In an effort to highlight their efforts over the past 18 months, the students filmed their mid-year showcase.

ACA manager Cynthia Holsworth said while many would have preferred to have an audience in the theatre, filming the showcase would at least give them a keepsake. The showcase was uploaded to YouTube and has attracted more than 3000 views.

Read more:

"We were crossing everything to be able to perform at Ulumbarra," Ms Holsworth said. "Some students were so disappointed they couldn't have an audience but they pulled through and did well.

"There were about 80 students involved with about 70 performing and 10 students also completing a virtual exhibition.

"In the end, they are proud of what they got to do and get it to keep for life."

Ms Holsworth said the filming was made possible thanks to Andrew Liu of Pride Productions.

"One of our dance coaches from Melbourne is friends with Andrew and he came up last year to film our end of year showcase," Ms HOlsworth said. "We loved his work and decided to see if he could come and film again."

BSE's Academy of Creative Arts program sees students study music, drama, dance and other arts-related activities to encourage student's passion for performance.

"Arts is important to education. It keeps kids engaged. Without this program a lot of kids might be non-attendees at school," Ms Holsworth said. "They still have go to school and do well at academics (to take part in the ACA), so it keeps a focus on that as well as their passion."

Read more arts news:

Ms Holsworth said trying to teach arts-related subjects through remote learning was challenging.

"It's really tough because you can't collaborate," she said. "My coaches did their best to keep online stuff going during long lockdowns.

"The drama students had big open discussions about script writing, dance coaches ran a lot of core strength and did their best to teach moves and specific turns. A couple of times we also got people in -like the Sydney Dance Company - in to work with them.

"In some ways (remote learning) is less inhibiting because you're not in front of all your peers (but) the biggest struggle is trying to keep positive."

Students are now looking toward December, when their end-of-year showcase is scheduled for.

"We are only a few days into this lockdown but at least it is at this end of the semester and not near the showcase," Ms Holsworth said. "We are proud that even with the (COVID) hiccups, students are still striving and really being challenged."

To view the ACA students' online art exhibition click here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: