Year 8 Visual Arts – Term 1 (WA Curriculum): Developing Artistic Practice Through Making and Reflection

What this unit covers

In Term 1, Year 8 Visual Arts in the WA Curriculum centres on the unit “Developing Artistic Practice Through Making and Reflection”.

Students develop their art-making skills through hands-on creation while learning to reflect on their practice and consider audience interpretation and presentation methods.

Lesson sequence (10 lessons)

The unit breaks down into the following lesson-by-lesson sequence — each title below is a teachable lesson, in order:

1. Setting Up Your Art Practice: Studio Skills and Safety
2. Exploring Different Drawing Materials and Techniques
3. Experimenting with Colour Mixing and Paint Application
4. Creating Your First Artwork: Planning and Process
5. Reflecting on Your Creative Process Through Artist Journals
6. Understanding Your Audience: Who Views Your Art?
7. Improving Your Artwork Through Self-Assessment
8. Peer Feedback: Learning from Others' Perspectives
9. Professional Presentation: Framing and Mounting Techniques
10. Showcasing Your Growth: Final Reflection and Display

Curriculum codes in this unit

Content codes:

Reading the codes: WA codes (the ones starting with WA) pack the year level, learning area, strand and content number into one string, while the national Australian Curriculum v9 uses a different anatomy that starts with AC9 — same content family, different labels. Our complete WA Curriculum guide decodes both, character by character.

Planning notes for Term 1

WA terms run roughly 9–11 weeks, and in 2026 Term 1 runs from Monday 2 February to Thursday 2 April — 9 weeks for WA public schools. With 10 lessons in this unit, that leaves breathing room for assessment, moderation and the weeks that disappear to carnivals, camps and public holidays — plan the assessable work to land two to three weeks before the end of term rather than in the final week.