Drama
Everybody thinks they know what Drama is, but it is much less about performance than it is about being able to organise and prioritise one’s thoughts when exploring ways of communicating. Drama is also an exciting way to explore issues in a safe environment. And this is especially true for Year 7 pupils who are exploring the school, new relationships with peers and staff at the same moment they have arrived from their different Primary schools and found themselves the youngest members of the Cams Hill School Community.
Parent of Year 7 girl: “She was really worried about the new tutor group before September but Drama really has helped her settle in.”
Parent of Year 7 girl: “Our daughter is so much more resilient than we thought she would be, there is no doubt Drama has helped her put things into perspective and given her a chance to reflect on her feelings.”
DRAMA AT KEY STAGE 3
Pupils have one lesson a week of Drama and are taught in mixed ability classes. It is difficult to make mistakes in Drama since some of our best learning experiences happen when things go another way than was expected. In preparation for Key Stage 4, the KS3 course is structured focusing on the same skills required for each of the 3 examined components at GCSE.
Year 7
Skills and Mime
Dangerous Mission (Extended Project)
‘Our Day Out’ by Willy Russell
Year 8
Live Evaluation
Horror
Mini-Devising
‘Blood Brothers’ by Willy Russell
Year 9
Devising, Practitioner Introduction and Stimulus Exploration
‘Teechers’ by John Godber
Set Text (‘DNA’ and ‘Things I Know to be True)
GCSE DRAMA
Why study Drama GCSE?
GCSE (9-1) Drama challenges students and develops a number of transferable skills:
- Research – A key aspect of planning any production is to develop research skills.
- Independence – When studying Drama, students work on their own to complete tasks.
- Working with others – Students will work with others as theatre companies to create both devised and text-based performances.
- Analysis – Any performer, director or designer must be able to take and understand information before applying it to create a performance.
- Communication – The ability to discuss key issues verbally and in writing is vital to any future success. Whether as a character or in rehearsals preparing for a performance, this is an essential skill.
- Time management – The skill of prioritising work is very important. By preparing performances and working through questions in an exam context, a GCSE (9-1) Drama student will have effectively developed this skill.
- ICT – Drama students will develop their ICT skills. From using simple word processors, or scouring the web for that vital piece of research for a performance, to operating the sound and light boards or creating interactive sets, technology goes hand in hand with Drama.
- Problem solving – Drama asks questions about society and the world around us. The skills used to discuss these problems and offer potential answers through effectively creating and preparing performances are the same as those used to solve real-life issues.
- Planning and organising – Creating Drama productions teaches students how to plan effectively to complete many different tasks presented to them.
- Drive and determination – Any successful Drama GCSE student will have shown the drive and determination to succeed – exactly what a sixth form, college or employers will be looking for.
Here at Cams Hill School we follow the AQA examination board’s specification. The course is completed over two years and is made up of the following components.
Component 1 – Understanding Drama
Section A of this Component includes the study and understanding of roles and responsibilities within the theatre as well as different types of staging and stage positions.
Section B of this Component requires pupils to study a whole play-text set by the exam board. Pupils will explore this text through highly practical tasks and in-depth discussion with some written tasks at intervals to help solidify their knowledge and understanding. To gain a complete insight into the text, pupils will explore the text through the eyes of a performer, director and a technician. They will learn about the style, themes and content of the play and experiment with different ways the text can be interpreted and therefore staged. Pupils are allowed a clean copy of the text in the exam (supplied by the department) but we encourage them to purchase their own copy to make notes in during study.
Section C of this Component is an evaluation of a piece of live theatre. Over the two year course pupils are expected to attend at least two school trips to see live, professional theatre. A collective class experience really helps pupils to discuss and make notes in preparation for the exam. The question pupils will need to answer will vary each year but all aspects of performance evaluation can be covered by thinking about “How effective was the performance of ……?” From this, pupils make notes on all performance elements, for example characterisation, use of voice and movement, lighting, sound and music, costume and set. To answer fully, pupils need to analyse what they have seen as well as evaluate it. Again, pupils will have plenty of practice writing their answers in examination conditions.
Pupils are encouraged to experience as much theatre as possible during both Key Stages. The more you see, the more ideas you have to put into your own work, the more opportunity you have to develop you own skills and the easier you will find it to talk about what you have seen.
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou
Component 2 – Devising Drama
This component builds upon the experiences of Key Stage 3 and explores the world of devising. It gives pupils the freedom of experimenting with many different styles of performance and gives them the opportunity to further develop characterisation skills. Pupils will study different performance and rehearsal strategies whilst creating their own piece of drama. Pupils are given lots of different starting points from which to develop their work; a photograph, a song, a newspaper article, instrumental music, a historical figure, a sculpture.
Pupils are encouraged to consider the whole performance including technical aspects such as lighting, sound and music, costume and set.
Marks are awarded for two final pieces of work; a final performance of their own devised work and an accompanying logbook that documents the process that they went through to reach the final product.
In preparation, pupils take part in a mock project before they embark on the real thing.
This section of the course is marked internally and moderated by AQA.
Component 3 – Texts in Practice
At the end of this component pupils will perform two extracts from the same play to an external examiner. This can be in groups, but monologues and duologues are also allowed. The mark that is given on the day will stand and there is no opportunity to improve your mark. This can sound daunting but read on to see how we prepare for this exam.
Pupils study a text of our choosing; a great opportunity for us to tailor the work to each class. And this part of the course is nearly 100% practical. There may be some written tasks to help develop understanding, but these are purely to help towards the end product and are not marked. In order to become outstanding performers that are able to demonstrate skill in characterisation (using voice and movement), communicate with the audience, be consistent in style and form and collaborate effectively with other group members. It is important that we understand all aspects of a play-text. To do this, pupils involve themselves in many different tasks such as on and off text activities, hot-seating to investigate character and forum theatre to explore different approaches to the same scene. All of this means that pupils can pick and choose from the best moments of rehearsal and creation to produce the best possible performance.
If you enjoy Drama but performing is not your thing you can always take the Performance Support route for Components 2 and 3. This means you will be attached to a performance group but will focus on a technical aspect of theatre, for example lighting, sound or costume.