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Drama

Purpose of Curriculum (Curriculum Intent)

Drama is an important component in educating a well rounded child, giving essential opportunities for growth and challenge beyond the mere subject content. All children have the right to express themselves and a need for play - Drama maximises these natural factors in a safe, encouraging environment. The future of the children we are educating now is uncertain and challenging. The greatest skill we can give them is to be able to harness their own creativity and communicate this with others. Drama is pivotal in this whilst also helping pupils to improve peer relationships and confidence in the new setting of high school. All of this is in addition to giving them the tools they need to continue to enjoy, through participation or appreciation, their rich Dramatic heritage throughout the rest of their lives.

In Drama we aim to prepare students for their GCSE exams whilst encouraging students to explore and enjoy different genres and styles of drama, both as audience and as performer and to develop a strong awareness and evaluative view of the subject. Our students will devise drama and explore texts practically. We aim to give students the skills and knowledge to progress to KS5 and also to develop clear transferable skills: Collaboration with others, analytical and evaluative skills, independent thought and the confidence to pursue their own ideas and reflect and refine their efforts.

Big Ideas / Key Concepts

  • Year 7 Intent / End Point: Students will have a strong foundation of key acting skills and a working knowledge of core Drama terminology: still image, facial expression, body language, mime, gesture, improvisation, physical theatre, vocal projection, pitch and tone. They will be confident performing in front of their peers, and will be able to give constructive feedback to others.

  • Year 8 Intent / End Point: Students will build upon their foundation of core acting skills, and will be able to use this knowledge to devise effective performances that engage an audience. Students will be confident and creative performers who are able to try new ideas, and build upon constructive feedback from both their teachers and peers.

  • Year 11 Intent / End Point: Students will be confident and creative performers, with the resilience to be reflective of their work, and make adjustments or improvements as required. Students will be able to communicate clearly and effectively with others, negotiating when necessary. Students will be able to think critically about performance work, and independently analyse and evaluate it using subject terminology.

KS5 Opportunities & Careers

  • KS5 Opportunities: The course develops a number of transferable skills and is ideal for any student: who wishes to develop their interest, skills and enjoyment of drama through active participation in creating, performing and responding to theatrical productions who would like to use or develop their collaborative working skills who would like to develop their communication skills and confidence who wishes to study Drama and Theatre Studies at A-level.

  • Careers and skills for life: The skills that you gain from this subject can help you in any career that requires teamwork, communication, listening skills, creative thinking, problem solving and cooperation. Fosters a spirit of cooperation and builds teamwork. Drama focuses on the social skills needed in life and further employment such as:

    • Teaches communication skills.

    • Sharpens visualisation and creative skills.

    • Hones your critical thinking skills.

    • Develops public speaking skills.

    • Boosts self-confidence.

    • Deepens your well of empathy.

  • Destinations: Students who have previously studied GCSE Drama have gone on to study law, medicine and engineering.

Year 7&8

Half Term 1: Intro to drama

  • Content:

    • Knowledge taught: Neutral Position / Still image / Facial Expression / Mime / Spontaneous & Polished improvisation / Blocking.

    • No. Lessons: 4 Lessons.

    • Rationale: Each lesson students will be devising/creating short scenes using the key acting skills: facial expression, mime and improvisation. A polished improvisation will be created, utilising the key Drama skills listed above.

  • Assessment: (Not specified in original text)

Half Term 2: Roald Dahl

  • Content:

    • Knowledge taught: Stock character / The Origins of Theatre / Stereotypes / Characterisation Episodes / Multi-rolling / Cliffhanger.

    • No. Lessons: 4 Lessons.

    • Rationale: Students will devise work each lesson using stock characters and their characteristics. Students will develop key acting skills in addition to flashback and flash-forward, split scene using the fourth wall. A devised performance will be created.

  • Assessment: (Not specified in original text)

Half Term 3: Murder Mystery

  • Content:

    • Knowledge taught: Role Play / Characterisation / Sustaining character / Negotiating / Problem Solving / Empathy.

    • No. Lessons: 3 Lessons.

    • Rationale: Each lesson students will be working in role, sustaining their character throughout, using pitch, pace, tone and volume to make their character's intentions clear. A polished improvisation, utilising the key Drama skills listed above will be created.

