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Drama Staff |
Department Information |
Curriculum Leader – Mrs J Cooper (ext 13271)
Teacher – Mrs G Leake
Teacher – Mr C Jacques
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Grease
Blood Brothers
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Drama
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 Rationale
Springwell Community College was, until recently, a Specialist Arts College and as such drama as a performing art is central to the identity of the college. Performance is a valued and celebrated facet of college life, encouraging, and sometimes forcing, students to take risks and step outside their comfort zones and by doing so, make progress. In a supportive and positive environment, pressure encourages the desire to be as good as possible and in performance a student can experience the thrill of being centre stage so to speak, and celebrate their own achievement. Self esteem and confidence are improved and the individual becomes more able to deal with issues in the real world, as well as growing in skill and ability on the stage.
The Drama department will give every student the opportunity to develop both as an individual and as a performer through a wide range of schemes, covering a range of topics and performance styles.
Each unit of work will culminate in a final assessed performance with clear and accessible success criteria. Each unit will cater to a range of learning styles, and have suitable levels of challenge inbuilt, so that the work is accessible to all but sufficiently complex to allow the more able students to attain the higher levels or marks.
Drama is now taught as a discrete subject in Year 7 and Year 8 as well as being an integral part of the skills based Project Management Curriculum. Further to this, students begin their GCSE Drama in Year 9 should they wish to progress on to the course.
All information regarding students’ attainment levels will be made available for staff to use in registers, as well as information regarding students’ individual needs. |
Key Stage 3 – Schemes of Work
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Unit title
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Skills Covered |
Assessed Task |
1. Baseline assessment |
Participation, engagement, listening, working with new people, teamwork, negotiating, leading, problem solving, how to cope with freedom, giving and accepting feedback, confidence building, Learning techniques including freezeframes and narration. |
One film assessment piece at end of term. |
| 2. Ug and communication |
As in 1. Plus use of vocal expression to create mood and tension in a piece of drama. “it’s not what you say, but how you say it!” |
Given situations performed in small group or pair using only the word Ug (but spoken in a variety of ways) to convey dialogue. Same scene performed with normal dialogue but with emphasis on how words are spoken. |
| 3. Holiday Hotel |
As in 1. Plus line learning, characterisation, blocking a scene. Draws heavily on performance skills developed in units 2&3. |
Performance of a section of script. |
| 4. Stage Fighting |
A technical unit in which students learn how to create convincing stage fighting moves in a safe and responsible environment. |
Performance of a conflict scene resulting in both a conflict then a resolution. |
| 5. Darkwood Manor |
As in 1. Plus ability to respond to teacher in role, question and formulate strategies, create a drama that builds to a climax, how to use tension, characterisation, use of narrator. |
Improvised piece based on spending a night in the possibly haunted Darwood Manor. |
| 6. The Moves |
As in Y8 unit 1. Plus, meaning and use of gesture. |
Improvised piece focussing on use of set gestures to convey mood in scene. |
| 7. Bouncers |
As in Y8 unit 1. Plus power of synchronised movement, line learning, effective delivery of script. |
Performance of section of script focussing on combination of physical skills and vocal skills. |
| 8. Monolgue |
As in Y8 unit 1. Plus text/subtext, power of solo speech, risk taking. |
Improvised piece containing at least one monologue. |
| 9. Outsider |
As in Y8 unit 1. Plus use of stylised techniques to create a drama – flashback, voices in the head, mime etc. Line learning and delivery. |
A performance of the script using the techniques or developing own piece using the techniques. |
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Key Stage 3 Assessment
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Students will be formatively assessed throughout the units of work; AFL is an integral part of the subject and over the course of the unit each student will have at least one opportunity to show their work to an audience of either the whole class or part class and receive feedback using the WWW/EBI framework. When focussing on specific skills, teachers may direct the AFL to a certain area (eg use of facial expression) to encourage students to consider this in more depth. Whiteboards can be used. Summative assessment occurs at the end of the unit using the student friendly assessment criteria attached to each unit of work. It is expected that teachers will familiarise the students with the assessment criteria early on in each unit of work so that students are aware of the focus for the piece. Students will be involved in the assessment process at all stages, and will be given a target card on which to record their attainment level and set a target area to work on to attain a higher level in the next unit. All students will be aware of their end of Key Stage target. |
Key Stage 4 – Years 9, 10 and 11
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The GCSE course is based on the AQA specification. Students undertake a range of performance coursework units ranging in style and content and submit the best 2 for their coursework mark (60%). There is a written exam based on practical work completed for which students practise on a termly basis at the end of each unit of work.
