Dance & Drama

We are committed to inspiring, education and developing students’ performance and reflective skills.

We will always challenge students to set targets that go above and beyond their own perception of what they may be able to achieve.

We will always champion students who make exceptional progress and always nurture talent wherever we see it, however small it may be.

Our Staff

Mr Kavanagh – Director of Drama & Dance
Mrs Straw – Music & Drama Assistant
Mr Kramer – Teacher of Music (Musical Director for School Productions)
Year 13 Drama Prefect

Core Values – 5 Cs
Creation: using our imagination, realising ideas, building meaningful work from scratch.
Connection: understanding the work, ourselves, and the audience more.
Communication: always striving to transfer our work to others as effectively as possible.
Collaboration: working with others. Sharing, listening, participating.
Challenge: always ambitious and bold, expecting more from ourselves.

Drama & Dance Spaces
Drama Suite (F23) – Foundation Building. Classroom space.
Lecture Theatre – Foundation Building. Large dance space.
John Jenkin’s Hall – Main Building. Proscenium arch theatre space.

Curriculum Intentions
We provide a broad curriculum which is engaging and ambitious, developing students' knowledge and skills through in-depth study of text, performance, and practitioner lead technique. Our well sequenced curriculum, uses applied learning strategies to embed students understanding, giving them space to reflect on their work, as well as the work of their colleagues. We are committed to graduating students who are skilled communicators, who are equipped for future education, employment and participation in their communities.

Curriculum Modules
YEAR 7 DRAMA
HALF TERM 1 – Introduction to Theatre.
HALF TERM 2 – Working with text.
HALF TERM 3 – Creating character/Stanislavski.
HALF TERM 4 – Comedy & the audience.
HALF TERM 5 – Extended project: scriptwriting.
HALF TERM 6 – Extended project: rehearsing and performing.

YEAR 8 DRAMA
HALF TERM 1, 2, 3 – Understanding performance through the work of Drama practitioners.

YEAR 10 DRAMA WITH PUBLIC SPEAKING
TWO THIRDS OF TERM – Public Speaking through Drama.

YEAR 7 DANCE
TERM 1 – Disciplines in Dance.
TERM 2 – Dance practitioners case studies.
TERM 3 – Extended Choreography project.

KS3 Core Concepts

1 Rehearse and perform

Rehearse and perform confidently in a range of dramatic forms and styles - using voice, movement, physicality and emotional understanding in order to clearly communicate character, story and overall concepts/ideas within any given piece.

EXCEEDING:
Rehearsal ethic is clear: on task, considering alternative playing options, taking risks and making appropriate changes. Performance is confident and shows motivation and thought behind it. Students’ perform using their voice and physicality appropriately and with confidence and clarity in an attempt to marry them with the emotional psychology of a character within the confines of that characters situation. Students work with others effectively staying in character and listening to others on stage. Performances are rounded with a clear opening and closing and attempt to show a character’s emotional trajectory.

SECURE:
Rehearsal ethic is assured and motivated. Performance uses voice and movement with enough confidence to convey a sense of character. Students’ performances are confident within themselves and they fulfil their role within the context of the piece. Characterisation shows an appreciation and understanding of emotional depth.

DEVELOPING:
Rehearsal is one dimensional in places; without development and with less of an appreciation for how scenes/characters can be changed and sculpted. Performance is motivated but often without emotional depth. Occasionally emotional depth is misjudged and work with others can be misguided. An appreciation of what the role of a character in the context of a scene is, is sometimes/often lacking.

2 Create, improvise and devise

Create, Improvise and Devise dramatic work, designed specifically within the confines of the theatrical form.
Understanding the appropriateness of when to use comedy and tragedy to greatest effect.
Demonstrating work which attempts to make us think and/or feel.
Using imagination and flare in opportunities for improvisation and in turn demonstrating an understanding of the needs in any given scene or improvised situation.
EXCEEDING:
Students demonstrate the ability to create work individually which is challenging and specifically uses the elements of the theatre/context of a play. Improvisations are met with confidence, flare and an ability to react to a new situation with fresh awareness. Students are able to collaboratively devise, taking time to consider the dramatic and theatrical needs of their chosen area and acting upon them with sophistication, sensitivity and an emotional understanding.

SECURE:
Students create work individually which is solid and rounded – the work fulfils the remit and demonstrates a secure understanding of the task and a need for imagination and creativity. Students improvise with confidence, reacting appropriately to situations and understanding the needs of a scene and other characters within it. Students devise pieces which demonstrate imagination and clarity of meaning. They demonstrate an understanding of the dramatic needs of a piece and where it is placed in a theatrical context.

