The Drama curriculum aims to engage all students in creative and imaginative exploration of performance and presentation. Drama addresses core transferrable skills which support students’ endeavours both in school and beyond. The Drama curriculum builds each year in a logical progression of key skills and content. The focus on proactive group work helps students to hone their skills in self-reflection, constructive criticism, time-management and collaboration. Students explore a range of social, political and historical topics across their school career which in underpinned by specialist drama knowledge and terminology. Students become considerate commentators on the work they see, using peer feedback in addition to formal assessment to reach exceptionally high levels of achievement in each key stage. We believe that Drama should be a challenging yet fun inclusion in a student’s timetable, supported by extra-curricular activities and trips. We provide a safe environment for learners to experiment with varied roles in both the devising process and performance.

Course Content

Years 7-9

The Year 7 – 9 curriculum aims to provide a practical foundation of performance skills to help explore a wide range of genres, subjects and performance traditions. The topics build on skills year on year to provide a strong grounding in character creation, devising theatre and ensemble work through to an exploration of theatre history and world theatre traditions including Commedia D’ell Arte, Kabuki, and Theatre of the Oppressed. Here we begin developing key skills needed in their study of Drama at GCSE and other subjects including teamwork, self-reflection, time management, problem solving and creative thinking.

Key stage 4

For GCSE, we teach the EDUQAS Drama course. Beginning with a grounding in Stanislavski based Naturalism, moving through practitioners like Brecht, Frantic Assembly and Gecko theatre, students will deepen their creative skills learned in Years 7 – 9. We study a number of set texts and plays across different genres, attend performances to work on theatrical analysis and evaluation, and devise theatre based on a stimulus of the pupils’ choosing.

Key stage 5

Arriving at A-Level, we teach the AQA syllabus. Here our focussed ensemble approach allows students to explore finely nuanced work of practitioners they met at GCSE and expand their understanding through theatre makers adjacent to their current knowledge. Our study of multiple set texts from playwrights like Timberlake Wertenbaker and Jez Butterworth challenge our pupils to think deeply about the wide socio-political meaning of these texts and how theatre can be used a tool for societal change. Pupils will create a piece of devised theatre that is deeply personal to their group’s preoccupations, maintain a portfolio of creative progress, and a reflective report on their multiple performance extracts from a range of teacher chosen texts.

Co-Curricular Opportunities:

• Theatre Trips
• Weekly Drama Club
• Yearly Production
• English Speaking Union ‘Performing Shakespeare’ Competition
• Cross-curricular competitions

Testimonials