City of Ely Community College

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The Drama Department

The benefits of taking Drama are very well known. Anyone who has worked with young children knows that they learn by exploring their world using their imagination and engaging in role play. The link between imaginative, or role play, and language is particularly strong.
You've got a child at the school, you, as the parent know that you're child can read and write well. Perhaps you're child does very well academically.
All of this is, of course, very important. But do you know how well your child communicates orally? Is he/she a confident, clear speaker?

Chances are, that within the school, your child spends the majority of time focused on writing and reading skills, while not so much time on speaking & listening. If you look objectively at your own life for a single day, you will notice that most of your interactions with other people require you to know how to speak and listen well. Good oral communicators find it easier to make friends and will find it easier in the long term to find and hold good jobs.
Good oral skills are not the only benefits that taking drama gives your child.

Here are some more:
· In taking drama, your child is learning a wide range of appropriate ways of communicating. They learn to project their voice and to speak words clearly.
· Your child learns those subtle cues that we all give away when we are interacting with someone else. It may mean a mannerism, or understanding that someone is angry even when they say they are not but their lips are tightened in a line, arms are folded across the chest.
· In learning drama, your child is learning that important quality of empathy. It allows, if only briefly, for the actor to experience how someone else thinks and acts.
· Your child learns how to act, obviously. This may seem a weird thing, but who, except for actors need to act? We do. We do it every single day. We put on a smile at the supermarket when we really feel like crap. We go to a job interview, terribly nervous and yet hide our nerves (that is act).
· Drama works to promote your child's imagination. Imagination is one of life's essential ingredients.
· Imagination gives life excitement it keeps things interesting. Even our top scientists need an imagination. In order to find a cure for cancer, for example, the scientist must first be able to imagine a cure.
· Drama, by its very nature requires that the child be put into circumstances physically, mentally and emotionally that are outside their understanding of how things should be. This helps them to grow as a person.
So, you can see that by encouraging drama both at school and in the home, you are giving your child some enormous personal benefits that will stay with them long into adulthood.

Our department is very lucky to have some very experienced staff that are continually looking to improve the standards within the department.

Mr L Popp – Is the current head of Drama. Mr Popp was appointed in 2008 after leaving his school in Aberdeenshire where he was head of Drama.
Miss R Daft – Is currently the head of year 10. Miss Daft was the head of Drama in the school for nearly ten years before taking over as head of year in 2008.
Mr B Harvey – Is currently the deputy head of the school and is a long serving member of the department who, although predominantly an English teacher, has continued to excel in delivering his passion for Drama and the arts.

Drama Department Key Stage 3

Rationale

The year KS3 Drama curriculum is based upon developing pupil imagination, communication and creativity whilst assessing their progress in the three essential areas of making, performing and responding in Drama.

Previous Experience, attainment and Assessment in Drama

It is expected that all or most yr 7 pupils will have experienced some Drama lessons and/or cross curricular learning through Drama in their primary school and, according to the “Drama in Schools” document the expectation is that most yr 7 pupils should have already achieved Level 3 in Drama. However, we recognise that some gifted and talented pupils may be working at higher levels and some, where their previous provision and/or Drama experience has been minimal, may still only be working towards this particular level.

Assessment for Learning in Drama

In making, performing and responding in Drama all KS3 pupils will be encouraged to reflect upon their own work and evaluate their progress through the Drama levels within the curriculum. Pupils will have an understanding of their own attainment and level in Drama and are encouraged, with guidance, to actively involve themselves in individual target setting and the setting of realistic but challenging personal goals.

Delivery and assessment

The curriculum content, delivery and assessment focuses on the development of Drama skills in the following areas:

Making
Performing
Responding
Aims and objectives

By the end of KS3 all pupils will have experienced and developed the necessary Drama skills in order to;

Making

Work confidently in groups using a range of Drama techniques to explore situations and devise dramas for different purposes
Plan and structure plays that make use of a range of techniques and forms to express their ideas, e.g. narration in story theatre, mask work and mime in physical theatre
Actively interpret the work of playwrights
Write and perform their own simple scripts, demonstrating an understanding of some correct theatre conventions
Establish a character with control over movement and voice

Performing

Select and operate a range of simple theatre technologies to create the right space for their Drama and to enhance their work
Learn lines, collaborate with others and organise simple presentations
Experiment with their voices and movement to create or present different characters in performance

Responding

Demonstrate an awareness of some Theatre traditions from different times and places e.g. dance-drama and physical theatre and Greek or Tudor Theatre
Discuss the themes or issues in the Drama and the way they were presented
Reflect on and evaluate their own and other pupils’ work, suggest improvements and use correct basic Theatre terminology
Comment on how intended effects have been achieved e.g. the use of silence

Aims

Through their work in KS3, pupils should:

be aware of and observe dramatic conventions.
use a range of dramatic forms to express ideas and feelings.
explore a variety of human emotions.
gain confidence in their own abilities, particularly to communicate verbally and non-verbally.
learn to respect and co-operate with others.
derive a sense of achievement from completing practical work for which they are responsible.
evaluate their own and others achievements.

Objectives

By the end of KS3, pupils should have developed:

self confidence.
awareness of movement and dramatic effectiveness.
use of gesture and body language.
group dynamics.
creative possibilities of the imagination.
oral and aural skills
voice control and production.
knowledge of improvisation and techniques involved.

At the end of KS3 Pupils should be able to:

Devise Dramas in various forms, based on a range of challenging issues and themes

Give and accept suggestions and ideas during the rehearsal process
Make plays which employ symbolic representations or effects to communicate meaning
Create and represent clearly defined characters from the written word, add depth and consider motivation
Organise and present performances to a range of audiences for different purposes and styles
Make good use of available technology to enhance and support their productions
Select and control appropriate vocal and movement skills with some subtlety and develop them in rehearsal

Discuss and give reasons for their preferences in Drama based on their knowledge of Theatre past and present e.g. the use of stock characters drawn from the commedia dell’arte.

Use correct terminology to describe their own work and begin to analyse how actors, technicians and directors have achieved special effects or communicated ideas, emotions and feelings.