Aesthetics

Aesthetics

Objective

Arts as a tool
Crest Aesthetics Programme explores possibilities and experiments with a mixture of traditional and contemporary art forms through 3 domains of Aesthetics: Art, Dance, and Music. We engage our students in our customised Aesthetics curriculum to help our students to use the Arts as a tool, to foster a sense of identity, to better understand oneself and others, and to discover the multicultural elements of the intangible cultural heritage that exists in Singapore, thereby helping them better appreciate and understand the diverse cultures that make up Singapore.

We aim to develop the Crestan as a confident person who is able to:

• Creatively express ideas, feelings & thoughts through selected media.

• Work with his/her team members to produce a piece of work taking into consideration the purpose, audience and context.
• Appreciate the different arts forms and their applications

Programme Overview

The design of the programme is aimed at empowering students’ transformation through the arts via a two pronged approach:

(i) Broad-based programme - Conducted through the curriculum which consists of the following art forms, namely, music, art, dance and drama.

(ii) Depth–Conducted through the CCAs, e.g.: Pop Band, Guitar, Dance and Arts and Events Management.

This two pronged approach is designed with four components as emphasis (EPIC) in the Crest Arts:

(E) Expression of Self: An important aspect of Crest Arts programme is to encourage students to express their ideas and feelings thoughtfully through the creation of a performance or art piece.

(P) Processes & Skills: Through the arts, we hope to facilitate development of students’ ability to understand and put in place work processes and skills, such as organizing, prioritizing and planning.

(I) Inventive thinking: The design of the Crest Arts programme includes inculcating creative thinking in students to think of out of the box solutions.

(C) Connecting with others:  The programme is also crafted in such a way to instill a sense of awareness and sensitivity to their audience in the process of developing an end product. Moreover, given many of the students’ art works are publicized to the community through events, the Crest art department has fostered a relationship with members of the public through the artworks.

Our signature programmes are (i) Body Movement and Dance Programme, (ii) Sec One Level-wide Art Programme, (iii) Masterclass for various arts CCAs and (iv) Learning journeys to arts venues and / or arts institution. All these are conducted to enrich the students’ experience of the arts

Strengthening 3R through Engagement in Art and Aesthetics

• Lower Secondary Crest Art (Secondary 1 and 2)

Crest Art experiments with a mixture of conventional and unconventional mediums (coasters, paper bags, caps, canvas and masks) to engage the students in colours and design concepts. The purpose is to let the students find art making meaningful, discover and have a deeper understanding of their own cultural heritage, and provide them with an authentic learning experience so that they can use or wear the art that they have created and at the same time, contribute back to the school.

The personalisation of art pieces motivate students to do well when all completed artworks are exhibited around the school. Incorporating such authentic tasks leads to meaningful outcomes as it boosts students’ self-worth and gives them an added motivation to ensure that their works are well done. One good example is the Imagine! Series, which are modules that culminate into collective art pieces being exhibited around the school compound, making the school campus an art gallery.

Another example is the Artists’ Expression where the ‘Show and Tell’ component provides an oral presentation platform for every student to articulate why they like their own creation or their friend’s artwork. These provide a composite learning experience for the students to grow in character, interpersonal relationships and art techniques.

•   Crest Body Movement and Dance Programme (Secondary 1)

This dance programme provides an opportunity for every class to put up a showcase (dance performance and competition) during school assembly. Besides bonding the class, it also creates an opportunity for all students to have an appreciation of movement and dance, including understanding the types of body movement, work on their motor coordination and skills. This brings about creativity, imagination and visualisation, and builds on the school values of Resilience, Excellence and Teamwork.

• Art Elective Programme (Secondary 3)

In the Secondary 3 Art Elective Programme, a broad range of 2D/3D mediums and performing arts are offered to them. Students get to choose modules such as:

• iDesign

• Let’s Go Local

• Diabolo/Photography Composition

• Sick Beatz

•  Print

where they take on the role of product designers to create 2D/3D products that promote the local food culture and their heritage, use photography skills to create their own series of motivational posters and postcards, make their own music using Garage Band and try out Diabolo as a performing art form. In all the modules, the students learn some design principles to create artworks that are functional, useful, have retail value and can also serve as corporate gifts for the school.

Sec One Crest Masks Projects:

The Sec One and Sec Two cohorts created a series of beautiful masks prints in the #Sgunited & #Peranakan ICREST series. The mask designs encapsulate our school’s values and our nation’s story of unity and resilience. The project instilled in our students the concept of authentic learning in Crest and that Arts can be used as a functioning tool to make a difference in their community. These masks will be presented to their Crest teachers, their Primary school staff, our partner school and for publicity efforts during the Crest Immersion and Open House as well.

Sec One Level-wide Art Programme

The level-wide programme provides the Sec One students the opportunity to have a collective theme-based learning in a group setting. They will be exposed to a wide range of art mediums. This shared learning experience of making art for the school to spruce up the school learning environment helps to create a sense of belonging for them. The completed artwork will give them a sense of pride and a shared learning experience.  

Sec Two Level-wide Gratitude Card Projects:

The Sec Two cohort embarked on a series of community projects during their Visual Arts curriculum lessons. They wrote encouraging and heart-warming messages to the essential workers around our neighbourhood to show the little support they could render to them during this Covid-19 period. The Gratitude Cards were personally handed over to the various organisations and attended by Min Grace Fu. These personalised Gratitude Cards were forwarded to: 

1.     Ng Teng Fong General Hospital Healthcare workers 

2.     13 Yuhua PHPC Clinics 

3.     Yuhua Town Council cleaners.

Customised Gratitude Cards for School-wide Gratitude Card Project:

A series of customised Crest Gratitude Cards were created by our student Illustrator Madeline Peh (2-2). These cards were distributed to the entire school during CCE periods for all students to pen down their thoughts and feelings of gratitude. It served as an avenue for our students to reflect and forward their care and concern to the people who have cared for them, including Crest teachers and school support staff during this Covid-19 pandemic period. Crestans had the opportunity to show the school value of Care to the people around them.

Dance

The Performing Arts (Dance) curriculum, leverages on music, movement, imagination and fun to facilitate learning in a safe and controlled learning space. Through the intricately designed and conscious delivery of the curriculum, the students’ body movements become pivotal in shaping their cognitive, social, affective and emotional development of the high needs students.