DRAMA @ HAYES
OUR CURRICULUM PURPOSE
Through curriculum and extra-curricular Drama we strive at Hayes to create an open-minded and experimental community, unafraid to take risks and explore the essence of human behaviour through process and performance.
Over 3, 5 or 7 years of study, we focus on developing our students’ interpersonal, teamwork and performance skills; developing their ability to communicate confidently, sensitively and with flair. The attributes of the Hayes Learner – Independence, Creativity, Communication, being a Team Player and being Reflective – are explicit in the learning of our students at all Key Stages; as a department we believe that Drama has a vital role to play in the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all students.
Our curriculum at KS3 is structured to ensure our students learn about the world around them through drama, rather than learn drama skills without context. This enables them to develop their empathy and understanding of their own and other cultures, beliefs and periods of history. At KS4 and 5 the emphasis moves gradually more towards theatre studies and drama theory, with pupils developing a strong understanding of theatre history and the demands of performance, design and direction through the texts studied, but all the while the core values of KS3 remain.
We expose our students to excellence through a department of experienced subject-specialists, regular professional workshops, theatre visits and in-house productions that always look to redefine the audience’s traditional expectations of a “school play.”
AN OPEN-MINDED AND EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNITY
KEY FEATURES OF LEARNING
Following a term of learning and applying a toolkit of techniques and skills, our curriculum at KS3 is structured to ensure our students learn about the world around them through drama, rather than learn drama skills without context. This enables them to develop their empathy and understanding of their own and other cultures, beliefs and periods of history.
The schemes in Year 7 introduce the pupils to stereotypical and archetypal characterisation, storytelling and how to create atmosphere on stage. Each scheme develops the students’ understanding of how these skills are essential for successfully communicating with an audience and structuring coherent drama. Emphasis is placed on students starting to use the skills they learn in term one in their practical work with minimal prompting.
In Year 8, the context and technical style of the work becomes a little more advanced, with emphasis on classical texts (The Tempest and Antigone - introducing students to two important periods in theatre history), genre (Soap Opera and horror), theatre forms (Mask) and how to use drama to explore recent historical events (Evacuees). Although subtle, the emphasis on theory enable students to begin recognising the cultural and social importance of Drama through the ages.
In Year 9 we develop students understanding of different drama forms by exploring the techniques of Physical Theatre Company Frantic Assembly. We also challenge them to empathise with a range of characters, situations and time periods in one SOL exploring life in a Young Offender’s Institute in the 1970s and another that focuses on the impact of WW1 on those who lived through it both at home and on the frontline. We conclude KS3 Drama with a term exploring Theatre in Education, culminating in pupils creating their own TIE pieces designed for a younger audience. This provides an excellent stepping stone for the more complex devised work required of pupils at KS4.
Throughout KS3 students are assessed practically at the end of each SOL. Assessment criteria covers use of Skills, understanding of concepts and ability to demonstrate knowledge. Homework quizzes and written end of unit evaluations reflect the natural interleaving of skills that occurs throughout each year.
At GCSE pupils create a mix of devised and scripted work for performance, whilst also studying theatre forms and styles by devising in the style of an established theatre practitioner and studying a set text from a directorial perspective. In Year 10, we have traditionally taught Frantic Assembly as the devising practitioner for a practice Component 1 unit, whereas in Year 11 for the genuine GCSE practical examination, pupils explore the style and techniques of Brecht. This follows an introduction to Stanislavski and naturalism for the first devising project in Year 10 as we feel this provides an important theoretical grounding for the students, and also enables them to better understand the style of theatre Brecht was railing against when they undertake their actual devised unit in Year 11.
The written examination set text DNA enables pupils to explore how a naturalistic text can be interpreted in a variety of styles, enabling them to incorporate both the Stanislavskian and Brechtian ideas the devising units have taught them.
The exam board we have used since the introduction of the new specifications in 2016 is Eduqas. We felt the choice of texts for the written examination and structure of the practical work was best suited to our students as are the texts used as stimuli for devising. For the externally examined scripted performance unit the freedom offered by Eduqas in terms of texts enables us to choose performance texts that best suit each individual, whether that be finding a more accessible and relatable text such as John Godber’s Bouncers for a less able student, or stretching the empathetic and naturalistic skills of a more able student with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
At A Level, although the exam board we use is Edexcel, the format is very similar, but the texts for the written exam are more complex and pupils develop a strong understanding of the demands of performance, design and direction as well as an overview of theatre history through the texts studies.
The first Component 3 set text Equus is a natural follow up to the GCSE text DNA as it incorporates both naturalistic and non-naturalistic staging, performance styles and design. The second text, the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata, enables the students to develop an in-depth and immersive play within a play concept, focusing on a style of theatre very much in vogue today. For the A Level devising unit we have taught a variety of Theatre Practitioners, including the physical/verbatim company DV8 and the Immersive Theatre specialists PunchDrunk, which is a natural progression from the work most students will have done on more traditional practitioners in KS3 and 4. Exploring challenging and current practitioners enables pupils to explore current socio-political themes and present them in a formats that enable them to stretch themselves and their audience.
DEVELOPING LEARNERS
We aim to shape future theatre practitioners not just through lessons, but through our comprehensive extra-curricular programme. For KS3 students we have two after school clubs, one for Year 7s to develop their improvisation skills and build on the techniques they have learnt in lessons with students from outside their class, and a more project-oriented film acting club for Year 8 and 9 students, where the emphasis is on devising pieces and creating a filmed end-product. Although both clubs are overseen by teaching staff the content is delivered by our Year 13 Drama prefects, who are chosen from our A Level Drama students.
Open auditions are held for our Main School production every year, which rehearses twice weekly from October through to March, when the show is performed. We normally have a cast of around 40 students from Years 10-13. The mission statement of Hayes School Productions is “to produce theatre that alters the perception of the “school play” and challenges cast and audience alike”. This is reflected in the range of texts we have performed over the last decade and the innovative ways in which we have used the school hall as a performance space!
The House Drama competition was launched in 2012 and provides a truly vertical student experience, with performers in Years 7-9 and directors in Years 10-13. Open to all students in KS3, the competition regularly involves over 100 students from across the school.
It is our intention that students who leave us after 7 years of study should not just understand the impact major theatre practitioners have made on the arts and society as a whole, but have the potential to be the theatre practitioners of the future
An introduction to Year 7 Drama
In this video produced for Year 6 Induction Day, students are introduced to the excitement that awaits them when entering our drama studios in Year 7.