Drama builds confidence and teaches students a huge range of transferable skills; thus opening up many career opportunities outside the world of theatre.

Opportunities for participation in extra-curricular Drama activities include an after school Drama club run by Ms Slater and a group of Y12 students, a variety of school concerts and other public performances. The latest school production was Alice in Wonderland and the next production is currently in the planning stages; auditions will take place early next year.

Performance and live theatre experience are essential when studying Drama. KS4 students are given opportunities to showcase their work to a live audience with their performance assessments, KS3 students share their work in school concerts and productions. Additionally, theatre trips are arranged, as it is important to show Drama students the world of theatre in all its aspects.

Year 7 - The course is designed to introduce theatrical knowledge, skills and confidence. The students will follow a course which closely links into Westgate 6, with performance and written assessments at the end of each module. Our current units of study are:

• Collaboration- developing vocal skills
• Consequences-working on extracts from a script
• Creativity- Superheroes- a devised unit to promote team work, creative thinking and self management
• Discovery- exploring stories from a variety of cultures and the narrative form
• Risk- Melodrama- studying theatre history and genre
• Adaptability- from page to stage- students are responsible for staging their own mini- production

---

Year 8 - The course is designed to further develop theatrical knowledge, skills and confidence. The students will follow a course which closely links into Westgate 6, with performance and written assessments at the end of each module. Our current units of study are:

• Communication- learning about drama strategies and the theory behind characterisation through the script Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations and short pantomime scripts
• Reflection- exploring devising skills based on a variety of stimulus on the theme teenage crime
• Curiosity- a practical module based on the theories of theatre practitioners such as Stanislavski and an introduction to non-naturalistic drama.
•  Competition- creating a performance of an extract from The Terrible Fate of Humpty Dumpty using all the skills they have acquired throughout the year.

Year 9 - Students work as an option group on a number of pre-GCSE modules. These include:

• Crash- a devised unit exploring joyriding and its consequences
• Mugged- a page to stage unit
• Review- a unit studying design and realisation which culminates in a written review of a piece of theatre
• DNA- a GCSE text explored through practical tasks based on a number of theatre practitioners

Year 10 and 11 students are studying a new course, which is assessed by a practical performance of a text extract to an examiner, a devised performance (recorded on DVD )  supported by a written portfolio and a final written exam.

Year 10 - Throughout year 10 we will be consolidating a range of performance skills including the following:

• Interpreting a text
• The history of theatre and practitioner theory
• Naturalistic acting
• Ensemble work
• Applying choreographed movement to devising
• Offering variety in the voice
• Developing characterisation through verbal and non-verbal communication

We will be developing text analysis skills through the reading of a variety of plays, including the set text- which will either be An Inspector Calls or The Crucible

---

Year 11 - We will build on the skills acquired in y10 and move towards the final exams including:

• Completion of the devising exam and portfolio,
• Selection and rehearsal of text extracts for the performance exam
• Revising the set text (An Inspector Calls) and exploring sections from an acting and design perspective
• Making notes on a live theatre performance.
• Completing sample questions under exam conditions.