Drama
The Drama department aims to create resilient and independent learners through delivery of a challenging and diverse curriculum underpinned by a spirit of healthy competition and ambition. Pupils explore an engaging curriculum covering a range of skills, techniques, genres and styles. Under the guidance of our experienced practitioner’s, pupils develop their performance skills and knowledge of theatre design elements, alongside creative thinking, self-awareness, confidence and team working abilities. We provide a positive climate for learning, in which pupils feel secure, learn how to function in a range of small groups, build confidence and celebrate achievement. Many of our students arrive having had little or no previous experience of educational drama, therefore our delivery of the curriculum takes this into account scaffolding the knowledge base and incrementally raising the level of challenge over time to create confident learners.
Every student is given the opportunity to:
- Develop subject specific vocabulary
- Extend social and communication skills necessary for adult life
- Build confidence.
- Work in a variety of small groups to develop teamwork.
- Devise their own performances.
- Study different genres.
- Explore conventions of theatre from other cultures and time periods.
Public performances take place throughout the school year. At Christmas, exam students perform extracts of their performance work in our Candlelight Soiree and practical performance exams take place in Spring and Summer terms. Our main production takes place in February and is open to the whole school.
The School is well equipped with a state of the art drama studio. Specialist lighting and equipment are available in the teaching area and extend students’ experience of drama as an art form.
Key Stage 4
Students can opt for Drama GCSE in Year 10. We follow the AQA exam syllabus.
The course is divided into 3 components.
Component 1: Understanding Drama - 40% of the qualification (80marks)
Assessment will consist of a 1hr 45min written examination
Section A: Theatre roles and terminology – four multiple choice questions about performance spaces and people involved in designing theatre. (4 marks)
Section B: Study of a set text – four questions based on an unseen extract from the chosen performance text. (44 marks)
Section C: Live Theatre Evaluation – one question requiring students to analyse and evaluate a live theatre performance they have seen. (32 marks)
Component 2: Devising Drama - (40% of the qualification – 80 marks)
Create and develop a devised performance from a stimulus (20 marks)
Devising log analysing and evaluating the devising process and success in meeting artistic aims and intentions. (60 marks)
Component 3: Texts in Practice (20% of the qualification – 20 marks)
Students will perform two key extracts from a performance text. This component is externally assessed by a visiting examiner.