CURRICULUM

DRAMA

DrAma Curriculum Intent

Drama is the collaborative exploration and analysis of meaning through the enactment of events. Our curriculum develops students’ emotional literacy and analytical awareness, by allowing them to see the world, imaginatively, from a variety of perspectives. It promotes individual self-confidence, encourages social co-operation and enhances creativity, while developing the skills of speaking, listening, reading, writing and analysis.

Key Strands

Developing

Students will be working as part of a team to create and develop pieces of theatre. How to be a good group member who contributes and focuses will be integral to their personal progress. They will develop their ability to rehearse independently and set targets. They will learn about the acting skills they can apply to their pieces such as vocal technique, physical technique and interpretive technique. They will also explore different styles of working through access to scripts, improvisation scenarios and the application of various dramatic conventions.

Students will learn the correct etiquette of being both a professional performer and a respectful audience member. They will learn how to utilise their bodies and voices for maximum effect when performing and how to create an engaging character and plot through the application of specialised techniques. They will tackle different styles and genres when performing, and also develop their confidence skills when working in front of others.

Performing

Evaluating

Students will use the PIE structure of writing (Point, Information, Evaluate) to analyse key features of their own work and that of professional productions. They will come to understand the roles and responsibilities involved in performances and their impact and contribution to an overall piece. They will learn to use key Drama terminology in their language fluently. Target setting will be recognised as an integral part of an actor’s progress, as well as regularly auditing their own skill development.

Curriculum Structure

At Key Stage 3 in Years 7, 8 and 9, Drama is taught as a discreet subject on a Performing Arts carousel, along with Dance and Music. They will have one lesson of Drama a week for a set block before moving onto the next discipline. During this time students are formally assessed through a combination of both practical and theory work, which will inform the grades given to the students at their data collection points. To ensure a consistent 5 year plan where skills are built which tie in with the qualifications we deliver further down school, we aim to ensure that the schemes of work cover the two key areas of ‘Script Work’ and ‘Devising.’ In Years 7 and 8 they are on a long carousel of 13 lessons. In Year 9, students do two shorter carousels of 6 and 7 lessons with two separate topics. At KS4 students can opt to study the BTEC Tech Award in Performing Arts Acting as a qualification.

Year 7

Storybook Theatre
Content -
In this project you will learn:
How to devise your own plays using a range of different published storybooks as your stimulus.
How to creatively use the Dramatic Conventions Tableau, Mime and Thought-Tracking to tell your story:
How to interpret a scene from a published script using vocal and physical acting techniques. How to evaluate your Drama work, identifying strengths and targets for future development.
Skills -
Tableau,
Mime,
Thought-Tracking,
Script Work,
Vocal Technique,
Physical Technique,
Evaluation
TOPIC 1

Year 8

Tales from Shakespeare
Content -
In this project you will learn:
About the world’s most influential playwright, William Shakespeare and his style of Elizabethan theatre.
About some of the amazing plays he created, including: Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth.
How to devise your own Shakespeare stories using the Dramatic Conventions: Tableau, Mime, Thought-Tracking, Action Narration and Soundcsape.
How to interpret a scene from a Shakespeare script using vocal and physical acting techniques. How to evaluate your Drama work, identifying strengths and targets for future development.
Skills -
Action Narration,
Soundscape,
Melodrama,
Shakespearean Script Work,
Vocal Technique,
Physical Technique,
Evaluation
TOPIC 1

Year 9

Devising From Stimulus & Spontaneous Improvisation
Content -
In this project you will learn:
How to devise your own plays using a given stimulus.
How to spontaneously improvise using titles, chairs, objects and words.
How to ensure you are ACCEPTING ideas and not BLOCKING your group.
How to structure a storyline with a key moment of conflict. How to evaluate your Drama work, identifying strengths and targets for future development.
Skills -
Devising from Stimulus,
Spontaneous Improvisation,
Blocking & Accepting,
Evaluation
TOPIC 1
Performing a Script: Teechers by John Godber
Content
In this project you will learn:
How to use a script and interpret the work of a professional playwright.
About the comedy play Teechers and the local writer, John Godber.
About the German theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht, and the style of performance he invented called EPIC Theatre.
How to apply a range of appropriate vocal and physical acting techniques to your character.
How to consider professional dynamics to your performance work, including spatial awareness, status and proxemics.
How to evaluate your Drama work, including consideration of how your drama skills can help you in your future studies in school, college and work.
Skills
Script Work,
Vocal Technique,
Physical Technique,
Spatial Awareness, Status,
Proxemics,
Evaluation
Topic 2

Year 10

Exploring The Performing Arts
Content -
Students will use the many genres of the theatres in the West End of London to springboard them into studying three contrasting professional works: Blood Brothers by Willy Russell, War Horse by Nick Stafford, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens.
Skills -
Listening

Assessing the stylistic qualities of practitioners’ work using considered examples to show how roles, responsibilities and skills contribute to creative intentions and purpose across three performance styles. Explaining the interrelationships between processes, skills and approaches used by practitioners, with considered reference to examples of repertoire used to demonstrate how they contribute effectively to performance work. Demonstrating disciplined and organised development of skills and techniques for performance during workshops and rehearsal. Demonstrating considered selection, application and assured use of technical, stylistic and interpretative skills during rehearsal and performance of existing repertoire. Analysing own development and application of skills and techniques, using considered examples to identify strengths and set targets for improvement.

TOPIC 1
Developing Skills and Techniques in the Performing Arts
Content
Students will rehearse and perform an extract from the play Blood Brothers by Willy Russell. They will show development as an actor throughout by setting targes and tracking their progress through a diary log book.
Skills
Assessing the stylistic qualities of practitioners’ work using considered examples to show how roles, responsibilities and skills contribute to creative intentions and purpose across three performance styles. Explaining the interrelationships between processes, skills and approaches used by practitioners, with considered reference to examples of repertoire used to demonstrate how they contribute effectively to performance work. Demonstrating disciplined and organised development of skills and techniques for performance during workshops and rehearsal. Demonstrating considered selection, application and assured use of technical, stylistic and interpretative skills during rehearsal and performance of existing repertoire. Analysing own development and application of skills and techniques, using considered examples to identify strengths and set targets for improvement.
Topic 2

Year 11

Responding To A Brief
Content -
Students will respond to a title and scenario set by the BTEC exam board. They have 10 hours to create a performance piece based on their given stimulus. In addition to this students will prepare for and sit three one hour written exams where they will explain their process.
Skills -
Responding creatively and originally to a set brief.

Utilising all of the skills acquired throughout the course so far in the previous two components.

Analysing the process and evaluating the outcomes.

TOPIC 1

Important Information

Dear Parents/Carers

Please note the College is open today and Year 11 will be expected on site for their Mock Examinations. However, for Years 7 to 10, if you cannot get your child to school safely today, then please ensure that they access remote learning via Teams. For safeguarding purposes, please email in to info@horizoncc.co.uk if your child is not going to be in and will be accessing Teams.

Any child who accesses Teams remotely today will receive a present attendance mark of a B code (educated off-site). If your child does not access Teams then they will be classified as absent Please note that attendance codes will be updated throughout the day.

Mrs Huddart

Principal

College Calendar

  • Tuesday 12th December – 14th December – School Show
  • Tuesday 16th January – Y8 Parents Evening
  • Tuesday 6th February – Y11 Parents Evening 2
  • Tuesday 27th February – Y9 Parents Evening
  • Tuesday 16th April – Y10 Parents Evening
  • Tuesday 30th April – Y7 Parents Evening

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