Students learn big at arts festival

Mount Lawley Senior High school students are thrilled to head back to school for 2025 as they partner with Australia’s longest-running arts festival.

The exciting new creative pathways partnership between Mount Lawley Senior High School and Perth Festival is set to provide students with valuable industry learning opportunities. 

It also will create new avenues for students to prepare for rich careers in the local, national, and international arts sector. 

Students will have the chance to take part in internships and training while gaining behind-the-scenes access to, and forming connections with, artists and working professionals in Western Australia and beyond.  

Mount Lawley Senior High School is a leading arts school with a Specialist Visual and Performing Arts program. 

The unique three-year course is highly regarded, providing immersion and extension in the arts with a focus on industry connections.  

Program coordinator Moya Thomas said the collaboration with Perth Festival allowed students to build on what they learnt in the classroom. 

“We believe this new partnership will help those students find an inspiring career that works for them while also building the important practical skills they need to join the arts and culture economy,” she said. 

“We are so excited to build on our growing reputation as a leading arts school that creates industry-ready students.  

“Our students from Year 7 to Year 12 already have a deep connection to the arts here in Western Australia, and over time a number of them go on to study at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).” 

Perth Festival engagement manager Louisa Norman said she knows firsthand the positive impact the arts can have on young people’s lives. 

“We are deeply committed to finding ways to connect with aspiring arts students and young people in Western Australia,” she said. 

“What is most exciting about this new partnership is that the focus is vocational and will create very real learning opportunities and work experience for our most engaged young people.  

“I can’t wait to see the Year 7 students of today as future stage managers, actors, directors or lighting designers in a future Perth Festival show.” 

To find out more about the Perth Festival program, refer to its website¹.