1. What is the curriculum rationale in Drama?
Intent: purpose and values of Drama
Drama is designed to help students develop the skills and qualities required for all aspects of performance; and encourage them to explore the essential areas of Creating, Performing and Responding. Students are encouraged to explore and express a language beyond words where they use their physicality and empathetic understanding to show and discover emotional meaning.
A focus is given to discovering and knowing cultural impacts of theatre across the world and ages. Students are enabled to empathise with other people’s lives as an outcome of their learning. Through the exploration of these areas, students are challenged to gain a deeper understanding of their own emotions, motivations and actions. At each point in their curriculum journey, students are immersed in a variety of texts and stimuli taken from a diverse bank of script writers and creatives.
2. What is the 'big picture' in Drama?
The ‘big picture’ outlines how the Big Ideas and areas of knowledge of each subject fit together:
The Big Ideas of Drama are:
- Creating - working to shape ideas into actions and exploring the conventions, resources and techniques of Drama with increasing confidence.
- Performing - sharing and presenting practical work that demonstrates practical understanding of techniques and process of performance.
- Responding – Learners reflecting on their own experience of being a part of the performance process, with also a view to critically respond as an audience member.
There are four key areas of knowledge which are necessary to become a subject expert in Drama:
Conceptual understanding: That our students build declarative knowledge (knowing that) about:
- theatrical genres
- theatrical style and conventions
- theatrical techniques
- Procedural fluency: That our students build procedural knowledge (knowing how to) allowing them to:
- Develop key dramatical skills and techniques
- Understand how to approach dramatical texts
- Devise and create original drama
- Perform and evaluate performance
- Disciplinary knowledge: that our learners build the practices of students of drama
- Language: that our learners gain fluency in using their voices and bodies to express themselves
Our Drama curriculum is based around these three big ideas, as they are the key components to understanding and enjoying Drama as a subject. Every lesson will offer the opportunity to become a more creative and skilled thinker whilst being challenged as an individual or as part of a group. The three Big Ideas of ‘Making, Performing and Responding’ are integral parts to students learning and enable them to follow a clear structure for assessment.
3. What does knowledge look like in Drama?
4. What do we teach and when?
Key Stage 3
5. What do we assess and when?
6. Where are the Drama Knowledge Organisers?