Connections Showcase 2023
Five Islands School – Kanbal – The Black Swan
Five Islands School is located in Booragul, Lake Macquarie, on traditional Awabakal land.
Five Islands School sits high on the hill in Booragul with a view of Lake Macquarie from its classroom windows. This school’s body of work titled Kanbal – The Black Swan is inspired by the students’ connections to the land they inhabit (Awabakal land) and by their school emblem Sam, the black swan. In the Awabakal language, ‘black swan’ is known as ‘Kanbal’, hence the artwork’s title.
Photographs of Lake Macquarie and Five Islands School’s surrounding scenery were used as inspiration. Six classes participated in this creative task, and each class was given an example artwork. The school’s emblem Sam, the black swan, was incorporated into every artwork as the focus. Sam’s surroundings in each artwork were inspired by Lake Macquarie’s natural landscape during different seasons. Each student was encouraged to use their own creative process and materials to produce their personalised version of the artwork, the final product being informed by each student’s ability and sensory preferences.
Most classes created a group artwork, where students used a variety of materials, including paint, torn paper, crepe paper, cellophane, crayon, cotton wool, textured cardboard and feathers to make each project beautifully unique.
What did the students and teachers have to say?
- ‘I loved seeing each class's interpretation of the stimulus material and how they were adapted to meet not only the abilities of the students but their own sensory interests and needs. Each artwork demonstrates amazing creativity and is a unique reflection of each class group.’ – Emma (teacher)
- ‘Our students enjoyed using the different textures and taking turns to stick them onto the cardboard. They enjoyed looking out the classroom window and connecting their completed artwork to our view of the lake.’ – Maxine (SLSO)
- ‘Our class took a multilayered sensory approach that aimed at their sensory needs. We created a design that not only met the brief but also explored the concepts we are learning in our own topic focus for the term.’ – Stephanie (teacher)
- ‘I got to trace my hands to make the feathers on the swan. My hands are so big!’ – Julia (student, Year 5)
- ‘My favourite part of making my picture was using crayons to put colourful lines on the paper.’ – Amy (student, Year 6)
- ‘My favourite part of making my swan picture was making the sun.’ – Wyatt (student, Year 10)
Participating students
Congratulations to the following students from Years K to 12 at Five Islands School for their wonderful submissions:
Charlie S, Julia, Amy, Grace, Noah, Charlie P, Jimmy, Lincoln, Wyatt, Lucas, Jonah, Harper, Gisella, Isaiah, Jack, Casey, Ava, Connor, Axle, Kane, Ruben, Charlotte, Emma, Alex, Lily and Cooper.
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Third-party content attributions
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- All student artworks and images courtesy of the respective schools, student artworks © the student artists, 2023, reproduced and communicated with permission.
- Congratulations banner, created using Canva, 2021.
