Core Purpose

Students who choose to study drama develop skills in expressing themselves, further their creativity and become more assured performers. The history and changing styles of performance are a fascinating topic to study academically too.  Drama is not all about the performance, there is so much more:  history, politics, psychology, issues of justice and injustice, culture changes and our right to an identity are all central to what is covered.

Studying drama also helps students to develop important skills such as collaboration, analysis, communication and evaluation. These are skills that they need to use for the rest of their lives, in higher education and in work.

GCSE Drama guides students in how to have three perspectives when viewing a text or an idea: students consider and analyse from the points of view of a director, a designer and a performer. To understand this, students develop a knowledge of other times and cultures, including political, ideological and social changes in this country and across the world.

We aim to involve the largest possible number of students in productions: as performers, musicians, backstage or technical team members. In addition to our annual Shakespeare festival, we also team up with the Old Vic Theatre so that our senior students attend workshops where they can network with industry professionals and educate students in other schools.  We also have a close working relationship with the Royal Court, Young Vic and Donmar Warehouse Theatres, benefiting from discount and free tickets plus workshops from industry professionals.

GCSE students are expected to form small theatre companies and run educational workshops for local primary schools.

British Values Coverage

  • The history of British myths and storytelling
  • Drama (mythos) and the birth of Ethos (our way of living)
  • How literature and stories from other cultures have affected our contemporary beliefs

 

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Coverage

Spiritual

The myths of creation and belief are studied across various cultures’ storytelling arc

The connection between religion, ritual, belief and performance is extensively studied

Family relationships and the foundations of historic and contemporary morality are studied in the context of the spiritual ‘self’ of the character

The study of theatre practitioners and their belief in the ‘eternal’ and decoding of archetypes

Moral

Ability to recognise the difference between right and wrong

Understanding of the consequences of behaviour and actions

Interest in investigating and offering reasoned views about moral and ethical issues

Ability to understand and appreciate the viewpoints of others on these issues

Social

Use of a range of social skills; working and socialising with other pupils

Range of stories and writers studied including those from different religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds

Performance in communities and social settings, including schools and with local theatre companies

Exploration of attitudes that will allow students to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain

Cultural

Texts and stimuli from a broad cross section of cultures are studied

British Values and their place in a European and world context are studied with historical referencing (Influencing and reflecting political and social change through theatre)

Theatre in Education projects promote research into marginalized, socially stereotyped or underrepresented cultures

There are regular theatre trips and evaluations of the intended and perceived meaning of the writer, director and designer.

 

Please Click here to see the Drama Curriculum Coverage

 

Last updated September 2018