Introduction

The Drama Department at Queen Katharine Academy is committed to providing every student with a range of lifelong experiences. Drama provides essential life skills such as working as part of a team and developing self-confidence and concentration. It stretches your intellectual ability, challenges the way that you view the world and increases your capacity to communicate ideas.  Drama is taught in one of three purpose built studios equipped with sound and lighting facilities.

The aim of the Drama Department at Queen Katharine Academy is to encourage and develop:

• Student’s enjoyment and participation in engaging drama
• Sensitivity, creativity and confidence
• An awareness of moral, social, spiritual and cultural change
• An understanding of Drama forms and techniques
• Student's awareness of the technical aspects of Drama including sound, lighting and staging
• An understanding of the importance of team work
• Constructive evaluations of their own work and that of others
• To offer a range of extra-curricular opportunities
• Prepare students for further study of Drama and the Performing Arts

 

 

Key Stage Three

Students in Years 7 and 8 all study Drama for one hour lesson each week on a carousel with Dance. The Drama curriculum focuses on developing students confidence and teamwork skills, introducing students to developing their own devised performances, issue based Drama and developing performance work from scripts.  Students are encouraged to evaluate their own work and that of others.

 

Year 7

Half term 1: Introduction to drama: Circus

Students are introduced to drama at QKA with sessions based around key expectations, as well as skills development in creating still images and mime, along with developing facial expression, body language and analytical skills.

Half term 2: Darkwood Manor

This devising project focuses on techniques such as improvisation, teacher in role, thought tracking and slow motion.  Students will devise their own performance based on a stimulus and evaluate and self-reflect on their journey in doing so.

Half term 3:  Page to Stage – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This unit introduces the concept of working with a script as a stimulus for performance. In a range of workshops, students will explore character, motivations, status and plot whilst revisiting techniques such as still images, improvisation, direct address and narration. The unit will culminate in a final performance devised using the script as a stimulus.

Year 8

Half term 1: Pantomime

Students will explore the genre and conventions of pantomime, such as role play, role reversal, stock character types and some design elements of devising performance. This unit of work exposes students to a range of examples of pantomime performance, as well as revisiting existing skill in devising, movement, characterisation and plot.

Half term 2: I Don’t Like Mondays

This devised unit of work explores a historical event whilst developing a range of drama skills including proxemics and still image, flash back, news report and a chat show. 

Half term 3: Our Day Out

This unit explores a full script building on the skills developed in Year 7.  Students will explore social issues, whilst also focusing on drama skills such as narration, thought-tracking and duologue,

 

 

Year 9

Students in Year 9 have the option of studying Drama for two one hour lessons each week.  This option provides a foundation for those students that will go on to choose to study GCSE Drama for one of their KS4 options.  In Year 9 students will explore a range of dramatic styles and techniques.  They will also explore existing written scripts as well as devising their own performance work.

Half term 1: Introduction to Styles and Techniques

Half term 2: Devising from Stimulus

Half term 3: Holocaust

Half term 4: Live Theatre

Half term 5 and 6: Noughts and Crosses

 

Key Stage Four

At Key Stage 4 students have the option of studying AQA GCSE Drama. This course provides students with the opportunity to develop their understanding of a variety of drama practitioners, practically explore a script and devise their own performance as well as evaluate live pieces of theatre.

Intro to GCSE Drama

A series of introductory workshops will re-cap skills gained at KS3 and begin to introduce a range of new skills and practices for GCSE. These include practitioner-focused workshops, development of evaluation skills, exploring scripts and text for performance, and devising from a range of stimuli.

Component 1 – Understanding Drama

At GCSE, students sit a written exam for drama. This will include:

• Watching and evaluating live theatre
• Answering questions on a set text
• Understanding theatre roles and terminology

This unit of work will begin to explore some of these categories and develop their knowledge in preparation for the exam.

They will practically explore Blood Brothers, their set text for the exam in year 11. This unit will begin by reading the play, followed by developing knowledge of the context around it and exploring it in performance. They will explore both performing the play and designing certain elements.

Section C of the exam requires students to analyse an example of live theatre. In this section of the component, students will experience a live theatre production, and will then discuss a variety of aspects of the production using analysis and evaluation. They will be assessed in the exam on their knowledge and understanding as well as their evaluation.  This is worth 40% of the GCSE.

Component 2 – Devising Drama

Students will work on their devising skills to create a performance which will be shown to a live audience for assessment. Alongside this, a devising log is completed to keep track of your progress and allow for evaluation after the performance. This component assesses AO1 (Responding to stimulus, Development and collaboration), AO2 (Devised performance) and AO4 (Analysis and evaluation).  This is worth 40% of the GCSE.

Component 3 – Texts in Practice

This practical component looks at staging extracts from a play for performance. Students will explore the play practically, before selecting two key extracts to perform for an external examiner. This component will assess student’s theatrical skills and ability to realise artistic intentions in live performance (AO2). This is worth 20% of the GCSE.

 

 

 

Key Stage Five

In Post 16 students have the option of studying:

AQA A level Drama and Theatre.  This course has a natural progression from AQA GCSE Drama.  Students explore a range of different drama practitioners, devise work for different audiences, explore two key scripts as well as evaluating live theatre.

Curriculum contact

• Subject Leader for Performing Arts: Tina Allen tina.allen@qka.education
• Leader of Literacy and teacher of Drama: Nicola Daintith nicola.daintith@qka.education