From the NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum:
Drama 7–10
Drama enables young people to develop knowledge, understanding and skills individually and collaboratively to make, perform and appreciate dramatic and theatrical works. Students take on roles as a means of exploring both familiar and unfamiliar aspects of their world while exploring the ways people react and respond to different situations, issues and ideas.
Music 7–10
All students should have the opportunity to develop their musical abilities and potential. As an art form, music pervades society and occupies a significant place in world cultures and in the oral and recorded history of all civilisations. Music plays important roles in the social, cultural, aesthetic and spiritual lives of people. At an individual level, music is a medium of personal expression. It enables the sharing of ideas, feelings and experiences. The nature of musical study also allows students to develop their capacity to manage their own learning, engage in problem-solving, work collaboratively and engage in activity that reflects the real world practice of performers, composers and audiences.
Photographic and Digital Media 7–10
Photographic and Digital Media provides opportunities for students to enjoy making and studying a range of photographic and digital media works. It enables students to represent their ideas and interests about the world, to engage in contemporary forms of communication and understand and write about their contemporary world. Photographic and Digital Media enables students to investigate new technologies, cultural identity and the evolution of photography and digital media into the 21st century. Students are provided with opportunities to make and study photographic and digital media works in greater depth and breadth than through the Visual Arts elective course.
Visual Arts 7–10
Visual Arts provides opportunities for students to enjoy the making and studying of art. It builds an understanding of the role of art in all forms of media, both in the contemporary and historical world, and enables students to represent their ideas and interests in artworks. Visual Arts enables students to become informed about, understand and write about their contemporary world.
Visual Design 7–10
Visual Design provides opportunities for students to enjoy making and studying visual design artworks and to become informed about and understand and write about their contemporary world. It enables students to represent their ideas and interests about the world in visual design artworks and provides insights into new technologies, different cultures, and the changing nature of visual design in the 21st century. Students are provided with opportunities to make and study visual design artworks in greater depth and breadth than through the Visual Arts elective course.
Japanese Stage 4
The study of Japanese provides access to the language and culture of one of the global community's most technologically advanced societies and economies. Students engage with elements of modern Japan, including popular culture such as anime, manga, music and fashion, as well as with the rich cultural tradition of this part of Asia. Students develop an appreciation for the place of Australia within the Asia region, including the interconnections of languages and cultures, peoples and communities, histories and economies.
The ability to communicate in Japanese provides incentives for travel and for more meaningful interactions with speakers of Japanese, encouraging socio-cultural understanding between Australia and Japan, and cohesion within the Australian community. It also provides opportunities for students to gain insights into the contributions that have been made by Japanese-speaking communities to Australian, and to global society. For background speakers, this valuable learning experience is further enhanced by the opportunity to maintain and develop their Japanese language skills and understanding of their cultural heritage.
The rich linguistic and cultural diversity of NSW, to which Japanese-speaking communities contribute significantly, provides an educational environment where the study of languages and cultures is valued as a unique and integral part of the K–10 curriculum.
Through learning languages, students develop an intercultural capability and an understanding of the role of language and culture in communication, and become more accepting of diversity and difference. They develop understanding of global citizenship, and reflect on their own heritage, values, culture and identity.