Welcome to the DRAMA Department

What is Drama?

Drama focuses on developing students' understanding and skills in Performing Arts, particularly through acting, storytelling, and creating performances. It includes a variety of activities designed to help students express themselves, build confidence, and understand the process of creating a piece of theatre.

What is the purpose of learning Drama at ALNS?

Learning drama in school serves several important purposes, both educational and personal.

Here are some key benefits:

  1. Enhances Communication Skills: Drama helps students develop verbal and non-verbal communication skills. They learn to express themselves clearly, project their voices, and use body language effectively.
  2. Fosters Creativity and Imagination: Drama encourages students to think creatively, explore different perspectives, and engage in imaginative play. This cultivates problem-solving skills and innovative thinking.
  3. Builds Confidence: Performing in front of others helps students overcome stage fright and boosts their self-esteem. It provides a safe environment for them to take risks and express themselves.
  4. Promotes Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Through role-playing, students are able to experience different characters' emotions and viewpoints, which helps them develop empathy and a better understanding of others.
  5. Encourages Teamwork and Collaboration: Drama often involves group activities and ensemble work, teaching students the importance of cooperation, communication, and mutual respect within a team.
  6. Improves Critical Thinking: Drama encourages analysis of texts, characters, and situations. Students learn to think critically about the meaning and themes behind a story, and to interpret and engage with it on a deeper level.
  7. Cultural Awareness: Drama introduces students to various cultural and historical contexts, broadening their perspectives and enhancing their understanding of different worldviews.
  8. Boosts Academic Performance: The skills developed through drama can transfer to other subjects, improving overall academic performance. The discipline, focus, and analytical thinking needed for drama can benefit a student's studies in subjects like literature, history, and even math.

In summary, learning drama in school is not only about performing; it's about developing a broad range of personal, social, and academic skills that benefit students throughout their lives.

How do we teach Drama at ALNS?

We teach Drama through modelling and high expectations. Each lesson is focused around practical work and workshops. We workshop key skills and techniques for students to then use their rehearsal time to experiment, explore and apply the knowledge and skills and techniques taught to their own practical performance. We work in a variation of groupings, where we encourage contribution and negotiation of ideas and for students to take themselves out of their comfort zones. Each lesson, we reflect and feedback to enhance students' own understanding and performance. We pride ourselves in creating an environment where students feel confident, supported and have the freedom to express and explore their own and others ideas.

Intent

Our vision is for all students to have the opportunity to learn, explore and build their cultural capital. Each aspect of our curriculum and extra curriculum is specifically designed to ignite creativity, resilience, curiosity and build cultural capital, creating a hive of inspiration and passion.

Implementation

Our curriculum includes:

  • A focus on building confidence and ability to think creatively 
  • Workshops of key skills and techniques for students to then explore, experiment and apply to their own work 
  • A wide range of styles, genres, techniques, practitioners and topics to inspire 
  • Regular assessments and reflective practices to deepen understanding, direct and measure progress
  • Literacy development through reading scripts, stories and performances 
  • Links to 10 key transferable skills which are explored each lesson

Impact

We ensure the success of our curriculum by:

  • Students’ ability to think creatively, articulating their ideas and reflecting on their own work, to further develop their understanding and application of skills explored
  • Their confidence in contributing and negotiating ideas and performing in front of an audience 
  • High levels of engagement and curiosity in the subject and extra curricular 
  • Good academic outcomes, reflected in GCSE performance and beyond.
  • Acting and Performance Skills
  • Drama Techniques and Form
  • Storytelling and Creative Expression
  • Theatre Appreciation
  • Transferable Skills
  • Students arrive ready and willing to learn
  • Students are contributing and negotiating ideas
  • Students are performing every lesson 
  • Students are showing respect for themselves, each other, the space and topics that we explore
  • Students are developing both drama and transferable skills
  • Developing a high quality curriculum that empowers every student
  • Creating safe spaces for students to flourish and take risks with their learning 
  • Supporting all learners to achieve their full potential 
  • Encouraging lifelong learning with the exploration of transferable skills 
  • To building every students cultural capital

Year 7

  • Drama Toolbox:  this scheme of learning will help students to understand the basics of improvisation, freezeframe, storytelling and creating 
  • Darkwood Manor: this scheme of learning will help students to understand Physical Theatre and how to create atmosphere and tension.
  • Staging: this scheme of learning will help students to understand the importance of stage directions, audience awareness and performing in different spaces
  • Silent Movies: this scheme of learning will help students to understand and use mime effectively, as well as using techniques such as pace, pause and exaggeration. 
  • The Gambia Project: this scheme of learning will help students to develop the skills in narration and storytelling
  • The Cursed Child - Scripted Work - this scheme of learning will help students to understand the features of a script as well as creating characters and performances from text.

Year 8

  • Issue Based Theatre: this scheme of learning will help students to understand Verbatim theatre and techniques such as cross-cutting and thought-tracking.
  • Pantomime: this Scheme of learning will help students to understand the style of pantomime as well as comedy and stock characters.
  • Murder Mystery: this scheme of learning will help students to understand and develop a performance through rehearsal, as well as techniques such as hot stealing and flashback.
  • The Jabberwocky: this scheme of learning will help students to understand Non Naturalism and using vocal and physical skills to create a Non Naturalistic performance.
  • Horror: this scheme of learning will help students to develop Naturalistic acting skills, as well as understand the genre and how to build tension in a performance.

Year 9

  • Exploring Script and Verbatim Theatre: this scheme of learning will help students to revisit skills learnt previously, as well as exploring how to stage a piece of script.
  • Drama styles: this scheme of learning will help students to analyse and understand different styles of Drama, such as, Naturalism, Non-Naturalism and different techniques found in each style.
  • Let Him Have It: this scheme of work will help students understand the true story of Christopher Criag and David Bentey, as well as, using dramatic techniques to bring the story to life. 
  • Devising: this scheme of learning will help students to understand how to create their own piece of theatre using different stimuli. 
  • Set Design: this scheme of learning will help students to understand the role of a set design - creating their own miniature set.

Year 10 

  • Students will prepare for the three components required for their GCSE. We will do this through practical and written workshops. Diving into professional work, exploring scripts, devising their own work, reflective writing and how to achieve a high mark in the written exam.

Year 11

Students will complete the following components:

Component 1: Devising Theatre Non-exam assessment: internally assessed, externally moderated 40% of qualification.


Learners will be assessed on their acting. Learners participate in the creation, development and performance of a piece of devised theatre using either the techniques of an influential theatre practitioner or a genre, in response to a stimulus set by the exam board. Learners must produce: 


• a realisation of their piece of devised theatre 
• a portfolio of supporting evidence 
• an evaluation of the final performance or design. 


Component 2: Performing from a Text Non-exam assessment: externally assessed by a visiting examiner 20% of qualification.


 Learners will be assessed on their acting. Learners study two extracts from the same performance text chosen by the centre. Learners participate in one performance using sections of text from both extracts. 


Component 3: Interpreting Theatre Written examination: 1 hour 30 minutes 40% of qualification.


Section A: Set Text. A series of questions on one set text.
Section B: Live Theatre Review One question, from a choice of two, requiring analysis and evaluation of a given aspect of a live theatre production seen during the course.