Learning Drama provides valuable skills to all students, from effective teamwork to building confidence in public speaking. Students learn and develop a wide variety of skills and techniques that are transferrable both in and out of the Drama classroom, including the importance of vocal and physical skills to communicate to an audience as well as how to make key pieces of information stand out.
Drama at Key Stage 3 is taught once per week and makes up 1/3 of the Creative Arts Department.
Autumn Term
Students start the autumn term exploring the topic of Storytelling. They will learn and develop core techniques such as narration and still image as well as what it means to perform for an audience whilst using their vocal skills.
In the second half of the autumn term, students will continue to develop their storytelling techniques with an original story entitled The Holiday that Went Wrong. Students will continue to develop their still image and vocal skills and will begin to explore thought-tracking and physicality to show a clear character.
Spring Term
Students will move on to reading the play Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations whilst considering how they could apply previously taught skills and techniques. They will explore how power can be shown on stage with the introduction of levels.
The spring term is completed with students exploring what theatre was like in Greek and Medieval times. They have the opportunity to perform using choral speaking and movement techniques whilst looking at the story of Pandora’s Box. This topic links with the History topic focussed on Medieval times.
Summer Term
Linking with the English department, students explore one of the many plays written by William Shakespeare with a focus on monologues and soliloquys. They will establish ways in which to show a clear character whilst learning lines and performing individually.
The academic year ends with students learning Mime, the art of performing without the use of spoken words, considering how the body can replace spoken language.
Year 7 Assessment
All assessments in Key Stage 3 are 3-fold. Students are initially assessed every week on their group work skills, including how they communicate and listen to ideas as well as how dedicated they are to creating an outstanding performance. Students will then perform at the end of each topic as their opportunity to demonstrate skills and techniques learnt in that half term. Throughout the year, students will also complete a peer or self-analysis reflecting on their own work and the work of others. The breakdown of half termly assessments is as follows:
Autumn 1 – Storytelling
Autumn 2 – The Holiday that Went Wrong
Spring 1 – Ernie’s Incredible Illucination
Spring 2 – Greek & Medieval Theatre
Summer 1 – Romeo & Juliet (this makes up the end of year assessment grade)
Summer 2 – Mime
Autumn Term
Students start Year 8 Drama by re-visiting characterisation and exploring the differences between Tudor theatre and modern theatre. Students will look at a variety of different extracts from the time period, linking with their work in History surrounding Tudor England.
The Autumn term continues with students exploring the build-up of tension. Students will be taken on a journey through Darkwood Manor – a haunted house with a disturbing past, present and future. Students will build on their understanding of core techniques as well as being introduced to how the stage space can be used through proxemics.
Spring Term
Throughout the Spring term, students will explore the play text Noughts & Crosses. The focus of this topic is to consider how clear themes of racism, social class and heroism are communicated through theatre whilst applying their knowledge of previously taught skills and techniques. Alongside the study of the text, student will learn about the theatrical style, Epic Theatre.
Summer
Students will start the summer term learning about Improvisation alongside the different types if staging configurations.
The final topic of Year 8 links with English and explores the design elements of Drama whilst looking at the play Frankenstein by Philip Pullman. Students will work as a design team to produce a presentation in groups that explains their design choices for their own performance.
Year 8 assessment
All assessments in Key Stage 3 are 3-fold. Students are initially assessed every week on their group work skills, including how they communicate and listen to ideas as well as how dedicated they are to creating an outstanding performance. Students will then perform at the end of each topic as their opportunity to demonstrate skills and techniques learnt in that half term. Throughout the year, students will also complete a peer or self-analysis reflecting on their own work and the work of others. The breakdown of half termly assessments is as follows:
Autumn 1 – Tudor Theatre
Autumn 2 – Darkwood Manor
Spring 1 – Noughts & Crosses
Spring 2 – Noughts & Crosses
Summer 1 – Improvisation (this makes up the end of year assessment grade)
Summer 2 – Frankenstein
Year 9
Autumn At the start of Year 9, students will study a variety of different Theatre Practitioners including Konstantin Stanislavsky, Frantic Assembly, Bertolt Brecht, David Hare and Antonin Artaud. They will complete research on a given practitioner and create performance presentations on their specific style.
