Drama

Curriculum

11 Nov

Curriculum intent

· Drama is a statutory part of English in the National Curriculum and, at Christ Church Secondary Academy (CCSA), we strive to ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with the artistic practice of Drama.

· Our curriculum ambition is to inspire ambition and creativity through providing a balanced practical and academic Drama curriculum which encourages students to be courageous in their learning and compassionate in their caring. Our drama curriculum prepares them for this with diverse play texts and cultural theatre so that they can learn to be tolerant of others and support each other in love.

· Drama is the inspiring, rigorous and practical subject which prepares all young people to live and work with confidence in the wider world. The creative arts industry is growing faster than any other sector in the UK and the Drama curriculum at CCSA is designed to promote the creativity, empathy and problem solving skills needed for careers in this sector.

· We intend for pupils at CCSA to explore, experiment and express themselves in a safe and non-judgmental environment with mutual respect. In Drama pupils can expand their thought processes and learn to articulate their ideas, opinions and feelings. Because of the variety of options within the subject (performance, design, director, writer) all pupils have the opportunity to thrive. We aim to develop pupils’ interpersonal skills and to stimulate their imaginations to explore issues beyond their own experience, in a safe and supportive environment.

Curriculum implementation

At CCSA all Drama lessons are taught in the purpose-built Drama Studio to offer all our pupils access to the very best teaching and learning resources. In the Creative Industries faculty, (Art, Design, Drama and Music) students are on a rotation with Year 7 receiving 5 hours a week for 5 weeks in each subject area (twice); Year 8 receiving 4 hours a week for 5 weeks in each subject area (twice) and Year 9 receiving 2 hours a week for 10 weeks in each subject area (once).

At Key Stage 3 the Drama curriculum is sequence to ensure that knowledge is secured before moving on to new material. The teaching is integrated with verbal feedback, end of rotation assessments and projected end points. Pupils have the opportunity to experiment with script interpretation and characterisation, devise original drama, explore the technical and design sides of performance and theatrical techniques.

Pupils cultivate reading publicly through script work, but also private reading opportunities are presented to extend pupils’ understanding and enhance their creative response. We lead on oracy in Creative Industries and believe that if you cannot say it then you cannot write it down. A range of texts and media from classic to contemporary are used, including Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. A variety of performance styles and genres are introduced alongside technical, IT and design resources to inspire pupils and enable them to realise their creative ideas in performance.

A range of teaching and learning strategies are employed to ensure lessons are stimulating. Practical approaches are blended with theory so that research and analysis can be put into practice. Inclusive approaches are used in all lessons to enable even reluctant speakers and performers to develop the confidence to engage and enjoy Drama.

During the course of a rotation pupils are offered teacher formative assessment and clear success criteria to self and peer assess. DIRT time is then used to improve performances. Cross curricular planning is important in Drama with KS3 schemes. Links with PSHE topics are developing in KS3 schemes to include topics such as knife crime as this is contextually important. This approach at KS3 prepares those pupils who choose to opt for Drama GCSE.

Teachers are passionate about creating a professional performance atmosphere and this enthusiasm captures the imagination and interest of our pupils. At KS4 the OCR GCSE course will be followed. CPD is completed to keep up to date with the specification. Links with other schools’ Drama Departments studying the same course are constantly developed through social media groups and meeting to standardize both written and practical work. Links with local sixth form colleges are important for demonstrating the next academic level of the subject and GCSE groups attend performances and workshops. The curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulative knowledge and skills for the future.