Our KS3 curriculum is designed to build students confidence in handling a range of drama techniques and skills whilst fostering their natural ability for creativity and experimentation. We want our students to take creative risks and be ambitious about their ideas and performances
Students will look at a variety of different themes throughout KS3, using their learnt techniques as inspiration and learning how to put them into practice and perform. These themes include Macbeth, Slapstick and Fame and Celebrity.
Students will undertake a range of different performance styles and will be given the opportunity to perform in many different ways. These include, in the classroom, to an invited audience and on camera.
Students will be given the opportunity to work with a variety of skills including facial expression, voice, body language and gesture. They will also explore many techniques such as Freeze frames, thought tracking and flashbacks and flash forwards.
Homework will be set each term and will explore the following skills:
Students will complete two assessments each term. Students will receive regular verbal and written feedback, written feedback will be recorded in students assessment folders. In addition, students will frequently be asked to reflect on their learning highlighting strengths and areas for development.
Course title and type of qualification: GCSE Drama
We firmly believe that through involvement in Drama, young people can learn vital life skills such as team work, negotiation, problem solving, communication, listening, and can build their confidence and self-esteem.
Through taking GCSE Drama, students who have a love of drama, theatre, performing, shaping performance and an interest in the work that goes on in a production team, can excel in broadening and demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of this vast subject.
Throughout the course students will develop their understanding of drama techniques and how they can be used to explore the drama. They will develop skills in performance by being challenged in new ways than before, for example looking at the work of established practitioners to find new ways of presenting performance. They will work on both devising performance work and scripted plays, having more time than in KS3 to polish and perfect work, therefore improving.
Students will also develop evaluation skills, both verbal and written. Students will explore how the collaborative process is crucial to drama, therefore developing essential life skills.
Students will be graded using the new 1 – 9 grading criteria.
NB: Although practical assessments are carried out in groups, all grades are given individually to students for their achievements NOT to the group as a whole.
-Component 1 – Devising (40% of GCSE)
This component deals with devising, which is an exciting and challenging opportunity to work collaboratively with others to explore a range of stimuli in order to create an original performance piece.
Devising is essential for the development of new theatre and performance; it allows for personal development and exploration. It allows both performer and designer the opportunity to stretch the limits of their creativity and imagination, while exploring a theme or topic of interest to them and their intended audience.
Students will develop skills in group work, research and negotiation, while also developing creativity, performance and design skills. Students will consider the impact that they can make on an audience, as they develop the ideas that they want to communicate.
Portfolio – Students write about their own work and the work of others which was carried out during the rehearsal and the performance process. This can either be written or filmed depending on students’ strengths. 2000 words maximum, or 4 - 5 minutes of filmed documentation. This can be prepared and worked on at home.
- Component 2 – Performance from Text (20% of GCSE)
There is no written element to this unit but you will be assessed on a 10 minute group performance, and either a monologue or a duologue.
Performance texts have been at the core of drama since the inception of theatre. The need to hand down stories has been fundamental to human development and for thousands of years, people have written, performed, watched and enjoyed innumerable plays.
Understanding a performance text is fundamental to the subject, as this provides students with opportunities to explore plot, structure, narrative and stories from around the world and from different time periods. It encourages them to develop empathy skills, as they consider different characters and develop methods of communicating ideas and themes.
This component deals with developing knowledge, understanding and skills in exploring and performing from a performance text. Students will interpret this text and rehearse and refine two key extracts, leading to a final performance. They will demonstrate and use a wide range of acting and/or design skills to communicate their interpretation in performance.
- Component 3 – Theatre Makers in Practice (40% of GCSE)
This is an externally assessed written examination which is taken at the end of Year 11. Practical work will be done in lessons in order to inform the exam.
This component focuses on the work of theatre makers and the theatrical choices that are made by crucial members of the creative and production team in order to communicate ideas to an audience. As theatre makers, students will be develop their knowledge and understanding of the ways in which drama can create meaning for an audience through performance.
Students will explore practically how a complete performance text might be interpreted and realised from ‘page to stage’. This exploration will give students an insight into how texts may be brought to life for an audience and the creative roles within this process.
Students will also analyse and evaluate their experience of a live theatre performance as informed members of the audience. They will develop skills to recognise the meaning created in the theatre space in order to communicate ideas to an audience. This will give them a more critical and varied approach to their own work as theatre makers.
For students wishing to continue their studies in Drama the next step is A Level Drama and Theatre Studies, which we offer at Abbey Grange. In terms of pairing with other GCSE subjects, Drama goes well with Languages, History, Religious Studies, English and Music.
Also, due to many of the skills mentioned above, Drama has many transferable skills to aid progression with various education/career choices as it also develops skills for work requiring a high level of confidence, presentation, and group sensitivity. Previous students have found careers in Advertising, Design, Law, Health Promotion, Medicine, the Police Force, Radio, TV, Teaching and, of course, Theatre.
Examination Board: Edexcel
Course title and type of qualification: BTEC Tech Award in Performing Arts
The course is made up of three components: two that are internally assessed and one that’s externally assessed.
The 3 units of the BTEC are:
Aim: get a taste of what it’s like to be a professional actor, dancer or musical theatre performer.
Assessment: internally assessed assignments
Weighting: 30% of total course
During Component 1, students will:
Aim: develop skills and techniques in the chosen discipline(s) of acting, dance and musical theatre.
Assessment: internally assessed assignments
Weighting: 30% of total course
During Component 2, your students will:
Performing to a Brief
Aim: consider how practitioners adapt their skills for different contexts, and put this into practice in a performance.
Assessment: externally assessed task, where students work in groups of between 3 and 7 members to create a performance based on a set brief.
Weighting: 40% of total course
To achieve this aim, students will:
NB although practical assessments are carried out in groups, all grades are given individually to
students for their achievements NOT to the group as a whole.
Students are assessed either as a:
Most of the assessment is marked internally by your teacher, evidenced through process, performance, written evidence and evaluation. This will take place over the course of Year 10 and Year 11. Students beginning study in Year 9 will use this year as preparation for assessment and mock assessments.
The BTEC Tech Award is a practical introduction to life and work in Performing Arts, so students can develop their understanding of the sector and see whether it’s an industry they’d like to be in. As they’re designed to be taken alongside GCSEs, with a BTEC Tech Award, students have the opportunity to apply academic knowledge to everyday and work contexts, giving them a great starting point for academic or vocational study post-16, as well as preparing them for future employment. Drama has many transferable skills to aid progression with various education/career choices as it also develops skills for work requiring a high level of confidence, these skills include: self-management, team working, business awareness and customer awareness, problem solving, communication and presentation. Previous students have found careers in Advertising, Design, Law, Health Promotion, Medicine, the Police Force, Radio, TV, Teaching and, of course, Theatre.
Examination Board: Edexcel
