Drama & Performing Arts

Montpelier High School recognises that Drama & Performing Arts has a unique contribution to make to the school curriculum. It allows for personal and social development, fosters creativity and imaginative thought and helps prepare a student for adult life. It increases the individual’s confidence in her own abilities, in particular the ability to communicate – verbally and non-verbally.

It is also a subject which promotes significant academic skills. The textual analysis required in Drama & Performing Arts is an extension of skills learned in English lessons. The ability to evaluate one’s own work and behaviour is a skill specifically taught as part of any Drama & Performing Arts syllabus which is of value throughout the school. The reading of Drama & Performing Arts texts promotes an increased awareness of the spoken and written word, and the relationship between them.

Participation in Dramatic performances promotes social skills. In Drama & Performing Arts lessons, students learn about group co-operation; the concepts of joint responsibility and interdependence. All these are significant academic and life skills – of increasingly high profile in the current academic debate.

Our Aims

To encourage each pupil to gain confidence and self-belief.
To encourage pupils to work safely, considerately and productively in groups of various sizes, in pairs or individually.
To encourage each pupil to explore and investigate the world of theatre, from its origins to the present day through literature, the media, workshops, improvisation and theatre trips.
To teach each pupil the fundamental concepts of rehearsal and performance developing their knowledge with each key stage.
To encourage creativity and expression.
To safely guide the pupils in all technical and backstage aspects such as rigging and designing stage lighting, sound and stage management, prop designing and making, costume and make up design, even publicity and front of house management.
To develop a practical and theoretical understanding of various theatre practitioners, theatrical styles and theatrical developments.

Curriculum Outline

The aims of KS3 Drama is to provide an opportunity to introduce, develop and expand a wide range of drama skills and concepts.
The course is taught in a progressive manner, building on knowledge and understanding throughout the Key Stage.
The course is taught primarily in a practical manner.
The practical based course enables students to devise, present and evaluate drama.
The pupils explore a wide range of theatrical styles, genres and techniques.
Throughout the Key Stage students will study a range of texts from Shakespeare to modern scripts.
We aim to provide the pupils with a firm foundation from which they can choose to develop their skills into GCSE Drama and A Level Drama.

Resources

A purpose built studio space with sound and lighting equipment
A large hall and working stage with sound and lighting equipment.
An extensive costume and props store.
Audio/visual equipment.
A wide range of texts and DVDs tailored to the needs of each key stage.

Years 7 - 9

The curriculum follows the pattern of the new GCSE to help prepare students for the course should they wish to opt to do it in Year 9. Each year group will therefore be expected to do the following:

Respond to Devising work
Perform Devised Work
Respond to a scripted text
Perform a scripted text
Written Exam work

There will be an assessment of each of these elements in each of the 3 years and the stimulus in terms of both devised work and scripts will increase each year. There are expectations of behaviour and work ethic in Drama and each lesson will involve group discussion, group work and performance work. Feedback is also encouraged orally and written to prepare well for the written exam that each year group is expected to do.

In Year 9 the focus is on character acting. Students will learn how to play a variety of characters of differing ages, whilst studying and performing a play, DNA and creating their own piece of Verbatim Theatre. This is based on real events and uses the real words as spoken by witnesses as a script.

Years 10 - 11

AQA GCSE

The assessment consists of 3 parts:

Coursework (40%)

A performance of a devised piece based on a stimulus provided by the school. This work will be created with the help of the teacher and developed by the students into a performance. The performance is assessed along with a 2,400 word (max) document of supporting evidence of the process of developing the work.

Performance Exam (20%)

An examiner will mark the performance of 2 key extracts from a text students have worked on in lessons.

Written exam (40%)

This paper has 2 main sections looking at a set text in performance, currently our set text is ‘Blood Brothers’ and a section writing about live theatre that students may have seen.

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BTEC Performing Arts Tech Award

This course is divided into 3 parts

Component 1 (30%)

You will study three different Musical Theatre performances and you can create a GOOGLE SLIDE presentation showing your understanding of these three performances.

We currently look at Rent, Lion King and Oh What a Lovely War

This unit is about you showing an understanding about how theatre is made.