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Assessment and reporting
at the heart of the community
Learn about us
View our curriculum
Assessment and reporting
The Furness Academy Drama curriculum for each year group is detailed below.
What will the students be learning?
In Year 7 students are assessed in the three key areas of Drama in their first baseline challenge. They then begin the study of drama, learning about how to work as part of a team and collaborate effectively as part of the basic “soft skills”. They cover the key principles of DEVISING, PERFORMING AND EVALUATING DRAMA. All students are taught the principles of using body and movement to communicate to an audience through the use of mime skills. Students will be taken on a whistlestop tour of the earliest days of theatre and performance to have an understanding of the subject in context. They then develop an understanding of how to use the voice, consider how we structure stories and put their scriptwriting skills to the test alongside their ability to utilise their vocal skills when we learn about performing in radio plays. Between longer units of work several lessons will focus on a key production/play from the wide repertoire of theatre with students watching a recorded theatre performance and focusing on roles/careers in the Performing Arts.
What will the students be learning?
In Year 8 students continue to practise the basics skills of drama. They continue to cover the key principles of DEVISING, PERFORMING AND EVALUATING DRAMA. All students are taught more advanced drama techniques to develop their ability to devise drama for performance and use a variety of stimuli as starting points for their creativity. Students then study the history of theatre from the pre-historic era to Elizabethan times learning about the style of performance and the context of theatre through the ages. Finally, students explore social issues in a fictional TV soap opera created by each class using the acting style, and common themes for the genre. Between longer units of work several lessons will focus on a key production/play from the wide repertoire of theatre with students watching a recorded theatre performance and focusing on roles/careers in the Performing Arts.
What will the students be learning?
In Year 9 students continue to practise the basics skills of drama. They continue to cover the key principles of DEVISING/REHEARSING, PERFORMING AND EVALUATING DRAMA. Students have the opportunity to explore key movement skills whilst learning techniques, styles and uses of physical theatre with elements of dance. We move on to a short sequence of lessons focused on careers in drama linked to the options process. Students are taught about different genres, styles and forms of theatre and focus on watching key pieces of work to develop evaluation skills. This unit covers both performance skills and production elements giving students a grounding in aspects of design and backstage roles. In the latter part of year 9 students focus on the play DNA by Dennis Kelly, a dark comedy about the plight of a gang involved in murder. They then take charge of their own final performance as a performer or designer in a short extract from the script.
Number of lessons:
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
All students need to carry the following equipment in pencil cases in their bags.
What will the students be learning?
In Year 10 students continue to finesse the basics skills of drama and recap key terminology and ways of working. They continue to cover the key principles of DEVISING/REHEARSING, PERFORMING AND EVALUATING DRAMA. Students are introduced to the course and initially assessed on their devising/scripted performance skills, their ability to evaluate their own work and that of a professional company. Students continue to develop their understanding of all physical and vocal performance skills, genres and styles of theatre, and learn further about roles in the theatre and how everyone involved in a production must consider each element to communicate to an audience. During the latter half of Year 10 students explore their own chosen role-either as a performer or designer and develop their current level of skill or ability in that area with research tasks and practical workshops. During Year 11 students will work as part of a newly formed theatre company of their own in response to a brief. In their chosen role they must work as part of a team to prepare a meaningful short production for an audience.
What will the students be learning?
In Year 11 students continue to finesse the basics skills of drama. They continue to cover the key principles of DEVISING/REHEARSING, PERFORMING AND EVALUATING DRAMA. Students continue to develop their understanding of all physical and vocal performance skills, learn further about roles in the theatre and how designers consider each production element to communicate to an audience. At the end of year 10 students engaged with the assessed components of the course by devising their own short play from the chosen stimulus with a parallel portfolio of evidence in component 1. As we near the end of the Autumn term, Component 2 gives students the chance to prepare two performances or designs from the play “Blood Brothers” by Willy Russell, performed in the presence of a visiting examiner. Finally, we revisit our work on the set text DNA by Dennis Kelly, in preparation for section A of component 3. Students will also visit the theatre at least twice during the academic year to ensure they have studied and evaluated a live theatrical performance which they will be asked to write about in section B of the written exam.
Number of lessons:
All students need to carry the following equipment in pencil cases in their bags.
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