The arts
Teaching time requirements
From the start of Term 1, 2024 school boards must ensure their school's teaching and learning programmes meet requirements for structuring teaching time for reading, writing and maths in Years 0 - 8. Specialist schools with students in Years 0 - 8 must ensure this from the start of 2025. Kura with a specified kura board must ensure this from Term 3, 2024.
See Gazette Notice 2023-go5904 and Changes to legislative requirements for school boards on NZC Online.
Achievement objectives
Level 1
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Published on: 25 Mar 2014
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