the world

The MYP promotes sustained inquiry in arts by developing conceptual understanding within global contexts.

MUSIC

Term 2 After School Activities are here!

We are excited to offer a range of new and exciting activities for our Second Term After School Activity Program. 

Term 2 Activities are from Sunday, January 6 to Wednesday April 17, 14 weeks. Every class will meet a minimum 13 times, with the extra 14th only if possible. There are three days with no Activities planned at present during this term. The costs for Activities will be 70 OMR for the term (Early Years shorter activities 45 OMR). Note that Drama, Karate, Teddy Tennis, Football and MultiSport are two day activities, so sign up for both days. 

To sign up for your child in an activity, click in the link below and you will receive an email with your child’s Activity Assignments and an invoice to pay in school office or by back transfer. Changes can be made if there is room in an activity during week 1 (January 6-10.). Payments should be in by the end of week 2 (January 17).

 Activity Sign Up

Please note that refunds will only be given in the case that an instructor is unable to attend the activity. Refunds will not be given for a child’s absence for any reason. Please note that should your child wish to change group in the case they do not like the activity, this is only possible if there is a spare place in one of the other groups.

Thank you for your continued interest in the After School Program.  We will look forward to seeing your children having fun!