As in Norfolk, the arts thrive at SCS. We have a full range of programs from Visual Art to Music. Our students are trained by practicing artists from the community and have received multiple awards, scholarships and honours over the years. We are very proud of our program and hope that you will be able to attend one of our events in the near future to see what these incredible students are capable of.
Head of Art Department:
Arjan Lamers
VISUAL ART
The Visual Art Department at S.C.S. provides students with a dynamic and engaging experience in a range of art areas including Crafts, Photography, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking. In addition, our programs are offered for all grade and ability levels, in both semesters, giving students a wide variety of options. Students are encouraged to use their creative problem solving skills and critical thinking skills in their projects and to improve their technical ability by using good quality artists’ materials to complete their work. Our senior level and focus courses like AVI 4M and Drawing and Painting give students an edge when applying for college or university both by providing the skill and theoretical background they need and by helping them create a portfolio that sets them apart in an interview. Because the Art department staff are practicing artists themselves, they are well prepared to help students with learning new skills and techniques, as well as introduce them to the ideas and concepts of today’s art world. We are pleased to be able to offer the students of Simcoe Composite School a complete art education package and are very proud of all our students’ artistic achievements!
MUSIC
Simcoe Composite School is home to an expansive music program which is designed to appeal to a wide range of music students, beginner to advanced. We strive for music excellence at SCS and our goal is to develop our music talents and skills in order to reach our full potential as musicians. Our music program fosters teamwork, strong work ethic and a caring attitude. SCS offers instrumental music to students in all grades and levels, as well as a beginner guitar course.
There many extra-curricular music activities to become involved in, including: Concert band, Junior band, Jazz band and Vocal ensembles. Our bands perform regularly at a variety of concerts, festivals and assemblies throughout the school year. The music students also enjoy annual field trips to the Roy Thomson Hall, Norfolk County Fair, Canada’s Wonderland as well as overnight stays at a variety of destinations in North America.
At SCS, the music program also provides opportunities for all SCS students to perform at Coffee Houses throughout the school year. The Coffee house is a unique experience where students at SCS are able to participate in open mic style music performances…There is a lot of talent showcased at SCS coffee houses!
We look forward to seeing you in the near future. Come join our awesome music program!
PHOTOGRAPHY
“Taking pictures is savouring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.”
— Marc Riboud
According to estimates by InfoTrends, a total of 1.2 trillion digital photos will be taken worldwide this year.
The fact that more than a billion people constantly carry around a device that doubles as a digital camera is probably the biggest factor contributing to the slew of digital photos floating around. The award-winning photographer Chase Jarvis once coined the phrase “the best camera is the one that’s with you”. While that is true, at SCS we embrace the cell phone, but also teach the fundamentals of working with semi-professional DSLR cameras. They are large in size, but much more versatile and allow our students to fully understand how the camera works and to experiment with a number of lenses that we have available for student use.
To compliment their skill set we have a top of the line computer lab, running the same software used by post-secondary institutions and in the workplace.
Photography starts with the grade 11 course that is often filled with grade 10 students looking to get a head start on their photo studies. In grade twelve students can continue with the grade 12 course and also have the option of contributing their design ideas and photos to the yearbook class.
Please have a look at some of the photos below that have been completed by past SCS students and let us know if you have any questions about the program.