In Year 7 the focus is on supporting our students to lay the foundations of collaboration, communication, creativity and expression through introducing our students to the world of theatre. Students will develop a basic understanding of theatre, apply basic acting skills and techniques to communicate meaning along with an intro to development of written analysis and evaluation. The Year 7 Drama curriculum focuses on developing a love of creating, collaborating and excitement for Drama.
With the foundation laid in Year 7, the focus in Year 8 is to challenge the students to question their perception of the world. The Year 8 curriculum expects the students to work at a higher level and develop their Drama skills in order to create and precisely communicate their ideas, whilst having the confidence to take their creativity, performance, communication and collaborative skills to the next level. Students will learn to analyse and evaluate more effectively. Upon completion of the KS3 curriculum, our students will be ready to begin KS4.
For those students who will finish their Drama journey at the end of KS3, they will leave having the skills to effectively communicate, express, collaborate and lead with an understanding appreciation for Theatre and Performance.
Year 7
| Term | Topic | Description |
| Autumn 1 | Introduction to Drama | Students are introduced to applying their own creativity, ideas and collaborative skills to devise theatre using conventions and creating basic characters |
| Autumn 2 | Inside Out (characterisation) | With a basic understanding of theatrical conventions, students turn their attention to developing their characterisation skills through the introduction and development of verbal and physical acting skills to communicate thoughts and emotions. |
| Spring 1 | Anansi the Spider (choral storytelling) | Students look to apply their newly developed characterisation, devising and performance skills to work collaboratively as a chorus to tell a story through the lens of Greek theatre. |
| Spring 2 | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Applying their storytelling, characterisation, collaborative skills, students analyse and explore the characters and relationships within Shakespeare’s comedy. |
| Summer 1 | Melodrama | Working from the storytelling foundation laid through the exploration of Greek Theatre, students focus on character portrayal and communication through the theatrical conventions and stock characters of Melodrama |
| Summer 2 | Matilda | Students pull together their skills and knowledge from the year and apply it to their own interpretations from scenes Matilda the Musical. |
Year 8
| Term | Topic | Description |
| Autumn 1 | Physical Theatre – Curious Incident of a dog in the night-time | Building on their knowledge and understanding from Year 7, students dive into the world of physical theatre and practitioner Frantic Assembly as they combine their non-verbal communication, characterisation and communication skills. |
| Autumn 2 | Everybody’s Talking about Jamie Characterisation, status and commitment | Students focus on characterisation and acting skills to communicate character, emotions, thoughts and relationships on stage as they explore scenes from Everybody is Talking about Jamie |
| Spring 1 | The Making of Britain – A Migration Story | Students develop their creative and devising skills through studying and exploration of Jannett Creese’s journey to Britain in the 1950s. |
| Spring 2 | Verbatim Theatre | Through the exploration of Verbatim Theatre, students hold a mirror up to society and look to create theatre inspired by real life events. |
| Summer 1 | Devised Theatre | In the penultimate term of Ks3 Drama, students bring together their verbal and non-verbal communication skills, collaboration skills, characterisation and performance skills to devise and perform a piece of theatre from a stimulus. |
| Summer 2 | Romeo and Juliet | Students deepen their understanding of Shakespeare’s tragedy, focusing on bringing the famous characters to life utilising their interpretation and characterisation skills before finishing Ks3 Drama with a deepened understanding and appreciation of theatre and drama. |