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Multimedia Program Update

The Thursday afternoon Multimedia program enables participants to specialize and focus on a specific creative area.


Michael is creating stop motion film based on an instructional video for “The Final Destination” theme park ride. See the first finished scene from the film above (no audio).

Ryk has set up his own You Tube channel based on conspiracy theories. He has titled his work “Pot plants have hidden messages”.

Chiara and Paul are working on costume and set design for the end of year Futures Drama Production directed by James Andrews. Their research for the play involves gathering images and ideas off the internet about “Romeo & Juliette”.

Music Program Update

The Futures Music Program, led by John Edgar is actively working towards two performances; one for the Convent Open Day in November and The International Day for People with a Disability - Music Festival.

The Futures weekly music group is split into three groups - vocal, drums and melody. Each group works on individual songs and rhythms and then they bring the work to the rest of the class to see how the parts fit together.

Participants engage in a weekly improvisational ‘jam session’ and are getting closer to locking down lyrics and rhythms for their songs. Once they get the song, lyrics and basic structure down they keep rehearsing the piece until they are happy with how it sounds.

Participants this term were able to explore a variety of instruments in order to find one they were comfortable to play. Renato has taken on the harpsichord, Ryk (banjo), Rhiannon (pink acoustic guitar), Toby & Akshay (drums), Michelle, Caitlin and Chiara (vocals).


The class finale goes off with a bang with the class hit song “Stop Being a Guts”, a re-written version of “Boulevard of Dreams” by Green Day.

Liam Cuffley (Instructor – Music Program)

Fine Arts - Making A Mark

The Futures Art class has been working hard this term to form a bold and colourful body of work. Each participant’s personalities and interests have been expressed through a variety of mediums including painting, collage, fabric art and felt tip drawing.

The art class is a very social group where participants enjoy catching up with each other, while coming together to make art.


Participants are currently working towards a collaborative project with the Futures Music group called “Hung Up!”

The group will hang up creative work inspired by stories shared within the group to form an installation at the Arts Education Studio as part of the Convent Open Day.


Jane Joske (Instructor- Fine Art)

Getting Into The Act

Toby Crook has been in various Advocacy roles over the past few years. He has a natural talent for public speaking and being a voice for others. Toby does not follow a script nor plan what he has to say; his words naturally flow and speak to the heart of everyone in the room.

Toby has recently been invited to join the Valid Eastern Client Network Committee, where he will attend monthly meetings at The Ringwood Federation Estate commencing on Monday 21st June. This is an exciting opportunity for Toby and he is looking forward to discussing the current challenges and successes in the sector and generally advocating for people with disabilities.

Drama participants received a sneak peak of Toby’s recent performance in ‘Getting into the Act’, a DVD created to explain the Disability Act. Toby joined forces with actors from Reinforce Advocacy Drama Group to make the film. The DVD features an animated character that leaps out of the Disability Act and onto the shoulders of actors to explain the different parts of the Act.

Toby and other performers gave a great performance, acting with an animated cartoon. All the participants gave Toby a rousing round of applause at the end of the DVD and joked that he should be signing autographs!

Puppetry Performance

First year Drama participants have enjoyed a Puppet Making and Performance Program at Ringwood Federation Estate led by Cherie Murray.

Participants have spent the first part of the year creating hand puppets and devising their own script for the end of year puppetry performance called ‘The Heart of Hollywood’.

The production sparkles with the glamour and gliz of Hollywood excess and displays a strong social conscience. Creative work is well underway with participants busy making costumes, sets, rehearsing songs and dance routines.

The story revolves around the central character called ‘Big Bird’ (who is close to extinction) and a motley crew of rock ‘n’ rollers, who rally together to save the big birds of the world. The piece is a comical and moving tale, revealing an unlikely love story between Mary Poppins and the famous ‘bad boy’ Eminem.

The piece is sure to rock audiences in their seats and take them on a ride of their life!

Cherie Murray (Instructor- Dramatic Arts)

Drama Program Update

Drama program has had a twist in the plot this term, with the inclusion of a Self-Advocacy training course.

The course was facilitated by the Self Advocacy Resource Unit (SARU). Participants used their drama skills to explore role plays and improvisations around their rights, responsibilities and avenues for self-advocacy.

Participants completed the course on 18th June and received certificates of achievement, and celebrated their graduation with a suitably upbeat party.

Meanwhile, progress toward the annual drama performance continues with gusto. The drama group has been work-shopping their ideas and honing their characters each week. Without giving away the magic, we can tell you that this year’s production will feature the characters of Pink, Juliet, Robin Hood, Thomas Rogan, Duke Nukem, Aden Jeffries, Elvis and Belle from Beauty and the Beast in all manner of outrageous scenes, culminating in an exciting conclusion.

Friday’s Drama program is a social and creative end to the working week. We have enjoyed working from our new base at Ringwood Federation Estate, and look forward to taking our ideas to the stage (and the world!) later in the year.

Julia Sutherland (Instructor -Drama)

Music Festival - International Day for People with Disabilities

Photography by Gary Radler

'The Holy Snail' photography by Gary Radler

Music Festival

Thursday the 3rd of December is International Day of People with Disability Day, and this year we'll be celebrating it at Macleay Park at a huge outdoor music festival. The day will feature heaps of music, films and activities in a great outdoor setting.

It will also be your first chance to catch the musical stylings of Sector 5 Extreme, the new band formed by the students of Interact's Interart & Bright Futures programs. The band have been producing some amazing sounds whilst in rehearsal at the Abbotsford Convent and are itching to take it to the masses.

More details click here. Entry is free. Come on down!

Convent Open Day

Friday

Toby and I started the day with a cup of tea with James at the Bakery. We headed to Rosina Theatre for Drama. The class began with quick run around room, stretches and vocal exercises. We rehearsed our performance, it was evident we had improved dramatically with remembering our lines. We also remembered the importance of staying in character while on stage.We can't wait to perform at the Convent Open Day!

by Greer Guest Marinis

You Are Invited!

You Are Invited!

Rainbow Butterfly

Greer rehearsing her lines and showing her strength on the stage.

Toby- always looking for that prefect photo opportunity.

Happy Birthday Michelle

We only had a small group in Music today, as our futures friends are enjoying a 2 week holiday. We mucked around for awhile, we then got serious and recorded sounds for our up and coming music performance. Toby and Michelle were busy writing lyrics for a new song, but they are keeping the theme under raps, however they do report the song to be humorous and fun.
At lunch we celebrated Michelle's Birthday with a fancy blueberry cake.
Happy Birthday Michelle!

Written by Toby and Michelle

Friday Is Our Lucky Day

During drama today we did our vocal warm up, volume projection exercises and our leg stretches. We then ran through the play to time the length. We were aiming for less than 1 hour, it ran for a total of 47 minutes! I guess Friday is our lucky day. We are looking forward to practicing with full costume, music, sets, props and media. Time to start counting down the weeks of rehearsal left.

Written By: Greer Guest Mannis, Toby Crook and Chiara Vanek

It's Time To Get Serious

Today James, Chiara, Toby and Greer worked on the "Holy Snail". We had a meeting and focused on making cuts and changes to the script. During the meeting we told funny jokes, sang songs and of coarse practiced our lines. After a busy morning we chatted over lunch and headed back to the studio to work on our blog.

Greer, Toby and Chiara

First Day Back.

Today was our first day back in drama, We enjoyed rehearsal , although it was tiring. It was great to talk with each other and reflect on whats working and what needs to be improved upon. After class it was great to chat with friends over a cup of tea. It's great to be back!!!

Greer Guest-Mannis