These are possible responses, not a single correct art answer or a QCAA marking guide. A child may use speech, sign, AAC, exact direction or physical art. Record choice and actual maker/handler separately. A supplied ten-mark set keeps independent counting outside this Visual Arts check. Neither check is a term grade or proof of full Prep achievement.
Check S · fictional paper orchard
Possible first response: “Idea 1 puts the ten supplied round marks low across a wide page like stepping stones. Idea 2 puts them close together upward like an imaginary tower. I choose Idea 2 because I want the whole to look tall.” The child need not use orchard imagery. Another valid pair might keep the same placement but enlarge one of the ten mark ideas to make a chosen part the intended focus. A reason such as “I like mine” is genuine preference but not yet a visible difference or explained whole picture; ask a next question after collecting first response.
Look for: same supplied source rather than invented real fruit; two recognisably different placement/scale/orientation plans; named whole image; child-chosen option and visible reason; actual maker or plan-only status. Number errors are followed up in the separate mathematics lesson, not used as this art score. If the adult physically placed every mark at the child's precise direction, record child composition authorship and adult handling.
Next move: If both options are indistinguishable, after capture use an unrelated three-rectangle teacher picture and model moving one rectangle from side to top, then ask for a new child proposal. If child cannot describe the whole, ask what shape the edge now makes, using exact visual/tactile descriptions. If choices are distinct and reasoned, invite a new material/page orientation or an actual willing viewer later and record the response only if it happens.
Check T · fictional puppet workshop
Possible response: “A offered the wide V. B offered two round buttons. Idea 1 puts the buttons inside the V. Idea 2 puts one on each side. I choose Idea 1 because the three marks make an imaginary bird-shaped puppet front. Before real co-making I would ask where B wants the buttons and wait for an answer.” Another whole picture or placement is equally valid if both makers' offerings remain recognisable. No real Maker A/B has agreed or created work; the source is a story.
Look for: accurate attribution (A wide V; B two circles); two different placements preserving both; a chosen whole and visual reason; truthful fictional/source and actual maker status. The permission sentence is recorded separately from art decision. “They shared” is not an observed real collaboration. A neat copying of the source with no chosen placement/reason is weak evidence of authorship.
Next move: If mark origins are mixed, reread the source and use unrelated adult-made marks to practise who offered what. If two layouts are identical, after capture compare above/below with different shapes. If the child proposes an art reason and a real willing collaborator is later available, ask both makers for actual agreement and record each contribution without forcing participation or attributing one child's work to the other.
Private observation form
Check/date and FICTIONAL source confirmed: _____________________
Child's exact two options, choice and art reason: _______________
Access route / neutral prompt / scribe read-back: ______________
Actual maker and placer or PLAN ONLY: __________________________
Real permission/collaboration actually observed? yes/no ________
Actual willing viewer/response or NOT OBSERVED: ________________
What remains unobserved: ______________________________________
Next teaching move in art; separate maths/HPE follow-up: _______
Completed child records remain in school custody and never enter the public repository. Do not label a fictional co-making script as actual HPE conduct, or a planned picture as a real audience share.