TKI main navigation
New Zealand Curriculum Online navigation
The arts curriculum achievement objectives
- The arts achievement objectives – Level 1
- The arts achievement objectives – Level 2
- The arts achievement objectives – Level 3
- The arts achievement objectives – Level 4
- The arts achievement objectives – Level 5
- The arts achievement objectives – Level 6
- The arts achievement objectives – Level 7
- The arts achievement objectives – Level 8
Level 1
Dance
Students will:
Understanding dance in context
- Demonstrate an awareness of dance in their lives and in their communities.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore movement with a developing awareness of the dance elements of body, space, time, energy, and relationships.
Developing ideas
- Improvise and explore movement ideas in response to a variety of stimuli.
Communicating and interpreting
- Share dance movement through informal presentation and share their thoughts and feelings in response to their own and others’ dances.
Drama
Students will:
Understanding drama in context
- Demonstrate an awareness that drama serves a variety of purposes in their lives and in their communities.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore the elements of role, focus, action, tension, time, and space through dramatic play.
Developing ideas
- Contribute and develop ideas in drama, using personal experience and imagination.
Communicating and interpreting
- Share drama through informal presentation and respond to ways in which drama tells stories and conveys ideas in their own and others’ work.
Music – Sound arts
Students will:
Understanding music – Sound arts in context
- Explore and share ideas about music from a range of sound environments and recognise that music serves a variety of purposes and functions in their lives and in their communities.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore how sound is made, as they listen and respond to the elements of music: beat, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, and tone colour.
Developing ideas
- Explore and express sounds and musical ideas, drawing on personal experience, listening, and imagination.
- Explore ways to represent sound and musical ideas.
Communicating and interpreting
- Share music making with others.
- Respond to live and recorded music.
Visual arts
Students will:
Understanding the visual arts in context
- Share ideas about how and why their own and others’ works are made and their purpose, value, and context.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore a variety of materials and tools and discover elements and selected principles.
Developing ideas
- Investigate visual ideas in response to a variety of motivations, observation, and imagination.
Communicating and interpreting
- Share the ideas, feelings, and stories communicated by their own and others’ objects and images.
Level 2
Dance
Students will:
Understanding dance in context
- Identify and describe dance in their lives and in their communities.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore and identify, through movement, the dance elements of body, space, time, energy, and relationships.
Developing ideas
- Use the elements of dance in purposeful ways to respond to a variety of stimuli.
Communicating and interpreting
- Share dance movement through informal presentation and identify the use of the elements of dance.
Drama
Students will:
Understanding drama in context
- Identify and describe how drama serves a variety of purposes in their lives and in their communities.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore and use elements of drama for different purposes.
Developing ideas
- Develop and sustain ideas in drama, based on personal experience and imagination.
Communicating and interpreting
- Share drama through informal presentation and respond to elements of drama in their own and others’ work.
Music – Sound arts
Students will:
Understanding music – Sound arts in context
- Explore and share ideas about music from a range of sound environments and recognise that music serves a variety of purposes and functions in their lives and in their communities.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore and identify how sound is made and changed, as they listen and respond to the elements of music and structural devices.
Developing ideas
- Improvise, explore, and express musical ideas, drawing on personal experience, listening, and imagination.
- Explore ways to represent sound and musical ideas.
Communicating and interpreting
- Share music making with others, using basic performance skills and techniques.
- Respond to live and recorded music.
Visual arts
Students will:
Understanding the visual arts in context
- Share ideas about how and why their own and others’ works are made and their purpose, value, and context.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore a variety of materials and tools and discover elements and selected principles.
Developing ideas
- Investigate and develop visual ideas in response to a variety of motivations, observation, and imagination.
Communicating and interpreting
- Share the ideas, feelings, and stories communicated by their own and others’ objects and images.
Level 3
Dance
Students will:
Understanding dance in context
- Explore and describe dances from a variety of cultures.
Developing practical knowledge
- Use the dance elements to develop and share their personal movement vocabulary.
Developing ideas
- Select and combine dance elements in response to a variety of stimuli.
Communicating and interpreting
- Prepare and share dance movement individually and in pairs or groups.
- Use the elements of dance to describe dance movements and respond to dances from a variety of cultures.
Drama
Students will:
Understanding drama in context
- Investigate the functions and purposes of drama in cultural and historical contexts.
Developing practical knowledge
- Use techniques and relevant technologies to explore drama elements and conventions.
Developing ideas
- Initiate and develop ideas with others to create drama.
Communicating and interpreting
- Present and respond to drama, identifying ways in which elements, techniques, conventions, and technologies combine to create meaning in their own and others’ work.
Music – Sound arts
Students will:
Understanding music – Sound arts in context
- Identify and describe the characteristics of music associated with a range of sound environments, in relation to historical, social, and cultural contexts.
- Explore ideas about how music serves a variety of purposes and functions in their lives and in their communities.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore and identify how sound is made and changed, as they listen and respond to music and apply knowledge of the elements of music, structural devices, and technologies.
Developing ideas
- Express and shape musical ideas, using musical elements, instruments, and technologies in response to sources of motivation.
- Represent sound and musical ideas in a variety of ways.
Communicating and interpreting
- Prepare and present brief performances of music, using performance skills and techniques.
- Respond to and reflect on live and recorded music.
Visual arts
Students will:
Understanding the visual arts in context
- Investigate the purpose of objects and images from past and present cultures and identify the contexts in which they were or are made, viewed, and valued.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore some art-making conventions, applying knowledge of elements and selected principles through the use of materials and processes.
Developing ideas
- Develop and revisit visual ideas, in response to a variety of motivations, observation, and imagination, supported by the study of artists’ works.
Communicating and interpreting
- Describe the ideas their own and others’ objects and images communicate.
Level 4
Dance
Students will:
Understanding dance in context
- Explore and describe how dance is used for different purposes in a variety of cultures and contexts.
Developing practical knowledge
- Apply the dance elements to extend personal movement skills and vocabularies and to explore the vocabularies of others.
Developing ideas
- Combine and contrast the dance elements to express images, ideas, and feelings in dance, using a variety of choreographic processes.
Communicating and interpreting
- Prepare and present dance, with an awareness of the performance context.
- Describe and record how the purpose of selected dances is expressed through the movement.
Drama
Students will:
Understanding drama in context
- Investigate the functions, purposes, and technologies of drama in cultural and historical contexts.
Developing practical knowledge
- Select and use techniques and relevant technologies to develop drama practice.
- Use conventions to structure drama.
Developing ideas
- Initiate and refine ideas with others to plan and develop drama.
Communicating and interpreting
- Present and respond to drama, identifying ways in which elements, techniques, conventions, and technologies create meaning in their own and others’ work.
Music – Sound arts
Students will:
Understanding music – Sound arts in context
- Identify and describe the characteristics of music associated with a range of sound environments, in relation to historical, social, and cultural contexts.
- Explore ideas about how music serves a variety of purposes and functions in their lives and in their communities.
Developing practical knowledge
- Apply knowledge of the elements of music, structural devices, and technologies through integrating aural, practical, and theoretical skills.
Developing ideas
- Express, develop, and refine musical ideas, using the elements of music, instruments, and technologies in response to sources of motivation.
- Represent sound and musical ideas in a variety of ways.
Communicating and interpreting
- Prepare, rehearse, and present performance of music, using performance skills and techniques.
- Reflect on the expressive qualities of their own and others’ music, both live and recorded.
Visual arts
Students will:
Understanding the visual arts in context
- Investigate the purpose of objects and images from past and present cultures and identify the contexts in which they were or are made, viewed, and valued.
Developing practical knowledge
- Explore and use art-making conventions, applying knowledge of elements and selected principles through the use of materials and processes.
Developing ideas
- Develop and revisit visual ideas, in response to a variety of motivations, observation, and imagination, supported by the study of artists’ works.
Communicating and interpreting
- Explore and describe ways in which meanings can be communicated and interpreted in their own and others’ work.
Level 5
Dance
Students will:
Understanding dance in context
- Compare and contrast dances from a variety of past and present cultures and contexts.
Developing practical knowledge
- Develop a variety of skills, dance techniques, vocabularies, and movement practices.
Developing ideas
- Manipulate the elements and explore the use of choreographic devices and structures to organise dance movement.
Communicating and interpreting
- Prepare, rehearse, and perform dance with an awareness of production technologies.
- Reflect on and describe how choreography communicates ideas, feelings, moods, and experiences.
Drama
Students will:
Understanding drama in context
- Investigate the characteristics, purposes, and function of drama in a range of contexts.
Developing practical knowledge
- Select and use techniques, conventions, and relevant technologies for specific drama purposes.
Developing ideas
- Select and refine ideas to develop drama for specific purposes.
Communicating and interpreting
- Present and respond to drama and describe how drama combines elements, techniques, conventions, and technologies to create structure and meaning in their own and others’ work.
Music – Sound arts
Students will:
Understanding music – Sound arts in context
- Compare and contrast the characteristics of music associated with a range of sound environments, in relation to historical, social, and cultural contexts.
- Investigate how music serves a variety of purposes and functions in their lives and in their communities.
Developing practical knowledge
- Apply knowledge of the elements of music, structural devices, stylistic conventions, and technologies through integrating aural, practical, and theoretical skills.
