During their drama lessons in Year 7 and Year 8 students will be encouraged to work cooperatively in groups of varying sizes to prepare and present pieces of improvised and scripted drama. They will learn drama conventions and will be expected to read a variety of material, work in role and use the appropriate voice, movement and gesture. They will learn about drama from different times and cultures and use thinking skills to construct drama.
Year 7
In Year 7 pupils will be introduced to the basic skills within Drama with a main focus to develop social and communication skills. Within Year 7 pupils are encouraged to build positive working relationships, built on trust and respect as well as their subject knowledge. We explore Physical Theatre, Greek Theatre, plays by Shakespeare and issues such as ‘Freedom and Justice’. All projects are explored practically and pupils will use their Drama Diaries to record their own ideas, responses and evaluations.
Year 8
In Year 8 we look to further develop the basic skills from Year 7. We explore different styles of Drama and focus on developing the creating, performing and responding skills. Pupils will look at theatre history, scripts and learn about issues through Drama. We cover topics on Melodrama, Shakespeare, Storytelling and Characterisation along with practically exploring topics about Peer Pressure and Refugees/Evacuation. Pupils will devise and rehearse their own performances and analyse the work of others. Pupils will record their progress in their Drama Diaries where more extensive evaluations will be evidenced.
Year 9
Year 9 is about developing pupils spiritually, morally, socially and culturally. We aim to focus on the world we live in and develop the skills that are vital for life outside of the Drama lessons. We want pupils to challenge and question the world in which we live and explore topics and issues practically. We will study plays, themes and issues both practically and theoretically in preparation for the GCSE year using the key Drama Strategies, Mediums and Elements. Topics include Blood Brothers, Waiting for Godot, The Media and Physical Theatre. They will record their responses and evaluations within their Drama Diaries to further develop these skills for GCSE Drama should they decide to continue.