Students will then be transported to the year is 2123. Students will explore the world of the future whilst building a family unit (characterisation) and making their way through a 5-part story which links to their work in Geography around the Extinction Rebellion. Students will continue previous work on monologues (Year 7) by writing their own one throughout the topic, alongside developing higher level characterisation skills.
Spring Students will start the Spring term by exploring mask work using Trestle theatre masks. They will create performances that rely on both spoken word and on physicality whilst showing a court room murderer mystery.
Students are given freedom to create, rehearse and perform their own pieces based on the stimulus “Leaving home”. They will be able to select one of the practitioners studied in the Autumn term to create their performance.
Summer The play text for Year 9 is Blood Brothers by Willy Russel which will be studied throughout the summer term. Students will explore this text and create scripted performances. Elements of study will include social class, superstition, inequality, and fate. Students will also be introduced to GCSE style questioning ahead of their End of Year Exam at the start of Summer 2.
All assessments in Key Stage 3 are 3-fold. Students are initially assessed every week on their group work skills, including how they communicate and listen to ideas as well as how dedicated they are to creating an outstanding performance. Students will then perform at the end of each topic as their opportunity to demonstrate skills and techniques learnt in that half term. Throughout the year, students will also complete a peer or self-analysis reflecting on their own work and the work of others. The breakdown of half termly assessments is as follows:
Autumn 1 – Introduction to Practitioners
Autumn 2 – 2123
Spring 1 – Mask Work
Spring 2 –Devising
Summer 1 – Blood Brothers
Summer 2 – Blood Brothers (this makes up the end of year assessment grade combined with assessment from Summer 1)
GCSE Drama is a valuable subject choice for any student. It combines creating, performance, theatre reviews and analytical written work to form a qualification. It builds on the transferrable skills developed throughout Key Stage 3 and helps to open many employability options in the future.
Autumn Students will start the Autumn Term by exploring different theatre practitioners and styles, including Bertolt Brecht – Epic Theatre, Konstantin Stanislavsky – Naturalism, and Frantic Assembly – Physical theatre. Students will select one style and create their own work.
In the second half of the term, students will work on a mock scripted performance using extracts from given plays.
Spring Students will work on their Devised performance for Unit 1 of the qualification. Creating their own work from a given stimulus, rehearsing and performing at the end of the term. Students will have the opportunity to see live theatre during this term.
Summer Students will start the term by completing the Devising assessment by writing a reflection on the process of creating, rehearsing and performing. Students will then read and explore the play “I Love You Mum. I promise I won’t Die” by Mark Wheeller as the GCSE set text for the written exam. Students will utilise this time to explore the text in a practical way and will study how to answer GCSE style questions, ahead of their end of year exam.
Autumn Students will revisit the set text and will complete a series of practice questions as well as looking at the Live Theatre Review part of the written exam ahead of their first mock exams. Alongside exam practice, students will also be developing their externally assessed scripted performance.
Spring Students will continue to work on their scripted performance to focus on whilst exploring the written exam.
Summer The start of the Summer term will be centred around revision in preparation for the public exams.
Assessment
EDUQAS GCSE Drama
Students will complete 3 units of study.
Unit 1 – Devising. Creating their own group performances from a stimulus provided by the exam board. Students will then write reflective logs of the creating, rehearsing and performing elements of the process. This unit is internally assessed by the subject teacher and is externally moderated by the exam board.
Unit 2 – Scripted Performance. Students will learn and perform 2 extracts from a published text. This unit is externally assessed by the exam board.
Unit 3 – Written exam. The exam paper is split in to 2 sections. Section 1 analyses the set text, “I Love You Mum. I promise I won’t Die” by Mark Wheeller whilst considering how vocal and physical skills would be used to perform specific sections and characters alongside writing detailed descriptions of design choices.
Section 2 is a Live Theatre Review where students will analyse the effectiveness of a performance they have seen.
