Subjects

Drama

Drama is popular at both KS3 and 4, it is an important subject to teach to encourage creativity, communication skills, empathy and confidence. Students develop an understanding of the four areas of assessment for Drama: group work, making, performing and responding. Students are introduced to many different styles of performance as well as some of the leading theatre practitioners.

We are a lively and enthusiastic department, we offer lots of theatre trips both locally and travelling to London. Our students also have the opportunity to perform in the whole school production, various performance showcase evenings and as part of the drama club.

Drama KS3
Aims
  • To promote an interest and encourage active engagement in the many styles of Drama.
  • To develop an understanding of the four areas of assessment for Drama: group work, making, performing, responding
  • Be able to use dramatic techniques to explore ideas, issues and texts
  • Be able to sustain a role or roles using particular performance styles
  • Understand how to communicate with an audience using voice, gesture, movement, timing and space
  • Be able to work co-operatively with others
  • Be able to evaluate and analyse the structure, meaning and impact of plays they have studied, read, watched or in which they have taken part.

 

Content:
Year 7
Year 8
  • Group work – working well with a variety of people, offering suggestions and develop the ideas of others.
  • Group work – ability to work sensitively and cooperatively with anyone, taking a lead role in group work, taking lead role in whole group activities
  • Making – ability to plan and structure plays, showing knowledge of different drama techniques, devising drama from a range of different stimuli.
  • Making – devising drama in different styles, based on a range of subject, using rehearsal techniques to develop acting.
  • Performing – create and perform a range of characters, use a range of skills and techniques in performance, demonstrate some awareness of audience when performing.
  • Performing – performing with confidence, expression, technical accuracy and fluency, which is fully sustained, using a range of spaces, showing clear awareness of audience.
  • Responding – describe and evaluate students’ own work and that of others, use of key words when talking about drama seen.
  • Responding – describe, evaluate, explain and analyse own work and that of others, use technical terms when writing about own work and performances seen, including live theatre.

 

Key assessment details :

Students will be assessed regularly throughout KS3, at the end of each term they will have a summative assessment of their understanding of that scheme of work.

Drama KS4
Aims:
  • Apply knowledge and understanding of dram when making, performing and responding to drama
  • Explore performance texts, understanding of the social, cultural and historical context including the theatrical conventions of the period in which they were created
  • Develop a range of theatrical skills and apply them to create performances
  • Work collaboratively to generate, develop and communicate ideas
  • Develop as creative, effective, independent and reflective students able to make informed choices in process and performance
  • Contribute as an individual to a theatrical performance
  • Reflect on an devaluate their own work and that of others
  • Develop an awareness and understanding of the roles and processes undertaken in contemporary profession theatre practice

 

Content:
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
  • Devising Drama – devising techniques and skills, exploration of social, cultural and historical context, exploring different styles and practitioners of drama
  • Devising Drama – work collaboratively to create develop, perform and evaluate their own piece of devised drama
  • Devising Drama – research and explore a stimulus, work collaboratively and create their own devised drama, analyse work in a portfolio
  • Drama: Performance and Response – class study of a set text
  • Drama: Performance and Response – class study of Bloody Brothers, evaluation of live performance
  • Drama: Performance and response – revision of Blood Brothers, analyse and evaluate a live theatre performance
  • Presenting and Performing Texts – performance of a whole class play
  • Presenting and Performing Texts – study and present two extracts from Blood Brothers
  • Presenting and performing texts – develop and apply theatrical skills in acting by presenting a showcase of two extracts from a performance text

 

Key assessment details:

In years 9 and 1o students will be assessed regularly through assessed performances, marking of mock portfolios and mock written exams will happen at least twice in a year. There will be a least three formal assessment points throughout the year.

In year 11 students will perform their devised exam piece and complete their portfolio which is worth 30% of their final GCSE. A visiting examiner will assess the two extracts for Presenting and performing texts. In the summer term students will sit their written exam worth 40% of total GCSE.

Students will be offered several theatre trips throughout the GCSE in preparation for the evaluation of a live performance, one trip in year 11 is a compulsory trip for the written exam.