Well what an insanely busy but incredibly exciting start to twenty fourteen it has been! While FUSION14 kept the whole DQ Team busy as we frantically planned an amazing two day conference for you, there have been so many other things bubbling away that it feels like we have achieved a years worth already. It must be the galloping pace set by the Year of the Horse! We are on the cusp of revealing our new website, you would have noticed our classy new publications suite and DQ Calendar in your first mail out of the year, plans are already in place for our new PD event for the year Revitalise (October 25, save the date!) and we are set to launch some amazing new resources.
Of course, the major excitement for the year has been the official publication of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts. Over seven years work has gone into producing this document and we have so many of our members to thank for their valuable contributions and expert guidance with this. It is a most important step in the right direction to ensuring that Arts Education stays in our curriculum and school programs. I know that as Arts educators we can get a little 'battle weary' at times thanks to the endless requests for advocacy for our subject (or more accurately, our passion), but rest assured that we are well situated on an international level in that we at least have a system that acknowledges that the arts belong in schools. Let's continue to fight the good fight and move forward with the confidence that we can and will make a difference in the lives of our young people, through their schooling careers and beyond.
I also trust that you are all very busy wading through new approaches to task sheets and units of work as you implement the 2013 QSA Work Program for your Year 11's. It has been great to see the eGroup being used so professionally and productively as a means of collegial sharing during a this climate of change - let's keep this up!
2014 has well and truly already made itself known, let's continue to maximise its potential! I hope Term 1 has been great for you all, and it was so good to catch many of you at FUSION14.
Annette Box
DQ President
from the DQ president
inside this issue
FUSION14 Conference Wrap | page 5
News from DQ | page 8
QLD Youth Shakespeare Festival | page 10
Dash of Drama | page 12
Yanked from YouTube | page 12
Macbeth: Something Wicked this way comes | page 14
Markwell Presents in 2014 | page 16
Conference Snaps | page 18
Playlab's Latest Picks | page 21
Machina: La Boite's latest Indie | page 24
Committee Contacts | page 26
Dash of Drama
Yanked from YouTube