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Drama Curriculum Overview

The Drama Department provides every student with a safe and creative space in which they can develop their passion for performance and explore their practical skills. Lessons within the department allow students to flourish in the subject, become experts in their knowledge of theatre styles and techniques and explore in depth how to communicate meaning on stage with ambition and flair. 

As a department we ambitiously encourage students in KS3 to develop an extensive range of basic and necessary performance skills, including thought-tracking, physical theatre and split stage techniques, building a solid foundation on which students will grow in their acquisition of more complex skills.

We use verbal formative assessment in every single lesson, allowing students to make excellent progress. In year 9 we expect students to take their existing skills and explore them within larger projects, facilitating them as mini-theatre companies who create, rehearse, perform and respond to an array of projects. 

In KS4, students collaborate in their completion of three projects, which are both externally and internally assessed, starting with an original devised piece based on a stimulus and performed in a particular theatre style. Throughout their time on the course, students will perform to an audience on various occasions, boosting their passion and self-assurance in their ability to communicate in a public setting.

Students will also have the chance to watch live performances as part of theatre trips, as well as participate in workshops led by experienced practitioners. In the finalisation of all three projects, the second of which includes performing a scripted play to an examiner, students will have developed essential life skills, such as interpersonal skills, decision-making, problem-solving, creative thinking and critical thinking. These vital skills will allow our students to enter into their chosen career with confidence and resilience, making them easily adaptable to anything the working world throws at them.

Students who have enjoyed the subject and are passionate about further exploring their Drama skills and knowledge should enrol in the KS5 Drama & Theatre A-Level course, which is an in depth extension of the GCSE course and includes 3 performances and the study of 5 set texts. This course is an excellent platform for future degrees in a range of subjects, as well as apprenticeships etc. as it not only refines theatre making skills but also allows for the mastery of the life skills needed to access many different job roles.

 

 

Impact

  • Throughout their time on the course, students will perform to an audience on various occasions, boosting their passion and self-assurance in their ability to communicate in a public setting. Students will have developed essential life skills, such as interpersonal skills, decision-making, problem-solving, creative thinking and critical thinking. These vital skills will allow our students to enter into their chosen career with confidence and resilience, making them easily adaptable to anything the working world throws at them.

Implementation

  • As a department we ambitiously encourage students in KS3 to develop an extensive range of basic and necessary performance skills, including thought-tracking, physical theatre and split stage techniques, building a solid foundation on which students will grow in their acquisition of more complex skills.
  • We use verbal formative assessment in every single lesson, allowing students to make excellent progress. In Year 9 we expect students to take their existing skills and explore them within larger projects, facilitating them as mini-theatre companies who create, rehearse, perform and respond to an array of projects.

Academic Journey - KS3

Year 7

  
Half Term 1 Half Term 2
Drama Toolkit - Key Skills Melodrama & Pantomime
Half Term 3 Half Term 4
Duologues & working from scripts Realism & Stanislavski
Half Term 5 Half Term 6
Protest Radio Plays

Year 8

  
Half Term 1 Half Term 2
Characterisation Duologues
Half Term 3 Half Term 4
Brecht into Devising Slapstick Comedy
Half Term 5 Half Term 6
Commedia Performing Shakespeare

Year 9

  
Half Term 1 Half Term 2
Drama Toolkit - Key Skills  Practitioners: Brecht & Berkoff
Half Term 3 Half Term 4
Monologues Blood Brothers
Half Term 5 Half Term 6
Blood Brothers Verbatim

 

Academic Journey - KS4

Year 10

  
Half Term 1 - 6  
Component 3: study of a set text: Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman / Sabrina Mahfouz (theory / written exam work)                                                                                                                               Component 1: Devising  - Creating a performance from stimulus and coursework - 40% 

Year 11

  
Half Term 1 - 6  
Component 3: study of a set text: Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman / Sabrina Mahfouz, and live theatre evaluation (revision of theory / written exam work)                                                                                                                               Component 2: Performance of a script (marked by an external examiner - 20%)

 

Academic Journey - Sixth Form

Year 12

  
Half Term 1 - 6  
Component 3: study of a set text: Saved - Edward Bond (theory / written exam work) Component 1: Practitioner Exploration and Practical Adaptation (performance and coursework - 20%)

Year 13

  
Half Term 1 - 6  
Component 3: study of a set text: Machinal - Sophie Treadwell (theory / written exam work & revision) Component 2: Devising and Scripted Performances (performance and coursework - 40%)

 

Extra Curricular Activities

  • KS3 / KS4 - Weekly Drama Club, with performances throughout the year
  • KS5 - Drama leadership opportunities - including Primary School Workshops

Trips

We run regular theatre trips for all year groups to enrich students’ understanding and appreciation of live performance. In addition to these visits, we offer a range of external and visiting workshops led by industry professionals, covering key areas such as acting, directing, set and production.

Useful Links

Extended Reading List

KS3

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by William Shakespeare

 

‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Simon Stephens

 

‘Blood Brothers’ by Willy Russell

 

‘War Horse’ adapted by Nick Stafford

 

‘Refugee Boy’ by Benjamin Zephaniah

 

‘Puppetry: How to do it’ by Mervyn Millar

 

KS4

‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare

 

‘Lonely Londoners’ adapted by Roy Williams

 

‘DNA’ by Dennis Kelly

 

‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller

 

‘Antigone’ by Sophocles

 

‘The Empress’ by Tanika Gupta

 

‘A Doll’s House’ by Henrik Ibsen

 

‘The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre’ by Frantic Assembly

 

‘Brecht on Theatre’ by Bertolt Brecht

 

‘An Actor Prepares’ by Konstantin Stanislavski


 

KS5

‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams

 

‘The Glass Menagerie’ by Tennessee Williams

 

‘Hedda Gabler’ by Henrik Ibsen

 

‘Things I Know to be True’ by Andrew Bovell

 

‘Metamorphosis’ by Steven Berkoff

 

‘Shook’ by Samuel Bailey

 

‘Memory of Water’ by Shelagh Stephenson

 

‘Barber Shop Chronicles’ by Inua Ellams

 

‘The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre’ by Frantic Assembly

 

‘Brecht on Theatre’ by Bertolt Brecht

 

‘An Actor Prepares’ by Konstantin Stanislavski

 

‘The Moving Body’ by Jacques Lecoq

 

‘Towards a Poor Theatre’ by Jerzy Grotowski