Schemes of Work
Unit title
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Skills Covered |
Assessed Task |
| Skill Building |
Here students will rapidly increase their knowledge of Drama techniques such as freezeframe, monologues, line learning, stimulus lead planning, technical support. |
A selection of scenes making use of new skills entitled ‘The Phone Call’. |
| Moment of Crisis |
Freeze frames, flashback, soundscape, planning improvised piece. |
A performance including a freeze frame, flashback and monologues. |
*MOCK EXAM PREP
Out of Their Heads
*SCHOOL PLAY |
Line learning, research skills. |
Up to a 10 min performance from the script. |
| Victorian Melodrama |
Developing improvised piece from given contextual information. |
Up to a 10 min performance. |
| TIE |
Developing improvised piece from given contextual information. |
Performance to Y6 students from feeder primary schools. |
| Blue Remembered Skills |
Line learning, research skills. |
10 min performance from script. |
| The House |
Developing improvised piece from title and picture stimulus. |
Up to 10 min improvised performance. |
| Blood Brothers |
Line learning, research skills. |
10 min performance from script. |
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Key Stage 4 Assessment
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Students undergo the same formative assessment procedures as at Key Stage 3, but the assessment criteria are set down by the exam board. Students are reminded of these at regular intervals. Their final pieces are marked in line with these criteria and marks recorded on the appropriate AQA sheets. Students also have a target card so they can keep a track of their own progress. |
Provision for G&T Students
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In addition to the Department policy (based on the college policy), listed below are some specific measures used to ensure G&T students are sufficiently challenged:
• Take on the role of leader and direct others
• Take on a larger/more demanding role
• Plan extra scenes and introduce more difficult performance techniques – eg monologues – into the performance
• Consider how technical aspects – eg costume, lights, sound, ppt – will enhance the performance
• Be used as lead learners to perform first to set the standard
• Be used to lead AFL sessions
To further engage/stretch them, extra curricular activities will be targeted at them – eg lead roles in college productions. |
Provision for SEN students and other minority groups
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Drama is an inclusive subject and every student will be able to access it at a certain level. Groups can be carefully structured to ensure students with SEN are able to achieve in a comfortable and supportive environment. They should not be treated differently or given different work if at all possible, the aim is to meet the needs of all by the nature of the work, careful lesson planning and differentiation of outcome. |
Behaviour |
The Department B4L policy follows the college’s procedures. In brief, staff should seek to reward good behaviour and not to promote confrontation. The aim is to ensure a positive climate for learning is created and in the case of a discipline issue arising, the following strategies should be adopted
1. Non verbal warning
2. Verbal warning
3. Moving student if possible
4. Removing student for short cooling off period
5. Speaking to them to negotiate return to lesson
6. If all this fails, send for ‘on call’ to escort student to CL
7. Break/lunchtime detention
8. After college detention
It is crucial that the member of staff and student have a restorative conversation so that the climate for learning is not impaired.
At all times staff should model the way they expect students to behave – be polite, fair and reasonable. Humour is also a good way of dissolving possibly difficult situations before they get out of hand. |
Rewards |
Rewards should be given at teacher’s discretion – praise points can be awarded and nomination for achievement awards. Staff may also like to introduce an element of competition and set up their own prizes or rewards for certain pieces of work. Drama Department postcards of praise are also available for staff to send at their discretion. |
ICT |
Drama is essentially a practical subject with the emphasis on interpersonal skills and self esteem. ICT can be used to support this in a number of ways – lights, camera work, editing, use of powerpoint, blue screening, resources on the VLE. It is crucial however, that this does not become the focus of all lessons, as ICT is being developed and used hugely in other subject areas; face to face contact and learning through personal interaction should be equally valued and this is the main focus of the Drama curriculum. |
Homework |
Homework is set at Key Stage 3 on a termly basis; tasks are available on the Moodle and will be set by staff during the first lesson of each term.
GCSE students will be given exam practise papers to complete towards the end of every term. |
Extra-Curricular Opportunity |
There is massive extra curricular opportunity in Drama.
Showcase events for all years are held as part of Creativity Week and groups from each class are encouraged to perform either pieces they have done during the year or a piece they have created especially. These are judged by a panel of experts (past students who have followed a performance related pathway). The audience is the rest of the year group. Showcase evenings are also held for parents in the evenings where students perform classwork to give a flavour of what happens in lessons. Rehearsals for these take place at lunchtime and after college.
College production is another major extra curricular event – usually involving around 80 students on and back stage.
Trips to the theatre are organised regularly for Key Stage 4 Students and once a year for Key Stage 3. Live theatre is an important part of the whole Drama experience and we encourage as many students as possible to go. Some trips, eg Opera Experience, may be targeted at G&T students.
In addition to this the Community Arts Department holds a number of after college clubs which students may attend. |
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