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Drama

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The Drama Department at Fort Pitt aims to ensure all students are given the opportunity to develop their skills in communication, teamwork, creativity and performance in a supportive and challenging environment.

The Key Stage 3 curriculum covers all the prerequisite skills and techniques necessary for GCSE Drama, should students wish to pursue the subject further. These are covered through a range of units of work, based on specific themes, issues or texts.

All students in Years 7 and 8 are timetabled to have one hour of drama per fortnight, increasing to five hours at GCSE and eight hours at A Level, across the two-week timetable. Regular assessment projects take place at all levels, which allow students to work in groups, developing and demonstrating their ability to interpret, explore, devise, create, rehearse, refine, perform and evaluate.

Subject Leader: Mrs T Reeves (treeves@fortpitt.medway.sch.uk)

Extracurricular

The Drama room is open daily for students to attend additional rehearsals in preparation for group assessment projects.

From January, rehearsals for the annual school production take place. These are scheduled during lunchtimes and after school, with performances being held at the end of the summer term.

Curriculum Content

Key Stage 3

Year 7

All projects allow students to access the level 3 to 6 criteria in Creating, Performing and Evaluating.

Home learning tasks will typically involve script work, line-learning, research and written evaluation tasks. Students will also be expected to attend rehearsals arranged by their working group in preparation for assessed performance. Work will always be set as relevant to the practical lessons, and full completion and meeting of deadlines is essential.

Year 8

All projects allow students to access the level 4 to 7 criteria in Creating, Performing and Evaluating.

Home learning tasks will typically involve script work, line-learning, research and written evaluation tasks. Students will also be expected to attend rehearsals arranged by their working group in preparation for assessed performance. Work will always be set as relevant to the practical lessons, and full completion and meeting of deadlines is essential.

Key Stage 4 – GCSE

Exam Board: WJEC

Students will be given the opportunity to see Live Theatre, both professional (organised trips at least once per academic year) and school-based (performances by older GCSE and A Level Students).

Students are expected to demonstrate full commitment throughout the course, particularly during group performance projects when they will be required to arrange and attend additional rehearsals in their own time.

Home Learning; A significant part of this is in the form of attendance to rehearsals outside of the lesson. These are arranged independently by the performance project group. Students are encouraged to make use of the student directing support team for these. (6th Form Drama students).

Home learning tasks will also involve script work, line-learning and research. Students will be required to complete written work in the form of Log Books, Devised Performance Reports, and Evaluations of Performance.

Work will always be set as relevant to the practical lessons, and full completion and meeting of deadlines is essential.

Year 9

This is a foundation year for the GCSE course, when students learn the necessary skills to excel by the time they are assessed in Years 10 and 11. They learn to work collaboratively as a team, as well as covering skills in devising, script work, textual analysis and exploration and written evaluative work.

Year 10

During this year, students will consolidate and further build their skills and techniques in devising, performance and script work, as well as covering a range of practitioners in considerable depth. Students will regularly review and evaluate their work in order to prepare them for all written components of the course. They will also be introduced to and begin to explore the set text in preparation for the written exam in Year 11.

Year 11

Students will complete all formally assessed units this year. Unit 1a (Devised Performance) will be performed and assessed in late November, shortly followed by completion of Unit 1b (Devised Performance Report) during 5 hours of controlled assessment. Students will then select and rehearse a short scripted piece for performance to a visiting examiner in late March / early April.

The rest of the course will involve practical and theoretical exploration of a set playtext in preparation for Section A of the written examination in May, as well as reflection and preparation for evaluation of their scripted performance in Section B.

Key Stage 5

Year 12

UNIT 1 – (40% of AS)

Exploration of Drama & Theatre (Internally Assessed)

In this unit students practically explore two contrasting play texts. At least one of these will be explored in the light of a recognised theatre practitioner.  They will also experience a live theatre performance, and submit an evaluation.

The plays students will be studying this year are:

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice” by Jim Cartwright

The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams

Exploration Notes (Max. 3000 words) These MUST address the following areas, for BOTH plays explored

  • Language
  • Non- Verbal Communication
  • Vocal Awareness
  • Characterisation
  • Social, Cultural and Political Context
  • Visual, Aural and Spatial Elements
  • Response to a Practitioner
  • Interpretation

UNIT 2 – (60% of AS)

Theatre Text in Performance (Externally Assessed)

In this unit students will demonstrate skills in a performance environment. The first section requires them to perform either a monologue or duologue. The second section requires students to contribute to a performance of a professionally published play by a known writer. The selection of this is dependent on the size and strengths of the cohort.

Year 13

A2 Edexcel Drama & Theatre Studies

UNIT 3 – (40% of A2 Mark) – 60 marks

Exploration of Dramatic Performance – Internally Assessed

This unit requires the creation of a unique and original piece of theatre. Students will be assessed on both the process of creation and the finished product in the form of a performance to an invited audience.  The starting point may be stimulus material, themes, ideas and issues or a professionally published play by a known writer. The performance piece should be designed for a particular defined audience.

Smaller groups should produce a performance of no less than 15 minutes and larger groups no more than 30 minutes.

Students will be assessed on the research and development of the work as well as the final performance in front of an identified audience. They are also required to complete an evaluation on both the process and performance of the work. The examining board will require written evidence reflecting the research and development work as well as a DVD of the final performance.

Students will be expected to keep an ongoing log book, with all research evidence, as well as notes from practical development. This will be vital in order to help with the final Supporting Written Evidence Document (SWED).

UNIT 4 – (60% of A2 Mark) – 80 marks

Theatre Text In Context – Externally Assessed

This externally examined written unit requires the detailed study of one set play text, and one prescribed historical period of theatrical development.

Assessment takes the form of a 2½ hour written paper in three sections.

Sections A and B require students to explore one play from a choice of three set play texts, from the point of view of a director in both an academic and practical way.

The selected text this year is “Woyzeck” by George Buchner.

In Section C a selection must be made from a choice of three historic periods of Theatre history. A live performance of a play from the chosen period must be experienced and evaluated, and a comparison made with the original staging conditions of the play.

Expected Qualities of an A-Level Drama & Theatre Studies student;

  • Independently developed knowledge and understanding of practitioners
  • Ability to interpret from a director’s point of view
  • Extended vocabulary
  • Embedded techniques in moving from page to stage
  • Ability to apply techniques
  • Independence in frequently accessing live theatre
  • Independent desire to explore
  • Self-management
  • Flexibility
  • Creativity
  • Innovation
  • Willingness to experiment
  • Ability to think outside the box

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