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Canberra Secondary School

Visual Arts, Design and Media (ALP)

Confident digital storytellers.

Last updated on 29 October 2026

Visual Arts, Design and Media Programme

Our Applied Learning Programme in Visual Arts and Design nurtures students' digital media skills. Secondary One students explore photography and visual storytelling through Photo Journals, while Secondary Two students produce storyboards, short films and video stories. Students apply these skills in subject projects, competitions and their own interests, and build digital portfolios that support their post-secondary pathways, growing into confident digital storytellers.

Our ALP comprises of two tiers:

Tier 1: focuses on knowledge acquisition.

Tier 2: emphasises application of skills through involvement in personal projects through the Digital Media in Visual Arts CCA.

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Poster titled Applied Learning Programme with sections on objectives, framework, curriculum, QR codes, and photos of students.

Objectives of ALP

The Applied Learning Program (ALP) aims to integrate academic knowledge with real-world applications, emphasize on relevant learning experiences in school, motivate skill acquisition, develop visual arts, design, photography, and videography skills.

ALP Framework

1) Find

Leveraging on technology to brainstorm ideas for research and to identify the needs of the community.

2) Think

To think about why pictures are taken, telling an engaging story, and getting your point over to the audience.

3) Apply

Creative use of photography, editing, videography, and video editing skills

4) Create

Creating, connect, and communicate through photos and videos using the Google Sites platform for students’ e-Portfolios.

A student films a scene on an iPad with a keyboard case attached, capturing two people walking along a curved staircase railing inside a bright, modern building.

Challenge-Based Learning

The challenge-based learning approach encourages student collaboration by fostering big ideas, asking thoughtful questions, and identifying, investigating, and solving challenges through three interconnected phases.

  1. Engage

    • Researching 5 BIG Ideas.

    • Identifying 1 challenge

    • Thinking of essential questions

  2. Investigate

    • Learning experiences through VIA, CCA, and public space visits

  3. Act

    • Proposing solutions

    • Implementing and evaluating solutions

BIG Ideas

  1. Climate Change (Biodiversity)

  2. Diverse Society (Gender, Gratitude, Inequity, and Inequality, Community)

  3. Environment and Sustainability (Plastic, Environmental Justice, Water)

  4. Food and Health (Health)

  5. Security (Coding)

Our Curriculum

Cohort 1: Photography

  • Photography skills

  • Photo editing

  • Photo journaling

Cohort 2: Videography

  • Videography skills

  • Storyboarding

  • Video editing

A large group of students in school uniforms sit on the floor of a covered hall, attending an assembly programme titled "See Like a Photographer," with a projected presentation visible on a large screen.