Lithgow High School has earned a reputation for its excellence in art.
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Since 1997, 63 works produced by students as part of their Higher School Certificate studies have been selected as part of Artexpress, a showcase of the State's outstanding student works. It is an extraordinary record which saw the school honoured with the very first Sir William Dobell Award for Outstanding Visual Arts Faculty in NSW in 2008.
Very proud Creative And Performing Arts (CAPA) head teacher John Bawden, stepped down at the end of term three and will be very much missed in the school community.
Mr Bawden, who has taught at Lithgow for 26 years, says he has retired on a very positive note.
His retirement coincided with seeing his final Year 12 class through their major work deadlines and completing their studies for the year.
With a relatively small class, 10 students in all, Mr Bawden said he had been thrilled to have four of them preselected for consideration for Artexpress.
"After that, there's normally a one in three, one in four chance to be selected," he said.
"To have all four selected was pretty amazing.
"It was a very nice way to go out."
The works of Caleb Barnes, Jessie Kouch, Raquel Livingston and Lauren Trounce were selected.
Mr Bawden will be missed at the school, where he has been CAPA head teacher for the last 12 years. Each year he has taught the Year 11 and Year 12 art classes.
"The subject has always been pretty popular for the HSC," he said.
"I've been part of a good teaching team and we've had students who have been prepared to take advice. That combination means a lot of success."
Mr Bawden said the Lithgow High School art faculty emphasised the basics in art.
"My particular interest has been in painting, sculpting and drawing," he said.
"A lot of schools have been going into digital forms, and we have had a few students produce digital works, but we mainly focus on the bread-and-butter traditional forms, and teach them really well."
The pressure of meeting HSC deadlines would be the thing he wouldn't miss and the thing he missed "the most", Mr Bawden said.
"It's always frenetic, but there's a kind of energy. The kids spur each other on to meet the deadline," he said.
"Fifty per cent of the work usually happens in the last two months, which is pretty typical, I think."
He described his role as something like a ringmaster.
"All these projects are on the go, and you've got to encourage each student to get the best outcome they can."
Looking forward, Mr Bawden said he envisioned taking the opportunity in his retirement to carry out aid or missionary work.
"The thing I'm most conscious of is that God has really blessed my career. I'm very conscious of it," he said.
During his time at Lithgow High School, Mr Bawden also coordinated the school's scripture program.
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