Drama

What will I study?

In Year 8, you will study the following topics;

• Drama Tool Kit
• Aberfan
• Mime
• Stones
• Rosa Parks
• Devising

In Year 9, you will study the following topics;

• Drama Tool Kit
• Hard to swallow
• Practitioners
• Devising

What skills will I develop?

Year 8:

• Students will learn the basic skills for Drama, including entrances and exits, dramatic irony, angel and devil and spoken thoughts. 
• Students will learn further techniques including still image, foreign theatre and narration for use in live performance.
• Students will develop their skills in relation to facial expression and movement, to fully understand characterisation in a physical sense, without the use of their voices.
• Students will develop their skills in relation to taking a play from page to stage.
• Students will learn how to develop a character that has already been devised and be able to portray the playwrights intentions on stage. 
• Students will begin to develop their own ideas and create responses from a given stimuli. 

Year 9:

• Students will further develop skills for Drama, including entrances and exits, dramatic irony, angel and devil and spoken thoughts. 
• Students will explore a scripted piece about body image and how it can affect individuals and their families. 
• Students will study the devices of Bertolt Brecht’s epic theatre. 
• Students will study the devices of Stanislavski’s method.  Where the actors become the character, displaying real life on stage resulting in an emotional connection with the audience. 
• Students will begin to develop their own ideas and create responses from a given stimuli. 

How will I be assessed?

Year 8:

Students will be assessed at three points throughout the academic year on their knowledge of drama techniques and concepts this will be through written questioning and through performances. 

Year 9:

Students will be assessed at three points throughout the academic year on their knowledge of drama techniques and concepts this will be through written questioning and through performances.  Students in year 9 will also create logbooks and performance reviews to prepare them for the work that is required from them in years 10 and 11. 

What will I study?

Year 10:

• Component 2: Developing Skills and Techniques in the Performing Arts

Year 11:

• Component 1: Exploring the Performing Arts
• Component 3: Responding to a Brief

What skills will I develop?

Year 10:

• Students will develop their performing arts skills and techniques through the reproduction of acting, dance and/or musical theatre repertoire as performers or designers.

Year 11:

• Students will develop their understanding of the performing arts by examining the work of performing arts professionals and the processes used to create performance.
• Students will be given the opportunity to work as part of a group to contribute to a workshop performance as either a performer or a designer in response to a brief and stimulus.

How will I be assessed?

Year 10:

• Non-exam internal assessment set by Pearson, marked by the centre and moderated by Pearson.
• The Pearson-set Assignment will be completed in approximately 15 hours of supervised assessment.

Year 11:

• Non-exam internal assessment set by Pearson, marked by the centre and moderated by Pearson.
• The Pearson-set Assignment will be completed in approximately 12 hours of supervised assessment.
• Task set and marked by Pearson completed under supervised conditions. Students will be given the set task in January, 12 weeks before the supervised assessment period, in order to carry out the development of creative ideas and rehearsal for the workshop performance.

What will I study?

You will undertake a Level 3 BTEC Extended Certificate in Performing arts, which is the equivalent to 1 A-Level.  You will also receive the equivalent UCAS points as an A-level.  You will study 4 units of which, 3 are mandatory and 2 are external.  Mandatory content (83%). External assessment (58%).

Unit 1 – Investigating Practitioners work – You will study key practitioners and their influence upon theatre practice.  Unit 2 – Developing skills and techniques for live performance – for this unit, you will study a wide range of styles of theatre and how to apply them for live performance.  Unit 3 – Group performance workshop – is the final unit you will study, in which you and your fellow cast will produce and stage a large scale production for a public audience.  Your optional unit will be selected based upon the groups’ strengths and preferences, and you may choose from acting styles, Improvisation, theatre in the community, musical theatre and many more.

What skills will I develop?

The BTEC level 3 Extended Certificate will develop your practical performance skills, as an actor on stage, your roles and responsibilities as member of a theatre company and how to interpret a range of repertoire and practitioners.  This qualification will be an excellent foundation for higher education.

How will I be assessed?

4 units - of which, 3 are mandatory and 2 are external.  Mandatory content (83%). External assessment (58%).

Unit 1 – Investigating Practitioners work – Externally assessed.
Unit 2 – Developing skills and techniques for live performance – Internally assessed.
Unit 3 – Group performance workshop – Externally assessed.
Optional unit – Internally assessed.