Drama

Drama is taught in two specialist studios. The Drama department has three specialist teachers, two of whom have worked in industry prior to teaching, allowing ‘real’ industrial experience to influence the curriculum and the teaching strategies adopted to secure success in the area.

The subject allows students to develop important communication skills and to build their self-confidence.

Opportunities to perform either to peers or to an invited audience, occur regularly throughout the year.

Year 7

A newly constructed curriculum based on the expectations and criteria of the GCSE examining body. The curriculum is designed to support independent learning, creative thinking, and the use of teamwork to achieve targets and goals. Being based at such an early stage on the structure of the GCSE pathway we endeavour to allow students to develop fully their skills and techniques well in advance of examined work. Students are assessed half-termly in the form of a performance, and a written assessment as well as on going dairy logs.

Projects:

• Intro to drama
• Christmas project for Christmas concert
• Silent Movie
• Story telling
• Evacuees
• Midsummer Night’s Dream with on focus on the fairies in the forest

Year 8

Builds on the skills and techniques studied in YR7. The curriculum is designed to support independent learning, creative thinking, and the use of teamwork to achieve targets and goals, building on those developed in YR7. Students are assessed half-termly in the form of a performance, and a written assessment as well as on going dairy logs.

Projects are:

• Autumn 1 and 2 (Soul) Sweeney Todd and Antigone
• Spring 1 and 2 (Mind) Hillsborough Disaster and World War 1
• Summer 1 and 2 Laban, Stanislavski, Brecht, Introduction to Berkoff Total Theatre - Melodrama, Soap Opera

Year 8

Builds on the skills and techniques studied in YR8. Students are assessed half-termly in the form of a performance, and a written assessment as well as on going dairy logs.

Projects:

• Monologue  performance
• Duologue performance
• Mask project – Small group performance
• Preparation for GCSE

Year 10 & 11

Current examining board WJEC – Students have 3 hours per week, broken into 2 practical and 1 written. Students will need to prepare their first devised performance. They will study under teacher guidance for 10 hours; they then will work independently in a small group, developing a devised performance based on a stimulus set by the exam board.

In the written section, students will prepare their report on the devising process.  After 10 hours students receive teacher input, followed by a further 10 hours of independent development. Again following this; students will receive teacher input to accelerate the final 10 hours to performance, which is then assessed, marked and logged. Following the practical, students will write a written about the process.

Students are then required to prepare a second performance, again based on the stimulus set by the exam board, following the same procedure. They must create a well –structured, engaging piece of drama. 

Finally, they will engage with text- based performances, selecting from a choice of plays. Usually students opt to work as a pair, however the group size can be a maximum of 5.

Final performance are assessed by an external examine. There is also an externally assesed written exam.

Preparing text based performances in preparation for the external examiner to assess the performances. This takes place between March and May, dependent upon the date given to us as a centre.