Drama

Successful pupils in Drama will work collaboratively and creatively, exchanging and discussing complex ideas with others. Pupils will strive to constantly evaluate and improve their work, and will be reflective learners. Pupils will develop skills to become confident and expressive performers and public speakers.  Pupils will have depth and breadth of knowledge of Drama specific skills, along with understanding of theatre history, genres and styles of performance and awareness of a range of different careers available in the Performing Arts industry.

Pupils will experience the following every year through practical lessons in their Drama journey at St Richard’s: 

•  Development of Acting Skills (for example use of voice, facial expressions, body language, movement, focus during performance, character development, use of the stage space), 
• Development of Devising  Techniques (called ‘Toolbox Techniques’ in KS3 – examples include still image, narration, flashback, slow motion, ensemble movement, choral speech, split scene) 
• Developing Knowledge and Understanding of theatre history, genres and styles of performance, and wider roles in the Performing Arts Industry. 

Skills and knowledge developed from the start of the Drama course in Year 7 are regularly revisited through practical drama work – ensuring that pupils retain this knowledge, understanding and skill in their long term memory. This is then built upon in subsequent years, with practical work developing in terms of quality and sophistication. Pupils regularly verbally evaluate their own work and that of their peers using drama specific terminology, developing oracy skills and learning to become reflective performers and observant audience members. They are also given regular oral teacher feedback when working practically as a form of live marking. Pupils experience high quality models in order for them to understand what high standards of performance looks like throughout the Drama course. This is in the form of teacher modelling, peer modelling or using video to provide examples from the wider professional performing arts industry. The KS3 Drama Curriculum gives pupils the knowledge and skills which build directly towards success in GCSE Drama and beyond, and success criteria is based on assessment vocabulary and mark schemes at GCSE.