Drama

Increasingly, the power of Drama is being recognised as one of the most effective ways to develop social skills and emotional intelligence in children and young people, skills that are often not developed through the traditional education system. Drama promotes communication skills, teamwork, dialogue, negotiation and socialisation. It stimulates the imagination and creativity; it develops a better understanding of human behaviour and empathy with situations that might seem distant. It allows the development of a critical thinking of the Arts, Theatre and the social world and allows us to make better and more conscious decisions; it encourages us to use our bodies and our voices, it encourages and inspires us to speak up.

Through the learning of Drama at Hertswood we want students:

• To develop an understanding of the culture and history of theatre, drama and connect it to Arts and aesthetics learning across the school.
• To develop skills for communicating meaning through a range of presentation media and styles of performance.
• To enable the critical analysis of the Arts and Theatre including that of design, character, performance, text and performance process.
• To enable an understanding of the Performing Arts and Expressive Arts as a professional skill.

Our Drama Curriculum gives students the opportunity to study an enduring art form whilst developing their social and team skills. They will get to explore a range of different theatrical styles to challenge their ideas of performance, through practical workshops and written examination practice. It teaches the key elements of performance as a team and to practise the ability to empathise and apply social understanding to different situations and challenges.

Key Stage 3

All Year 7-9 students follow a broad syllabus in Drama which is designed to give them a firm and varied foundation of knowledge, understanding, skills & experience. At Year 9 they focus on two arts subjects each for two hours a week. This enables them to make appropriate choices at the end of Year 9, but, importantly, to have experienced a greater depth of activities and disciplines within drama. The projects generally last 3 to 6 weeks and can be performing, devising performances, script exploration or live analysis. Genres such as melodrama, mime and mask are studied during this key stage.

Key Stage 4

Students in Year 10 & 11 follow a GCSE course as part of the choices process. These courses continue and develop the structures and disciplines introduced at Key Stage 3,  using the same spiral curriculum model of revisiting and deepening. Through repetition of strategies, skills and approaches, students are equipped to meet the needs of the exam. Recent live performance visits have included War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Key Stage 5

Year 12 and Year 13 can follow an AS course in Theatre Studies. Students are able to build on previous skills and success at KS4 and explore in more depth the history of theatre and different approaches to texts, rehearsal and directing.

Independent Learning Resources

KS3 Drama students are encouraged to access extracurricular opportunities that run after school  such as Drama Club and learn through experience with Regular trips to the National Theatre and other West End Theatres in London.

Extra-Curricular Enrichment

• The Knowledge
• Quizlet
• Textbooks and revision guides created by the exam boards
• National Theatre Collection
• Play scripts