Developing ideas
- Use musical elements, instruments, technologies, and conventions to express, develop, and refine structured compositions and improvisations.
- Represent compositions and improvisation frameworks, using appropriate conventions.
Communicating and interpreting
- Prepare, rehearse, and present performances of music, using a range of performance skills and techniques.
- Reflect on the expressive qualities of their own and others’ music, both live and recorded.
Visual arts
Students will:
Understanding the visual arts in context
- Investigate and consider the relationship between the production of art works and their contexts and influences.
Developing practical knowledge
- Apply knowledge of selected conventions from established practice, using appropriate processes and procedures.
Developing ideas
- Generate, develop, and refine ideas in response to a variety of motivations, including the study of established practice.
Communicating and interpreting
- Compare and contrast the ways in which ideas and art-making processes are used to communicate meaning in selected objects and images.
Level 6
Dance
Students will:
Understanding dance in context
- Explore, investigate, and describe the features and backgrounds of a variety of dance genres and styles.
Developing practical knowledge
- Develop and demonstrate skills in selected dance genres and styles and explore the use of a variety of technologies.
Developing ideas
- Select and use choreographic devices, structures, processes, and technologies to develop and give form to dance ideas.
Communicating and interpreting
- Prepare, rehearse, and perform a range of dances and demonstrate an understanding of the performance requirements of the genres and contexts.
- Describe, explain, and respond to the ways that dance uses elements, devices, structures, performance skills, and production technologies to communicate images, themes, feelings, and moods.
Drama
Students will:
Understanding drama in context
- Investigate the forms and purposes of drama in different historical or contemporary contexts, including New Zealand drama.
Developing practical knowledge
- Select and use techniques, conventions, and technologies in a range of dramatic forms.
Developing ideas
- Research, evaluate, and refine ideas in a range of dramatic forms to develop drama.
Communicating and interpreting
- Perform and respond to drama and make critical judgments about how elements, techniques, conventions, and technologies are used to create form and meaning in their own and others’ work.
Music – Sound arts
Students will:
Understanding music – Sound arts in context
- Analyse music from a range of sound environments, styles, and genres, in relation to historical, social, and cultural contexts.
- Consider and reflect on the influence of music in their own music making and in their lives.
Developing practical knowledge
- Apply knowledge of expressive features, stylistic conventions, and technologies through an integration of aural perception and practical and theoretical skills and describe how they are used in a range of music.
Developing ideas
- Create, structure, refine, and represent compositions using the elements of music, instruments, technologies, and conventions to express imaginative thinking and personal understandings.
- Reflect on composition processes and presentation conventions.
Communicating and interpreting
- Prepare, rehearse, interpret, and present performances of music individually and collaboratively, using a range of performance skills and techniques.
- Reflect on the expressive qualities of music and evaluate their own and others’ music, both live and recorded.
Visual arts
Students will:
Understanding the visual arts in context
- Investigate and analyse the relationship between the production of art works and the contexts in which they are made, viewed, and valued.
- Consider and reflect on the contexts underlying their own and others’ work.
Developing practical knowledge
- Apply knowledge of a range of conventions from established practice, using appropriate processes and procedures.
Developing ideas
- Generate, develop, and clarify ideas, showing some understanding of established practice.
- Sequence and link ideas systematically as they solve problems in a body of work, using observation and invention with an appropriate selection of materials.
Communicating and interpreting
- Identify and analyse processes and procedures from established practice that influence ways of communicating meaning.
- Investigate, analyse, and evaluate ideas and interpret artists’ intentions in art works.
Level 7
Dance
Students will:
Understanding dance in context
- Investigate and evaluate the effects of individual, social, cultural, and technological influences on the development of a variety of dance genres and styles.
Developing practical knowledge
- Extend skills in the vocabulary, practices, and technologies of selected dance genres and styles.
Developing ideas
- Choreograph solo and group dance works, using choreographic processes, devices, structures, and technologies to communicate choreographic intentions.
- Generate, plan, and record choreographic ideas and processes.
Communicating and interpreting
- Apply rehearsal and performance skills to a range of dances, using appropriate techniques and expression to communicate specific intentions.
- Analyse, explain, and discuss aspects of performance and choreography in a range of dance works.
Drama
Students will:
Understanding drama in context
- Research the purposes of production, performance, and technologies of drama in a range of contexts, including New Zealand drama.
- Explore how drama reflects our cultural diversity.
Developing practical knowledge
- Select and refine the use of techniques, conventions, and technologies in specific dramatic forms.
Developing ideas
- Research, critically evaluate, and refine ideas to develop drama in specific dramatic forms.
Communicating and interpreting
- Rehearse and perform works in a range of dramatic forms.
