The Arts

Boarding House New Addition to Arts Day Acts

Arts Day is always the highlight of the PLC calendar, aptly known as ‘The Best Day of Year’, and 2022 included all the usual favourites such as House Dance, House Choir, Year 12 Act, and Staff Act. This year, however, there was a new addition to the running order in the Boarders’ Act, and it was a resounding success. Choreographed by all the Boarding House Prefects and led by Senior Boarder, Meeza Humphries (Year 12), it was a great way to show the solidarity and community spirit of the Boarding House. “There were a lot of us who normally aren’t dancers, but it was exciting to come together as a boarding family and show who we are,” Meeza said. While the Boarding House Dance didn’t officially contribute to the House tallies for Arts Day, it was more than that. It showed the incredible spirit of the Boarding House in a true showcase of fun, love, and community. Throughout the day, there was an incredible display of talent across of the disciplines within The Arts. Singing, dancing, musical instruments, cake decorating, photography competitions, textiles, individual and group performances – the day had it all. House Dance is always impressive, and this year saw Ferguson House take out the title of House Dance winners. Carmichael House won House Choir with their song Royals by Lorde, and Carmichael House were crowned Overall Champion House in a flurry of confetti.

Winning Houses

House Dance - Ferguson House Choir - Carmichael House Overall Winning House - Carmichael House

23 Black Watch 2022 Edition One

Roald Dahl Classic the Golden Ticket

The musical from the Roald Dahl’s classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was a choc-full of entertainment.

Held in June and running for four performances with two casts, the popular musical had audiences singing and toe-tapping along. Numbers like Pure Imagination, The Candy Man and I’ve Got a Golden Ticket were outstanding. Featuring Senior School students from PLC Perth and Scotch College, the musical’s tale centres around Charlie Bucket as he embarks on an unforgettable ride through a world of pure imagination.

Kindness of Strangers: Chilling, Abstract, and Insightful

Olivia Muir (Year 12), 2022 Arts Captain

Talented Senior School students from PLC and Scotch College turned heads at this year’s senior school play with their incredible contemporary interpretation of Tennessee Williams’ Kindness of Strangers. The show, held in the wintery month of August, made for the perfect setting for the unnerving and confronting stories in which we all painted on the Hazel Day Drama Centre stage. The performance included four one-act plays which encompassed some of Tennessee Williams’ finest and most powerful work. The plays entailed the perception of life as it is, and the passion for life as it ought to be, which have made Williams’ plays classics of the American theatre. This emotional, unsettling, and intense script was captured by Year 11 and 12 students. Particular mention to Year 12 leads: Sophia Stewart, Indah Jenkins, Charlotte Williams, Ruby Meara, myself, and Poppy Bell. As a finishing touch, the play was accompanied by PLC’S Stage Band led by Director of Music, Mr Chris Goff, and lead vocals were performed by both myself and Insiah Riaz.

PLC Break Free

Everyone has dreams. While some dream of being the star of the basketball team or science decathlon, others hope to be the lead in the school musical. The cast and crew of PLC’s High School Musical Jr. reminded the crowd to dream big and follow their passions, despite how others may try to confine them. This smash-hit musical phenomenon, presented by Years 7 to 10 students, ran over five performances from Thursday 10 November to Saturday 12 November. Gabriella Montez’s character, played by Tatum Ryan (Year 10), highlighted the importance of being brave and overcoming the limits imposed by others. While Sharpay’s character, played by Charly Stephens (Year 10), taught the audience to stay resilient when striving to reach goals – now, this doesn’t mean it’s healthy to draw up a design like Sharpay’s in I Want it All, but students should dream. As the cast showed how they could “break free” from the obstacles they faced, they highlighted that, “there’s no star in heaven that can’t be reached”.

