Drama
Drama builds confidence, creativity and empathy. It places students in situations where they have to problem solve and think about information from different points of view.
Students learn about theatre history, theatre development and theatre in context. Drama is more than being famous it is about an expressive art form that empowers individuals to be creative
KS3 Drama
Our Curriculum
Students receive two Drama lessons per fortnight.
Course Description
The Drama curriculum encourages creativity, communication, self-confidence and self-discipline. Students explore a range of issue and story based stimuli through practical sessions that enable all to respond, develop, perform and evaluate. Students will complete work in a variety of groupings and will therefore, not only develop their practical skills but also their confidence as performers and their cooperative group skills.
Drama naturally encourages students to develop their interpersonal skills as well as both their non-verbal and verbal communication skills in order to demonstrate meaningful characters and situations on stage.
As well as preparing students for the GCSE syllabus, Key Stage 3 Drama provides students with a range of transferable skills that can be applied across the curriculum; focusing on team work, creative thinking and communication.
Homework/Extended Learning
Students should expect to receive a variety of homework related to each unit of work. These are available on Show My Homework and may include regular keyword and spelling/definition tests, revision or practice activities for unit assessments/performances and/or research-based project tasks.
KS4 Drama
Our Curriculum
Students follow the Edexcel GCSE Drama syllabus.
Course Content
This qualification focuses on the practical exploration of performance texts that will be studied for the examination. Students will learn how to articulate how they would perform in certain roles and direct and design for key extracts, putting practical work at the heart of this course
Skills and Progression Routes
On completion of the course, students will have developed a number of skills including:
- Performing and directing
- Giving and receiving constructive critics
- Characterisation – experimenting with using their voice, body, gestures, movement and space
- Devising work according to a particular theatre genre
- Evaluating and analyzing drama through written work
- Recognising the dramatic potential of a text
The GCSE develops the student’s historical, theoretical and practical knowledge and experiences and these provide the required prior knowledge for Level 2 and 3 Performing Arts courses.
Career opportunities
- Teaching
- Acting
- Directing
- Script writing
- Stage Management
- Make-up artistry
- Costume design
Additional Information
Attendance on at least one theatre trip throughout the year is compulsory. Attendance at additional organised workshops either in school or out of school is compulsory also.
A Level Drama & Theatre Studies
The A / AS level in Drama & Theatre Studies enables a student to further develop their experiences of the theatrical world; exploring the work of different practitioners and looking at the concept of the theatre from a variety of different viewpoints. The course requires the students to explore practical and theoretical elements of the theatrical world and, as well as developing their theoretical knowledge, it seeks to develop their ability to synthesize, evaluate and analyse the work of a variety of performers, practitioners and writers.
AS Level
Component 1 – Exploration and Performance: In this unit, students will create two practical performances that includes a group performance of one key extract from a play as well as a performance of a monologue or duologue from a different text. This work is supported by a written or verbal portfolio.
Component 2 – Theatre Makers in Practice: This is the written examination and consists of three sections. Section A requires the students to complete a live theatre evaluation and sections B requires the students to discuss the set text from the perspective of the director, director and designer.
A Level
Component 1 – Devising: In this unit, students will work in groups to create a group devised performance in response to a given stimulus and will create a supporting porting portfolio
Component 2 – Text in Performance: In this unit, students will create two practical performances that includes a group performance of one key extract from a play as well as a performance of a monologue or duologue from a different text
Component 3 – Theatre Makers in Practice: This is the written examination and consists of three sections. Section A requires the students to complete a live theatre evaluation and sections B and C require the students to discuss two different texts as the director, designer and performer
Assessment
AS Level:
Component 1: Exploration and Performance (60%)
Component 2: Written Examination (40%)
A Level:
Component 1: Devising (40%)
Component 2: Text in Performance (20%)
Component 3: Written Examination (40%)
Progression Routes
Students with an A level in Drama & Theatre Studies can progress on to Higher/Further Education or Apprenticeship and can look to progress into the following employment sectors:
• Arts, Media and Publishing
• Languages, Literature and Culture
• Education and Training
• Health, Public Services and Well Being
• Retail and Commercial Enterprises
• Leisure, Travel and Tourism
• Social Sciences
Additional Information
During the course of the A Level, students are encouraged to attend as much live theatre as is possible a this will help to inform every element of the practical examination as well as feed into the Live Theatre Evaluation element of the written examination.
