We aim to create confident, resilient, and collaborative learners who feel empowered to explore their creativity in a collaborative environment. We do this by ensuring our learners explore a range of skills and techniques, developed primarily through practical exercises.
We have high expectations for our learners. KS3 learners are encouraged to develop core interpersonal skills by working in mixed groups, with frequent emphasis on working out of ‘friendship groups.’ All learners are guided towards deepening knowledge and understanding of Drama and the performing arts world, whilst raising cultural awareness through the exploration and realisation of performance. KS4 learners are provided with technical knowledge and skills from within the Performing Arts sector, whilst developing a clear understanding of processes involved in creating performance work, independent thinking and group decision-making.
Implementation
The Scheme of Learning for Year 8 students is designed to provide an intense introduction to Drama foundations. Students will be introduced to the drama skills toolkit, implementing a range of techniques through workshop-style lessons, relatable to a whole host of scenarios. Students will develop technical, practical, and interpretative skills and learn the importance of rehearsal and performance processes.
The KS4 curriculum allows students to take part in a range of detailed workshops, designed to provide students with technical knowledge and skills within the performing arts sector in a vocational context; students are introduced to the importance of warm-up, for example. Working from existing repertoire, students apply relevant skills and techniques to reproduce performance elements of the work. Students produce work using a brief related to the project they are studying – this could be rehearsing and developing an extract from a play or musical or creating or adding their own devised material. Following the BTEC course provides flexibility in assessment allowing all learners the opportunity to meet BTEC assessment criteria.
As well as taking part in structured lessons, all students are actively encouraged to take part in the annual school production – a school calendar highlight, the school production provides an exciting opportunity for students to further their creative and performance abilities in our professional purpose-built theatre – with high-quality, professional technical elements live music, sound, and lighting effects. This is also an opportunity for students to make new friendships and forge stronger relationships, both with their peers, and staff at our school.
Impact
KS4 students present an understanding of processes and practices that contribute to a range of performance styles. Key transferable skills, such as research, development, and communication, are evident in written journal entries. Our Performing Arts results are consistently high year on year, with between 92%-100% of students achieving grades 4-9 since 2018, and 100% of students passing the qualification.