DEVELOPING:
Students create the basis of a scene/character/piece but often fail to bring it to a dramatic standing point or conclusion. Students may show understanding and motivation but the execution of reacting within the confines of an improvisation can be lacklustre or misguided. Devised pieces lack dimension and often can’t be fixed within a dramatic or theatrical context – the student sometimes misses what is required to make a concept or idea ideal/relevant for the stage.

3 Context, knowledge and appreciation

Having access and exposure to great dramatic works both on the page and in performance and understanding the context of these works. Being able to articulate this context as knowledge and showing appreciation of work regardless of taste.

EXCEEDING:
Students use a wide range of vocabulary to demonstrate, not only their taste for different types of dramatic work, but their appreciation of all dramatic work and what sort of effect that work can have on audiences. There is a clear retaining of the background behind pieces; students articulate knowledge of the role these pieces play within other contexts (Socially/Politically/Historically/etc). Students happily, and with vigour, ponder, question and explore dramatic texts and performances.

SECURE:
Students identify pieces and are able to securely and with confidence praise and critique pieces. Students are also able to appreciate work regardless of their own taste and make an effort to understand how a piece or performance has come into existence – why it is here and why it had endured. Contextual elements are understood and explored.

DEVELOPING:
Students identify pieces but are often unable to separate their own taste and critique from an appreciation of how and why other audiences might enjoy a certain piece of performance. Some knowledge of the wider context can be seen but there are gaps in that knowledge which sometimes effect a student’s overall understanding and appreciation of a certain piece or performance.

Productions

Every year the Drama Department stages three major events in the school, allowing students to continue their love and passion for the subject in their own time out of lessons.

Autumn Term: Drama Soirée
The Drama Soirée is the first opportunity for Year Seven to perform to a live audience as they showcase their monologues and duologues studied in the first term. The evening is a free event to attend and students are offered House points for the top 6 places. The evening is supported by the Sixth Form and Drama Prefect.

Spring Term: Senior Production
The Senior Production traditionally takes place in February and involves students from Year 9 to 13. A full scale production, it takes place in the John Jenkins hall for three nights and can range from experimental Shakespeare to traditional book musicals. Past productions include: The Crucible (2020), My Fair Lady (2019), Romeo & Juliet (2018), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017).

Summer Term: Junior Production
The Junior Production traditionally takes place in July and involves years 7 and 8 with support from a senior school crew. Student who have been nurtured through the year in class are encouraged to get involved in this first chance at being part of a full scale production and taking lead roles. Past productions include: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (2022) Fantastic Mr Fox (2021), Lord Of The Flies (2019), Cats (2018), The Wizard Of Oz (2017).

Past Productions

A full list of productions can be found below -

THE JUNGLE BOOK Rudyard Kipling & Stuart Paterson (Jul. 2024)

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (Feb. 2024)

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING Abe Burrows & Frank Loesser (Jul. 2023)

ROAD Jim Cartwright (Feb. 2023)

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice (Jul. 2022)

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE Agatha Christie (Feb. 2022)

FANTASTIC MR FOX Roald Dahl and Sally Reid (Jul. 2021)

THE SEAGULL Anton Chekhov (Feb. 2021)

THE CRUCIBLE Arthur Miller (Feb. 2020)

LORD OF THE FLIES Nigel Williams (Jul. 2019)

MY FAIR LADY Lerner & Lowe (Feb. 2019)

CATS Andrew Lloyd Webber & T.S Eliot (Jul. 2018)

ROMEO AND JULIET William Shakespeare (Feb. 2018)

THE WIZARD OF OZ Harold Arlen, E. Y. Harburg and John Kane (Jul. 2017)

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM William Shakespeare (Feb. 2017)

OLIVER! Lionel Bart (Jul. 2016)

KING LEAR William Shakespeare (Feb. 2016)

ANIMAL FARM George Orwell, Peter Hall (Jul. 2015)

MACBETH William Shakespeare (Dec. 2014)

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Howard Ashman and Tim Rice (Jul. 2014)

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET Stephen Sondheim (Feb. 2014)

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Joseph Stein, Jerry Brock, Sheldon Harnick (Jul. 2013)

TWELFTH NIGHT William Shakespeare (Mar. 2013)

THE MADNESS OF GEORGE III Alan Bennett (Dec. 2012)

LES MISÉRABLES Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (Jul. 2012)

TITUS ANDRONICUS William Shakespeare (Feb. 2012)

HIGH SOCIETY Cole Porter (Dec. 2011)