Year 7: The key stage three drama course begins by introducing students to basic drama techniques. Students also work on confidence skills and learn how to work effectively as a team. Students then move on to explore the stimulus of Dark Wood Manor. Here they are encouraged to use their newly acquired skills, to let their imaginations run wild and to create an array of unusual characters. This results in students creating their own devised performances where they explore what happens when characters spend a night at Dark Wood Manor.
Year 8: The curriculum in Year 8 continues to develop students’ skills and confidence in performance. The syllabus begins with a character study, where students are asked to investigate a given character and piece together information on their background, resulting in a final performance where students present their findings to an audience. This unit is followed by a skills unit of work, where students study status and power relationships on stage. Students then apply this to a variety of scripts where they present studio performances of status relationships.
Year 9: Students’ work in Year 9 provides a platform for study at GCSE. Students complete two further units of work aimed to extend their skills in both devised and scripted theatre. The first is a devised unit where students study the real life case of Brenda Spencer. Students then study the chat show genre and film their own live chat show of the Brenda Spencer story. This unit is then followed by a scripted unit where pupils study the Greek play Antigone and go back to study the origins of Greek theatre. Students produce a final performance traditional staging and performance techniques in their own modern day, contemporary performance of Antigone.
Key Stage 4 Curriculum
In Year 10 and 11 students study AQA GCSE Drama. The course is divided into 60% practical coursework and 40% written exam. The coursework is divided into two performance pieces. Students can choose from a variety of different performance options included scripted drama, devised drama, improvisation, theatre in education and dance drama. Technical and design skills are also available for students talented in this area. The written exam focuses on a set text which students study from the viewpoint of an actor or designer. Students also study live theatre and go on a number of theatre trips throughout the course. Students are then asked to analyse and review these performances in the final exam. From September 2006 Year 10 students also have the opportunity to study for an Applied GCSE in Performing Arts worth 2 GCSE’s. Students from High Arcal, Coseley and Dormston study together at Dormston School. This is a new and exciting development in the curriculum offered in Expressive Arts made possible through the work of the North Dudley 14 – 19 Consortium.
Post 16 opportunities and progression routes for further study
• Many students continue with their study of Drama by taking A Level Theatre Studies or a BTEC National Certificate or Diploma in Performing Arts. • Beyond A Level, many students go on to study Drama and Theatre in higher education. Other students continue their study by attending drama school. • The study of drama provides many students with transferable skills. Through the study of Drama students gain confidence in public speaking. They learn how to work effectively as a team as well as how to lead and direct their peers.
