Intent
Drama teaches students to be empathetic, thoughtful, creative and supportive individuals. It encourages teamwork and leadership, develops communication skills and asks students to consider their place in the world, both locally and globally. The soft skills drama develops are transferable across many careers and enable students to work productively and positively with others. Working together in the pursuit of an artistic goal allows students to show King’s core values of love, forgiveness, respect and responsibility. We want our drama students to be wise, creative and kind, able to shape drama and be reflective about their own work and that of others.
Students will be able to create and perform original devised work, independently planned and rehearsed. They will be capable of refining and evaluating their work, and will always adopt safe working practices. They will have develop an awareness and understanding of the roles and processes undertaken in contemporary professional theatre practice. Through the careful study of set texts and influential theatre practitioners, students will be able to understand the roles and responsibilities of performer, designer and director. Having watched live theatre, students will be able to successfully articulate what was effective about a performance and analyse the various elements of the performance, such as the director’s intentions, the actors’ use of voice and movement, and the designers’ decisions that impact on the production as a whole.
Curriculum Implementation
Students will be taught to:
- Use their voice and movement skills to communicate a role
- Recognise a wide range of theatrical styles including but not limited to melodrama, Greek theatre, mime, physical theatre and apply them in performance
- Begin to understand the importance of key practitioners
- Develop their drama vocabulary so they can confidently use subject specific terms to reflect on and evaluate their own work and others
- explore performance texts, understanding their social, cultural and historical context including the theatrical conventions of the period in which they were created
- work collaboratively to generate, develop and communicate ideas
- develop as creative, effective, independent and reflective students able to make informed choices in process and performance
- contribute as an individual to a theatrical performance
- develop an awareness and understanding of the roles and processes undertaken in contemporary professional theatre practice
- adopt safe working practices
Key concepts
- Creating
- Performing
- Responding
These cover the assessment objectives that are consistent across most exam boards for Key Stages 4 and 5:
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AO1 |
Create and develop ideas to communicate meaning for theatrical performance. |
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AO2 |
Apply theatrical skills to realise artistic intentions in live performance. |
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AO3 |
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how drama and theatre is developed and performed. |
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AO4 |
Analyse and evaluate their own work and the work of others. |
Links to Key Stage 2
Whilst Drama is not explicitly in the National Curriculum in primary school, it is a feature of the English curriculum, where it states: “All pupils should be enabled to participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with the artistic practice of drama. Pupils should be able to adopt, create and sustain a range of roles, responding appropriately to others in role. They should have opportunities to improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences, as well as to rehearse, refine, share and respond thoughtfully to drama and theatre performances.” There will be, nonetheless, differences in students’ Key Stage 2 Drama curriculum diet. However, from our experience, we know students at Key Stage 2 are generally encouraged to take on simple roles and perform to an audience (e.g. assemblies and shows – most notably at the end of Year 6).
The Key Stage 3 RET Drama curriculum extends these skills to encompass a knowledge and understanding of techniques, styles and the role of theatre through history. Students will have presented roles in class and been audience to external providers and/or their peers. Some may have taken part in school shows. Our aim is to develop a positive culture so that students can explore their talents and to foster a love for drama and theatre.
Relationship to the wider Key Stage 3 Curriculum
Drama is an embedded part of the English curriculum and there are extensive links. Difficult themes and topics explored in Drama will also be explored in PSHE, tutor time and assemblies. There are also links to dance in delivering performance, to art and DT in terms of the similarity of vocabulary and the creation of puppets/costume designs/set models, to ICT as students begin to use technology to provide music or projections and to music as it might be incorporated in a live or recorded capacity.
All of the skills practised at KS3 are embedded, developed and assessed in Key Stage 4. KS3 is a natural progression.
Extra-Curricular Experience
Drama is an inclusive subject and irrespective of their background students will be encouraged to take part in each school’s extra-curricular programme. Examples include:
- KS3 Drama Club
- Annual school production
- Workshops
- Theatre trips to London and locally
- Participation in Brighton Festival