Poppy Takes a Parliament to Parliament

Year 7 student, Poppy Mahon, has enlisted some political muscle to save native owls from poisoning. Discovering her passion for native wildlife and owls in her Year 6 PYP Exhibition project, Poppy has been working to stop the use of second generation rodenticides since then. Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) are responsible for the deaths of many native birds that eat poisoned rodents. Many alternative poisons are available for killing rodents that are just as effective. “They’re banned in the UK, Europe, Canada, and America, but in Australia they are only restricted to purchase to those over the age of 16,” Poppy said. Poppy started a campaign, writing three times to Premier Mark McGowan before securing any response. When Poppy discovered that Bunnings did not prevent her (then aged 11) to purchase these poisons, she successfully lobbied Bunnings to make sure an age check was enforced at self-serve checkouts. She is still chasing to ensure Bunnings implement the signage part of their agreement. Poppy visited Curtin MP, Kate Chaney, with a Barn Owl and a Boobook for a meeting about these rat poisons in September, where she was pleased to discover Kate also knew that the collective noun for owls is a ‘parliament’. Although an owl supporter, Kate highlighted that this is a State, rather than Federal issue.

Poppy has also met with local MP, Dr David Honey, who has agreed to look into the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) review that WA recently submitted. However, she is still waiting for a response. Awareness and change are both high on Poppy’s agenda. Forming a ‘Wildlife Warriors’ student group, Poppy and PLC students have taken their message to the local community, taking stands at the Celebrating Lake Claremont Event, at Claremont Quarter, and in one of the gardens at PLC’s Open Garden Day. The Wildlife Warriers consist of Year 12 students Madeleine Robins, Claire Dean, and Sofia Sommerhalder, and Year 7 students India Griffin, Brianna Mal, Isabel Greentree, Eleanor Fraser, Beth WallisHuges, Charlotte Meredith, Maya Pushpalingam, and Matilda Ashton. Ms Janine Nicholson also joins the group at meetings. Poppy has successfully lobbied Pet Barn to delist SGARs. The Wildlife Warriors are now finalising a petition to Coles, IGA, and Woolworths, and will be surveying local residents about owls in their areas.

Reflecting on Experiences as Part of the Diploma Programme

Students from Years 11 and 12 International Baccalaureate Diploma’s Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) have been given the opportunity to enhance their personal and interpersonal development by learning through experience. This unique learning programme sees students lead their own service initiatives while fostering a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment from their work. This year, the CAS programme introduced two CAS Core Days, during which, students were introduced to several experiences that challenged them to show initiative, engage with the community, and develop local and global understandings. IB Diploma CAS Co-ordinator, Mr Matthew Donaldson, said that he saw students thrive as they took on leadership roles and responsibilities at PLC and in the local community. “The learning experiences aimed to inspire students while providing the skills, knowledge, understanding, and genuine opportunity to work towards achieving the seven CAS outcomes,” Mr Donaldson said. Across this initiative, some of the activities students were introduced to included environmental beach cleaning and environmental data collection, Cooking for a Cause, mindful yoga, and the Give Write programme. Mr Donaldson continued, “The students at PLC have such brilliant ideas; they are so full of energy and creativity, and they want to be involved. It is great to create important learning experiences that counterbalance the academic pressures of the Diploma Programme”.

A Small Kit A Large Difference.

Every individual should have the right to a clean and safe childbirth. Imagine living in a world where you do not have access to simple tools that are essential for childbirth. For many living in regions of the developing world, this is a sad reality and PLC is helping to make a difference. PLC has aligned with The Birthing Kit Foundation (Australia) to pack and supply clean birthing kits to pregnant women living in rural communities and low-resource settings around the world. These small kits contain six essential items that can help a birth attendant deliver a baby safely. While it seems simple, these basic items such as a plastic sheet for a labouring mother to lie on, a sterile scalpel to cut the umbilical cord, and gloves for the birth attendant to wear, are helping to save lives. PLC has been fortunate enough to contribute to this cause. In Term 3, approximately 40 Senior School students came together to assemble 200 birthing kits which will be distributed to women in need, around the world. Year 11 IB CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service) students, Isabelle Harrold and Kavita Bisht, led this initiative as part of their CAS project, by raising $1,000 to purchase the equipment needed to construct these kits. “This is such a rewarding initiative, as we get to create and see tangible outcomes that will benefit someone’s life immensely,” Isabelle said. Since 1995, 2.4 million birthing kits have been distributed. For every 11 kits that are made and sent, one casualty is prevented. By conservative estimates, this number of kits would have saved the lives of tens of thousands of women and babies.