Exam Board: Edexcel | Spec No.: 1DR0 | View Edexcel's Drama webpage

About Drama


Drama Curriculum Intent: Understanding Drama’s Curriculum DREAM 

Purpose: This document sets out how Drama approaches Curriculum Intent at Eaton Bank Academy. 

Design  How have you designed your curriculum to be broad, balanced and ambitious? 
At Eaton Bank Academy, students have access to a broad, balanced and ambitious Drama curriculum, embedding skills and knowledge whilst developing a love of drama and theatre.  Students have the opportunity to: 

 

  • Devise creative and imaginative pieces and apply a range of conventions and styles to create innovative performance work 
  • Interpret and perform a range of existing scripts applying their own artistic vision 
  • Develop written evaluative skills embedded with subject specific language 
  • Design imaginative set, costume, music, lights, make up and props to enhance performance 
  • Understand the process of planning, rehearsing and reviewing performance, as well as appreciating live performance 
  • Articulate and express their ideas, views and opinions about a wide range of topics and issues clearly, confidently and respectfully 
  • Develop their individual character traits, including their confidence, resilience and independence contributing positively to the life of the school and other core transferable skills. 
  • Explore issues, in a safe and supportive environment, as well as empathise and engage with others outside their own social, cultural and historical setting 
Rationale  What is the rationale behind your curriculum design and ordering of content over time? 
The drama curriculum has been structured to ensure students’ progress from KS3 to KS5 and beyond. In KS3 drama lessons consist of the basic skills of devising, performing and responding to performance. Students will focus on developing and improving their performance skills and will experiment with a range of drama techniques, conventions, genres and styles. Key Stage 3 content will vary and allow students to not only explore plays, but also devise and write their own scenes. Students will develop an understanding of how plays are taken from the page to stage, through practical application, whilst simultaneously mastering subject specific language.  

 

In Key Stage 4 students follow the Edexcel GCSE course, where they will develop their performance skills, analyse and evaluate the work of live theatre makers, create devised drama, interpret and perform plays and develop their knowledge and understanding of stage design aspects, including lighting, sound, costume and set design. Students will work both practically and theoretically as they develop their understanding of drama and theatre and will be encouraged to articulate and express their ideas, views and opinions about a wide range of topics and issues clearly, confidently and respectfully.  

 

Skills learnt within Key Stage 3 will continue to develop and improve and the importance of written work will be a focus of the GCSE course. Students will have access to a wide range of materials to support the written element of the GCSE which will allow them to develop their vocabulary in preparation for the Component 3 exam and NEA portfolios in Component 1. 

Equality  How is your curriculum accessible and purposeful for all students, including SEND, Disadvantaged and Higher Ability Learners? 
All students are taught drama in a safe and supportive environment. Lessons are carefully sequenced, designed and differentiated to support the progress of individual students who have a range of starting points and levels of prior attainment, so that all succeed and feel proud and confident in their achievements. 

 

Disadvantaged and SEND students will be positively supported through 1:1 support within the classroom and directed questioning. Drama students are supported through timely and organised intervention and a range of opportunities are provided for students to catch up on and extend their learning such as after school sessions, sessions during lunch and online provision. 

 

The drama curriculum at Eaton Bank Academy is varied, inclusive and appropriately challenging and ensures that a range of skills are developed for all students. Furthermore, students are nurtured to become creative, confident and independent learners, transferable skills which would be beneficial across the curriculum and are highly developed in a subject environment such as drama. 

Aims, Vision & Values  What is the aim of your curriculum and how does this support the aims and values of the school? 
The drama curriculum is designed to support the growth of the individual, allowing students to develop essential, transferable skills, enabling them to grow into more rounded and self-aware young adults. Our expectations are that students consistently challenge themselves and take risks in the creation and performance of drama in all lessons. The aim of the department is to instil a love of learning through drama and provide skills and knowledge that are useful in all areas of life inside and outside of the school.  

 

Teaching and learning in the drama department is consistently underpinned by a rigorous, systematic and well-structured approach to the teaching of drama and theatre; use of teacher modelling; a range of strategies to develop innovative and imaginative performance; constant support and feedback for both written and practical work; opportunities for students to act upon feedback and improve and redraft work. 

    

The drama curriculum is enriched by extra-curricular activities such as theatre visits, whole school productions, show case evenings, practitioner workshops. Students are also encouraged to support and contribute to the department and the wider school by becoming ambassadors for the department at whole school events such as Parents evenings and Open Evenings. In turn this is benefitting the wider school community and consistently reiterating the school’s values both within school and to the wider public. 

Misconceptions  How do you address misconceptions in your subject to support students’ learning? 
Misconceptions are addressed in both the planning and delivery of the drama curriculum across the key stages. Effective questioning is at the very heart of every lesson in order to identify students’ misunderstandings. An integral part of the planning process is differentiating between which misconceptions should be addressed through a full class discussion and which errors should be addressed through individual conversation. 

  

Modelling is used to tackle common misconceptions in both practical and theory work, where students are encouraged to identify errors from past answers, in order for them to achieve mastery within the demands of the GCSE and A Level specification and assessment criteria.  

 

Drama Curriculum Map


Meet the Teachers


Mrs Sheard