  • Assessment: (Not specified in original text)

Half Term 4: Explorative strategies

  • Content:

    • Knowledge taught: Tableaux / Role play / Characterisation / Hot seating / Mime / Stimulus / Monologue The Identification by Roger McGough.

    • No. Lessons: 4 Lessons.

    • Rationale: Students will use poetry as a stimulus to explore the theme.

  • Assessment: (Not specified in original text)

Half Term 5: Devising

  • Content:

    • Knowledge taught: The conventions of Physical Theatre / The Origins of Theatre (Story Telling) / Power / Levels / Proxemics.

    • No. Lessons: 4 Lessons.

    • Rationale: Each lesson students will be devising/ creating scenes from well-known fables using the taught physical theatre techniques: mime, gesture, stance and status. A performance of a fable of choice using Physical Theatre techniques will be created.

  • Assessment: (Not specified in original text)

Half Term 6: Tableau / Cross cutting

  • Content:

    • Knowledge taught: Role Play / Characterisation / Sustaining character / Negotiating / Problem Solving / Empathy.

    • No. Lessons: 4 Lessons.

    • Rationale: Each lesson students will be devising/ blocking short scenes from Roald Dahl using script extracts and stimulus to devise a piece of Drama that warns about the effects of social issues. Students will use thought tracking, flashback, mime, monologue and duologue to explore the theme.

  • Assessment: This unit is assessed practically.

 

Year 11

Subject Knowledge (Devising & Component Work)

  • Content:

     

     

    • Devised Performance: Students create and develop ideas to communicate meaning in a devised theatrical performance. They draw on and demonstrate a practical understanding of the subject through the carrying out of research, the development of their own ideas, collaboration with others, rehearsal and refinement of the work in progress. Students will analyse and evaluate their own process of creating devised drama.

    • Text-Based Drama: Students will learn how to contribute to text-based drama in a live theatre context for an audience. They must draw on and demonstrate a practical understanding of the subject and must develop their ability to interpret texts and create and communicate meaning. They must also realise artistic intention in text-based drama to explore and refine the characteristics of the performance text with regard to: character, style, language, sub-text, character motivation and interaction, the creation of mood and atmosphere, the development of pace and rhythm, dramatic climax, stage directions, and the practical demands of the text.

    • Practical Skills: Practically, they will learn how to commit dialogue to memory for 2 extended performances, a group piece and an extended direct address monologue; they will develop the ability to interpret and sustain a character as appropriate to the demands of the performance, refine a range of vocal and physical skills and techniques and develop an appropriate performer/audience relationship.

    • Theory and Context: Embedding of understanding of the following: Characteristics of performance text and key terminology. Social, cultural and historical contexts in which the performance text studied is set, including the theatrical conventions of the period in which the performance text was created. How meaning is interpreted and communicated. A general awareness of stage configurations and the key roles and responsibilities of theatre makers in contemporary professional practice. Students will also explore and refine the social, cultural and historical contexts and how meaning is interpreted and communicated.

    • Live Theatre Evaluation: Students will learn how to analyse and evaluate the work of live theatre makers including how the play has been interpreted in the production seen and the skills demonstrated by the performers and how successfully meaning was communicated to the audience by the performers. A final outside evening theatre visit will be arranged to further refine knowledge and understanding of professional theatre and of contemporary theatre. Students will refine their ability to analyse and evaluate the work of live theatre makers including how the play has been interpreted in the production seen and the skills demonstrated by the performers and how successfully meaning was communicated to the audience by the performers.

Structure & Allocation

  • Devising Unit: 15 lessons.

  • Scripted / Text Unit: 15 lessons.

  • Live Theatre Evaluation / Exam Unit: 15 lessons.

Assessment

 

  • Devised Assessment: Practical performance of a piece between 4 and 20 minutes length in groups of no less than 2 and no more than 6. 3 section written log of no more than 2,500 words. Performance Assessment - December; Completed portfolio deadline: March.

  • Scripted Assessment: Students must perform two extracts from one play which contrasts to the set play studied in Component 1. The group piece must be between 4 and 20 minutes length in groups of no less than 2 and no more than 6. The monologue must be 120 seconds in duration. Both pieces must be accompanied by written artistic intentions.

  • Written Assessment: EOY written exam

 

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