We offer clubs and activities across the arts, academic challenges, social connection, and special trips. Some meet at lunchtime. Others happen after school or on weekends. A few are intensive programs that run across terms or even years.
The point isn't to fill every spare moment with structured activities. It's to give students options for exploring interests, developing skills, and connecting with peers who share their passions.
Years 7-12 students can learn brass, woodwind, string instruments, vocals, drums, or guitar through our Performing Arts Centre. Teachers work with students at different skill levels, from complete beginners to those preparing for music careers.
Students who take instrumental music often join our music bands and stage bands, getting regular performance opportunities to apply what they're learning.
Friday lunchtimes in the PAC Auditorium, vocal group students work on improving their singing skills and group work. They participate in workshops and performance opportunities throughout the year.
This isn't just for students with formal vocal training. It's for anyone who loves singing and wants to develop their voice alongside others.
Students audition to join teams coached by professional artists and teachers. They learn jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and theatrical styles. Teams perform at various locations, including the National Competition held annually on the Gold Coast.
Dance Star demands serious commitment. Students train regularly, travel to competitions, and perform at a high level. For students passionate about dance, it's a chance to work with professional choreographers and compete nationally.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday lunchtimes in the PAC Drama Room, this student-led club explores and develops improvisation and performance skills. Students can attend as frequently or infrequently as they like.
Drama Club isn't about preparing for formal productions. It's about playing with ideas, trying different characters, and developing confidence in front of others. Some students come every day. Others drop in when they feel like it. Both approaches work.
In Term 4, we showcase students from Music, Dance, Drama, and Visual Arts to the community in an evening event. Parents, caregivers, and the wider Blackwood community see what students have been creating throughout the year. MADD (Music, Art, Dance, Drama) brings together different creative disciplines in one celebration of student work.
Years 7-12 students meet approximately one lunchtime every two to three weeks during competition season (Terms 2 and 3). Competitions happen during the evening.
Debating helps students improve research skills, public speaking, and argument structure. Middle school students get six minutes to make their case. Senior students work with more complex topics and tighter time constraints.
Students who join debating learn to construct arguments, respond to opposing viewpoints under pressure, and speak confidently in front of audiences. These skills show up in other subjects when they need to write persuasive essays or present research findings.
Years 7-12 students solve 30 problems in 75 minutes. Problems are designed to test mathematical thinking and increase in difficulty to challenge gifted students.
This competition isn't about memorising formulas. It's about creative problem-solving and applying mathematical concepts in unexpected ways. Students who participate often discover they enjoy mathematics more when it involves puzzles rather than routine calculations.
This four-hour examination is for talented Years 7-10 students. It's used to select participants for invitation-only enrichment classes and training schools.
AIMO is serious mathematics. Students who compete at this level are considering mathematics degrees or careers involving advanced quantitative thinking. The problems demand sustained concentration and sophisticated mathematical reasoning.
This 18-month program for Years 9-10 leads to an overseas expedition to a developing country. Students manage the budget, book accommodation, participate in community engagement projects, and trek through challenging terrain.
World Challenge demands significant commitment and fundraising. Students work towards the expedition for a year and a half, building skills in planning, budgeting, and teamwork.
The trip itself pushes students outside their comfort zones, often in life-changing ways.
All Year 10 students can join this Term 3 trip to Falls Creek, Victoria. Students expand friendships and learn skills in winter sports like skiing and snowboarding.
For many students, this is their first time on snow. Staff teach basic skills, support students as they attempt increasingly difficult runs, and help everyone stay safe while having fun.
Students come back with new skills and often unexpected friendships with peers they didn't know well before the trip.
