Drama
Years 7-9
Whilst some students may have extra-curricular experience of Drama or will have experienced learning through the medium of Drama when they join in Year 7, study of the subject as a discrete academic subject and art form will be new to most. The KS3 curriculum is designed to introduce key skills and then build on complexity and the amount of freedom students receive to develop students into independent and risk-taking theatre makers. In each KS3 year, students will develop fundamental theatre making skills whilst also being exposed to a variety of different theatrical styles and experiences from across the world.
The Year 7 curriculum is designed to introduce and explore foundational theatrical skills such as performance skills, characterisation and narrative. In Year 8, students are challenged further to position this learning in new contexts, moving away from traditional audience experiences and exploring politics in theatre. In Year 9, we challenge students to tackle more abstract concepts and to develop their own artistic voice through devising projects.
GCSE
As students progress into GCSE, the outward looking approach is continued as they explore an array of new practitioners and styles within their specific contexts throughout the history of theatre. Following the Eduqas specification, the GCSE course is structured to allow for a substantial time to develop creativity and critical thinking in Year 10, before revisiting and refining ideas in Year 11. By the end of Year 10, students develop an original theatre piece in a chosen style, combining all their skills learnt in the first year of the course. Practically, students are supported to step out of their comfort zone and confidently make independent creative choices, in both their own original work and in the development of mature characterisation in existing texts from a variety of time periods, contexts and styles. Throughout the course, students experience a range of engaging texts and live theatre performances whilst being taught how to critically analyse them, questioning the meaning-making process and the audience experience in theatre.
A Level
Drama & Theatre A Level is designed and run with a broad but detailed focus on the academic and practical knowledge of Drama, introducing new, higher level thinking concepts whilst furthering and challenging existing knowledge in a more sophisticated way. Students have a greater choice over the styles and texts they perform over their three A Level performances, rather than studying a limited, prescribed course.
Similar to GCSE, students analyse and explore play texts from a range of time periods and styles, but the number of texts is larger and their study involves a deeper investigation into the plays’ context and playwrights, from economic policies to political movements. Visiting workshops with key practitioners and thought-provoking theatre trips help stimulate ideas and question students’ perception of theatre. Furthermore, students are exposed to practitioners, playwrights, critics and academia beyond the exam board specification, not only to challenge students but ultimately to make them well-rounded discerning theatre practitioners.
Our hope is to produce confident young people who think outside the box in all aspects of their work and help to inspire some of our students to pursue this subject at university and beyond.
