Crestar to offer more art courses for DSA following success of first programme

Crestar Learning Centre’s first Holiday Programme for students keen to build their art portfolio for  Direct School Admission (DSA) to Secondary One has been a great success. The five-day introductory bootcamp was organised by the Crestar centre in Woodlands from 28 November to 2 December 2022.

Following encouraging feedback from parents, Crestar has started regular classes for students who have the passion for art and are pursuing Secondary School admission via DSA. Classes are designed as small focused groups of no more than six students.

With DSA, Primary 6 students can seek admission to their preferred secondary schools based on their talent in specific academic areas.

The introductory five-day course guides students in both the technical and creative aspects of art.  It helps them to gain exposure to both dry and wet mediums to create observational and imaginary art, which are the two criteria stipulated in the DSA guidelines.

The first two days on dry medium focuses on teaching  students to observe details and achieve realism on a chosen subject matter. Students will be guided on the remaining three days to evoke their imagination to create an original work on wet medium from sketches and ideas.

Conducting the course is Justin Foo, a graduate from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) with a major in Fine Arts, Western Painting. He has vast experience in teaching art to young children, special needs children, youths, adults and seniors.

Parents’ impressions of the bootcamp have been very positive. The parent of Yuan Yi, aged 9, said: “Teacher Justin has highlighted that my son’s strength lies in learning art through observation. And that is really useful for me to decide if art is for him.”

Another parent of Peng Wen, aged 7, said the bootcamp had convinced her that with the right guidance, her son could “reach his fullest potential in doing what he loves and also discover the artist in him.”

Here are some testimonials we received from parents.

Cheery, aged 9
Kitty Art (Observational / Imaginary)

“Prior to doing this boot camp, my daughter is always lacking confidence in drawing and painting. As her mum, I know she takes pride in doing art but she always feels that she isn’t good enough.

Thanks to teacher Justin, he was able to assure my daughter and myself that she has potential to be groomed for DSA. From her astronaut cat, I now know that she has creativity/ imagination which can complement her natural flair in drawing.”

Kayra, aged 11
Kitty Art (Imaginary)

“Kayra is currently doing her private DSA lessons with teacher Justin after successfully finishing her assessment. I sent her to this boot camp to gain even more exposure as she is applying for DSA this year.

With help from her teachers, I can now understand better and find out more on what my daughter can do based on her abilities.”

Jayden, aged 9
Kitty Art (Imaginary/ Creative Composition)

“From what I see on Jayden’s drawings, I can tell he’s able to do art. The teacher also commented that he has natural flair and good drawing skills for his age. Jayden mentioned that he likes art, enjoys the class and wants to continue the lessons.”