Key Stage 3

Students are taught for one period of Drama every week in mixed ability groups, with weekly homework comprising written and/or practical tasks based on learning in the classroom. Pupils are regularly assessed and teachers ensure they gain a full understanding of why they are at their level and exactly what they need to do to improve.

Year 7

Skills and techniques. Pantomime. Roald Dahl, page to stage. PSHE, exploring bullying, diversity and identity through Drama. Storytelling and narrative. The Rules, the story of a hare-brained scheme with a reluctance to follow ‘the rules’.

Year 8

Power. Face by Benjamin Zephaniah.

Year 9

Creating theatre. Designing theatre.

Key Stage 4

Students in Years 10 and 11 follow the WJEC Eduqas GCSE Specification and are taught for five periods over two weeks, with weekly homework tasks. Component 1 of the GCSE, Devising Theatre, forms 40% of the overall marks and students 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 WJEC. In Component 2, Performance from a Text, pupils are assessed on acting and study two extracts from a performance text, then take part in one performance using sections of the performance text. Component 3, Interpreting Theatre comprises a series of questions on one set text, a live theatre review and an analysis of a given aspect of a live theatre production seen during the course.

Year 10

Stanislavski. Brecht. Musical theatre. Physical theatre. T.I.E. DNA by Dennis Kelly.

Year 11

Devising theatre. Performance from a text. Interpreting theatre.

Key Stage 5

Pupils study the WJEC Eduqas A Level Specification and are taught for nine periods a fortnight in Year 12, and 10 periods in Year 13. Homework is set weekly. Component 1, Drama is internally assessed and externally moderated and forms 20% of the qualification. Component 2, Text in Action is externally assessed by a visiting examiner and forms 40% of the final mark. Component 3, Text in Performance is a 2 hour and 30 minute examination comprising 40% of the A Level.

Entry requirement

Grade 6 in GCSE Drama or GCSE English Literature.

Year 12

Practitioners: Stanislavski, Brecht, Berkoff, Artaud and others. Love and Information by Caryl Churchill. Devising a piece of theatre based on a reinterpretation of an extract from a text chosen from a list supplied by WJEC and developed using the techniques and working methods of either an influential theatre practitioner or a recognised theatre company. Learners produce a realisation of the performance or design and a creative log.

Year 13

Devising two pieces of theatre based on a stimulus supplied by WJEC: a devised piece using the techniques and working methods of either an influential theatre practitioner or a recognised theatre company (different to that chosen for Component 1). An extract from a text in a different style chosen by the learner. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon, adapted by Simon Stephens.