IST - Arts

Curriculum - Arts

Art, Music, Drama, ICT [Information and Computer Technology]

The Arts are valued highly at IST as we believe that Art education is essential in the development of the “whole” and the “educated” person. Pre-School students develop sensory awareness and self-expression through exploration, experimentation, discovery and expression, using a wide range of forms, media, techniques and tools.

More formally, the Arts are integrated among the curriculum and teaching methodologies so that “Art” is incorporated into the student’s daily life. As methodologies, Core teachers use the Arts when designing and selecting activities to develop the Skills defined in the Pre-School Curriculum.

We include Information and Computing Technology (ICT) in the Arts Subject Area for administrative reasons.

Art

We believe that Art experiences for young children should be open-ended as they are still discovering materials and exploring processes related to Art. The numerous and varied Art experiences offered to IST Pre-School students are thus open-ended, giving them plenty of opportunities to develop their imagination and creativity by exploring the visual, tactile and sensory aspects of these materials and processes as well as of their environments. Open-ended Art experiences also teach students about problem solving and making choices.

At the Pre-School level, activities related to Art include but are not limited to drawing with chalks, markers, crayons and pencils as we believe that drawing is essential to learning about Art; painting using a variety of techniques; mixed media-based activities; making collages, masks, puppets and crafts. More formally, IST’s Art programme incorporates modelling, sculpting, photography, Appreciation, History and Design.

Music

We believe that young children are naturally receptive to the nuances of rhythm and tone, so Pre-School students at IST spend a great deal of time exploring these musical elements. We use many Music and Movement activities such as dancing, tapping and clapping, enabling students to feel and understand rhythm. We use singing to explore rhythm and tone, pronunciation, rhyme, as a tool for developing memorization skills and in the form of group or choral singing, as an element in our PSHE programme. Students also use a variety of musical instruments, such as rhythm sticks, the tambourine, xylophone, shakers, bells, drums and more, to assist in their learning experiences and enjoyment and appreciation of music. More formally, IST’s Music programme combines Music Theory, Instrument, Appreciation, Composition and Ethno-musicology.

Music also appears in our Physical Education programme in Pre-School as Movement and in the Elementary School as Dance.

Drama

We believe that Drama, the ability to present a different self and the ability to develop a relationship between the self and an audience, is an essential element in a person’s growth as a social being; Drama is also an important teaching methodology for our teachers. Pre-School students are involved in a variety of Drama activities such as improvisation, storytelling and role playing, many of which contribute to a student’s development of self-esteem and confidence. More formally, IST’s Drama programme combines comparative studies, film and stage, Appreciation and History.

ICT

We believe that Skills in Information and Computing Technology (ICT) are essential in today’s world and will continue to be essential in the world of tomorrow. Our programme begins at the Pre-School level with a focus on familiarity and confidence through the use age-appropriate software, moving to word-processing in the Elementary School at which time Spreadsheets, Databases and basic Publishing are introduced. Our students do not have Internet access until Upper Elementary and, even then, only under the close supervision of a teacher.

If you have any questions about our Arts programmes, please contact the Head of School.