Trinity Head of Visual Arts recognised by PTC NSW
Trinity’s own Head of Visual Arts, Nicole DeLosa, has been announced as a recipient of the PTC NSW Outstanding Professional Service Award.
Each year, on World Teachers’ Day (27 October), the Professional Teachers’ Council New South Wales releases the names of those who will receive this award at a ceremony early in the following year. Due to receive her award in February 2024, Ms DeLosa has been named as a recognition of her significant volunteer contributions to the Visual Arts and Design Educators Association NSW (VADEA NSW).
A member of VADEA since it was formed around 12 years ago, Ms DeLosa has spent the best part of the last six years in executive roles, with four years in two co-president roles – Professional Learning and Advocacy and Communication.
“Trinity really values commitment to these associations – it’s actually considered as part of the recruitment process. I think that’s excellent,” she says. “Executive positions are voted on by the Association too, so it’s really an acknowledgement by your peers that you offer significant contributions.
“While VADEA is not the biggest association, it is Australia’s biggest art education association so it’s quite significant.”
For Ms DeLosa, she’s particularly proud of her time shaping the professional learning of the association, initiating and delivering a variety of professional development, a task that had an added challenge once COVID-19 became a factor.
“We flipped everything to online delivery, it was a significant part of my tenure,” she reflects. “Not only were teachers needing to switch their practice to online delivery, we needed to show them how to do that, and do it via an online platform.
“There are a lot of things that we have continued to use in the association since that time, including running our meetings online – it means that we’ve grown more of a regional voice, which is really fantastic.”
The pandemic wasn’t just a feature of her involvement at VADEA, it also defined the beginning of her time at Trinity as she embraced teaching remotely for her first five weeks in her role in Term 4 of 2021. Even with these challenges, Ms DeLosa says that Trinity was an obvious choice for the next step in her career.
“I really appreciated a lot of the innovation in curriculum development around personal growth and the engagement focus at the School, through the leadership of Deborah Williams (Deputy Headmaster – Academic). I already felt a connection to those directions prior to coming to Trinity – I knew they were here.”
She notes that her role as Head of Department is a holistic one, but across everything she’s able to be a part of, there’s one thing that stands out above the rest.
“I absolutely love that we are providing Trinity boys with the opportunity to have their work exhibited in the Delmar Gallery,” she says. “It’s integral that students have an understanding of what it’s like to exhibit their work. That unique experience of exhibiting at the Delmar Gallery is something I’m really passionate about and I’m committed to building on it and ensuring that experience for future students.”
While the exhibiting process can be a lot of work, she believes that it’s well worth it.
“It’s not just showcasing the quality of the classroom art practice, but also provides students with an opportunity to share their voice. It’s incredibly important to me that the students get to say what they want to say.”
Moving into 2024, Ms DeLosa says that there is a lot of work happening within the Visual Arts faculty, with enhancements in art writing and contemporary and skills-based innovations leading the way in the teaching programs.
“We’re reimagining our classroom spaces for 2024, and a lot of the initial planning is really engaging. I’m excited to see the changes that next year will bring.”
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