- Respond to and make critical judgments about rehearsal processes and performances.
Music – Sound arts
Students will:
Understanding music – Sound arts in context
- Research and analyse music from a range of sound environments, styles, and genres, in relation to historical, social, and cultural contexts, considering the impact on music making and production.
- Apply their understandings of the expressive qualities of music from a range of contexts to a consideration of their influence on their own music practices.
Developing practical knowledge
- Apply knowledge of expressive features, stylistic conventions, and technologies through an integration of aural perception and practical and theoretical skills and analyse how they are used in a range of music.
Developing ideas
- Create, structure, refine, and represent compositions and musical arrangements, using technical and musical skills and technologies to express imaginative thinking and personal understandings.
- Reflect on and evaluate composition processes and presentation conventions.
Communicating and interpreting
- Prepare, rehearse, present, record, and evaluate sustained performances of music, individually and collaboratively, that demonstrate interpretive understandings.
- Analyse and evaluate the expressive qualities of music and production processes to inform interpretations of music.
Visual arts
Students will:
Understanding the visual arts in context
- Research and analyse the influences of contexts on the characteristics and production of art works.
- Research and analyse the influence of relevant contexts on their own work.
Developing practical knowledge
- Apply understanding from research into a range of established practice to extend skills for particular art-making purposes, using appropriate processes and procedures in selected fields.
- Extend skills, in a range of materials, techniques, and technologies.
Developing ideas
- Generate, analyse, clarify, and extend ideas in a selected field related to established practice.
- Use a systematic approach to the development of ideas in a body of work.
Communicating and interpreting
- Research and analyse how art works are constructed and presented to communicate meanings.
- Use critical analysis to interpret and respond to art works.
Level 8
Dance
Students will:
Understanding dance in context
- Investigate, analyse, and discuss the features, history, issues, and development of dance in New Zealand, including the contribution of selected individuals and groups.
Developing practical knowledge
- Extend and refine skills, practices, and use of technologies in a range of dance genres and styles.
Developing ideas
- Develop a concept and produce original dance works, using appropriate production technologies to communicate choreographic intentions.
- Record and critically reflect on the development and resolution of dance ideas.
Communicating and interpreting
- Select and apply rehearsal processes, performance skills, and production technologies to enhance the communication and expression of dance works.
- Critically analyse, interpret, and evaluate the artistic features and the communication of ideas in a range of dance works.
Drama
Students will:
Understanding drama in context
- Research, analyse, and critically evaluate how drama, including New Zealand drama, interprets, records, or challenges social and cultural discourse.
Developing practical knowledge
- Research, analyse, and integrate elements, techniques, conventions, and technologies in dramatic forms for specific purposes.
Developing ideas
- Research, critically evaluate, and refine ideas to create original drama work.
Communicating and interpreting
- Analyse, rehearse, and perform works in a range of dramatic forms, assuming a variety of artistic or technical responsibilities.
- Reflect on and critically evaluate a wide range of works and performances.
Music – Sound arts
Students will:
Understanding music – Sound arts in context
- Research, analyse, and evaluate the production and presentation of music works from historical, social, and cultural contexts.
- Apply their understandings of the expressive qualities of music from a range of contexts to analyse its impact on their own music practices.
Developing practical knowledge
- Analyse, apply, and evaluate significant expressive features and stylistic conventions and technologies in a range of music, using aural perception and practical and theoretical skills.
Developing ideas
- Create, structure, refine, and represent compositions and musical arrangements, using secure technical and musical skills and technologies to express imaginative thinking and personal understandings.
- Reflect on and evaluate composition processes and presentation conventions.
Communicating and interpreting
- Plan, rehearse, present, record, evaluate, and refine performances of music, individually and collaboratively, demonstrating interpretive understandings.
- Critically analyse and evaluate the expressive qualities of music and production processes in order to refine interpretations of music.
Visual arts
Students will:
Understanding the visual arts in context
- Use research and analysis to investigate contexts, meanings, intentions, and technological influences related to the making and valuing of art works.
- Research and analyse contexts relevant to their intentions and to the expression of meanings in their own work.
Developing practical knowledge
- Apply understanding from broad and deep research into the characteristics and constraints of materials, techniques, technologies, and established conventions in a selected field.
- Extend and refine skills in a selected field, using appropriate processes and procedures.
Developing ideas
- Generate, analyse, clarify, and regenerate options in response to selected questions or a proposal in a chosen field.
- Use a systematic approach, selectively informed by recent and established practice, to develop ideas in a body of work.
Communicating and interpreting
- Research and analyse selected approaches and theories related to visual arts practice.
- Critically reflect on, respond to, and evaluate art works.
