House Swap
Sydney Opera House Artist in Schools Exchange Program
House Swap is a program for primary and secondary learners that brings artists from the Sydney Opera House to your school, and your school to the Sydney Opera House for a transformative, creative exchange!
It’s a way for us to support a close connection between your school community and the Sydney Opera House, so everyone can share in the benefits of getting creative.
This immersive program uses ‘place’ and ‘identity’ as catalysts for creativity, with the best of the Sydney Opera House’s creative capabilities matched with what is meaningful to your students and their communities.
Developed in a co-design framework, students, teachers and artists work together across the Sydney Opera House and the school classroom to develop a collaborative creative project. On the way they will be inspired by Sydney Opera House performances, tours and workshops, to present a unique outcome at the Sydney Opera House or in your school.
The program includes:
- A visit to the Sydney Opera House on Tubogowle. View one of our world class performances and be taken on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour, providing inspiration for your student’s own creative journey.
- A series of creative sessions in your school built around an agreed process and outcome. Developed and led by our House Swap artists, these sessions are grounded in the values of play, storytelling, place, space, embodied and multidisciplinary approaches to learning.
- A unique creative outcome, developed collaboratively with the artists, teachers and students. This outcome is shared with your school community, taking place either at the Sydney Opera House or within your school.
- Optional teacher professional learning for your school to build capacity to use creativity in the classroom to support student engagement and learning.
- The House Swap program requires commitment to a minimum amount of artist-led sessions. These sessions can be scheduled to suit your school timetable as regular weekly occurrences, or in a condensed block. Sessions occur within your school or in the Sydney Opera House Centre for Creativity, or, you can swap between both!
To find out more about House Swap for your school, please contact us via email:
- Jenn Blake, Creative Learning Producer
Berlinda Cook, Principal Campsie Public SchoolI think every school should do this program!
Useful information:
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House Swap Case Studies
Kogarah High School: Classroom Installation
Year 8 students from Kogarah High School joined multidisciplinary artist Stephanie Palade in a deep dive into the world of performance and installation art. Over a 2 week block of consecutive in-school workshops, students developed spontaneous and creative responses to the school environment, combining personal interests and popular culture to develop an interactive classroom installation. The classroom “takeover” invited engagement from student’s families, friends and teachers – exploring the relationship between artist and audience. The program kicked-off with a visit to the Sydney Opera House to see a performance of A Bucket of Beetles by Indonesia’s Paper Moon Puppet Theatre, as well as experiencing a full Opera House tour to deepen their understanding of the building and site.
Amity College: Co-devised Performance
Year 7/8 students from Amity College Girls High School in Prestons Western Sydney collaborated with poet and performer Mel Ree over two terms, to devise a performance work that drew on the student’s personal stories, experiences and creative talents. Weekly in-school workshops included writing, music, dance and performance, with students encouraged to take on leadership roles in directing, choreography and stagecraft. The class also attended the Sydney Opera House performance of A Bucket of Beetles by Indonesia’s Paper Moon Puppet Theatre which inspired further exploration of shadow theatre. A highlight of the program was a shared lunch with students and their families where guests were invited to share a story about a special family recipe, celebrating our cultural differences and connecting through familiar experiences. The final work was performed to families, friends and the school faculty in the Sydney Opera House Utzon Room.
Frequently asked questions
Send an email to Jenn Blake, Creative Learning Producer, and they will contact you to arrange a meeting to talk about the program and how it works in more detail.
The fee covers delivery costs of the program to the school, including freelance artist fees, project materials, tickets to performances, back-stage tours and the final outcome presentation costs. The school will need to cover any travel costs to and from the Sydney Opera House.
Between 2018-2020 the Australia Council for the Arts has undertaken a major research project into our program Creative Leadership in Learning (CLIL), which the House Swap program has evolved from. This research demonstrates that schools find real value in the relationship and that CLIL has positive impacts on students, teachers, schools and their broader community.
Be inspired by previous Artist in Schools projects with Sydney Opera House
Lansvale Public School: Planet Home
What does home mean to you? In lieu of singing, students from Lansvale Public School came together and signed in Auslan the words to their original song, Planet Home.
Casula High School: Concealer
Concealer is a deep dive into the impacts of beauty on Australian young people today. Artist, Film maker and theatre maker Curly Fernandez worked with Year 9 drama students from Casula High as they responded to Rethinking Beauty, a talk from the All About Women festival in March 2020.
Kensington Public School: Flying Foxes
Musician and bandleader of the Vegetable Plot Luke Escombe worked with drama teacher Emma Fredman from Kensington Public school to write, record and put together this gorgeous video of three classes of students across 2021.
Lansvale Public school: The Hatch, The Children and The Paper Girl
Theatre Artist Alice Osborne and Composer and Film maker James Brown collaborated with Class 4/5L and classroom teacher Ana Langi from Lansvale Public school to create this spectacular film about friendship, adventure and the imagination.
Katoomba North Public School: The Mystery of the Mythical Creatures
Sophie Kelly, Performer, Theatre Director and Film Director, collaborated with Katoomba North Stage 2 Grevillias to create one of the highlights of 2020.
Lansvale Public School: Creative Ties
See how Creative Leadership in Learning benefits not only students, but also the wider school community.
Campsie Public School: Spooky Airport
Watch Year 3 kids from Campsie Public School take part in the immersive puppetry installation they co-created with artist Kay Yasugi as part of the three-year Creative Leadership in Learning program.
Liverpool Boys High reimagines the school curriculum with Sydney Opera House
What happens when the roles are reversed, and children are put in charge of their own education? The Sydney Opera House took over Liverpool Boys High in a radical three week program where regular lessons were replaced with workshops, mentoring and performances.
School kids write migrant family stories into song
Students from Lansvale Public tell history and humour with musician Luke Escombe
Liverpool Boys High rewrites the school curriculum with creativity
Principal Mike Saxon and his students are changing the way we learn.
Magicast: A Podcast Burwood Public School
This is what happens when you merge a magic show and podcast. Voice over artist and performer Kate Murphy worked with Teacher Trevor O’Neil and his year 5/6 class from Burwood Public School to create MagicCast! Kate and class responded to the theatre show The Great Illusionist, exploring magic, maths, performance, writing and so much more! Have a listen to this lovely and at times profound rumination on all things magic.
