Curriculum: Drama

We aim to develop

The Drama department at Tring School has a long tradition of excellence in both curricular and extra-curricular activities. Averaging seven public performances per year, the department is committed to student achievement and community involvement. The purpose built drama studios at Tring School provide an excellent setting for lessons and rehearsals.

With the phenomenal successes of recent productions at nearby Pendley Court Theatre the department has a tried and tested formula to ensure all students gain a varied and valuable theatre experience both on stage and behind the scenes.

The department has a high intake of students at Key Stage 4 and 5; taking between 60 and 80 for the GCSE and 20 to 35 at A-Level. The exam results are consistently excellent with the vast majority of our students achieving an A or B by the end of Year 13.

Curriculum

Key Stage 3

Drama is taught at Tring School as a discreet subject at Key Stage 3. There is one lesson per fortnight for years 7 and 8 and one per week in year 9.

At Key Stage 3 the department aims to give a good basis of knowledge in preparation for the GCSE course. Students should become more confident in:

Responding to stimuli,

Developing their ideas for practical work,

Performing

Evaluating the work of others.

The course also gives students the opportunity to:

Promote self-expression

Build self confidence

Enhance creativity

Encourage co-operation.

To aid and encourage the students during Drama lessons, the department has a unique rewards policy which is implemented in every Year 7—9 lesson. The students work to achieve ‘plus-marks’ which accumulate throughout the KS3 course. These plus-marks entitle students to Super Stickers awards, postcards home and Drama certificates (bronze—platinum). These plus-marks are awarded for excellent class contribution, well-focussed practical work, creativity, productive development work and excellent evaluation among other things. Along with the plus marks, the department also nominate pupils in KS3 for the coveted ‘Drama Star Pupil’ Award. This much-sought-after prize is given for outstanding work across each half-term period and includes a personal congratulations letter home to parents, a certificate of stardom, their names on the Drama ‘Role of Honour’ notice board and the admiration and respect of their peers!

Key Stage 4

Drama is a very popular subject at GCSE. There are currently three large groups in both Year 10 and 11. We follow the Edexcel Drama course, studying one theme and one play text in detail (including nine pieces of coursework of 500+ words based on these topics) before beginning the hugely popular, yet time-consuming devising project.

The students have the opportunity at KS4 to attend a number of Theatre trips, including the compulsory visit to Pendley Court Theatre to see the school play in Year 10 and a visit in Year 11 to another Theatre in preparation for their final piece of coursework; the evaluation. This year’s Year 11 classes enjoyed a trip to ‘The Lyric’ in Hammersmith to see Frantic Assembly perform their version of Othello. They are studying Stephen Berkoff’s Metamorphosis as their text for paper 1.

Key Stage 5

Drama is also a popular A level option. There are currently two A/S level groups in Year 12 and two A2 level groups in Year 13. In Key Stage 5 we follow the 4 units of the Edexcel course. During this course, students study a number of theatre practitioners including Stanislavski, Brecht, Beckett, Artaud and Berkoff. They are also expected to study two play texts in detail (including producing written essays showing research and understanding); perform, direct, or design a specially adapted play to a public audience; study a performance they have seen; perform or design a monologue or duologue (with research into the context of the piece) and research the history of a Shakespearian play from its original conditions, through the centuries to a present-day production. In preparation for this research, the students are taken to see a production of a Shakespeare play at ‘The Globe’ in London and to a Royal Shakespeare Company production in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Despite the stresses and work load inherent within the course, the students always have a positive attitude to their work and much of the subject’s popularity is due to A-Level students advising future learners to continue their studies in Drama:

“The A2 course has been fun and an experience. It has helped me to see theatre from very different views/aspects.”

“I have developed more group skills and more confidence to express my views independently and in a group.”

(Quotes taken from Year 13 evaluations completed at end of course.)

Cross-curricular

Activities that relate to drama are often used in other areas of the curriculum. Equally, the Drama department aim to support the learning of our students in other subjects through the topics we teach.

Since Tring School gained Humanities College status, we have rewritten a number of KS3 schemes to support the humanities subjects more closely. In Year 7 the students consider the potato famine of Ireland from the point of view of someone who suffered during this period rather than just its historical significance; in Year 8 the students study ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and 'Our Day Out' in both English and Drama and in Year 9 we support the English department in their teaching of the SATs text (most recently 'Romeo and Juliet’.) Toward the end of Year 9 the students take part in a cross-curricular project during their Music and Drama lessons. During this project the students write, direct, design, compose and produce a performance from scratch. In teaching these topics in this way, the students acquire a greater empathy and awareness of the implications of events and decisions.

The study of Drama also aids the students’ progress when developing their key skills in preparation for working life. At Tring School, the Drama department aim to encourage this development through focus on four of the key skills inherent within a Drama syllabus:

Student documents

Click on a link below to view a document (pdf):

Extra Curricular

We aspire to give our students as much experience as possible in order to aid them in their progression through the drama syllabus. Our extra-curricular timetable is created with this in mind.

Some of our Drama Clubs are taken by 6th form students where the shared knowledge improves the community atmosphere of the department as well as sharing responsibility of students’ learning. We also have strong links with Watford Palace Theatre, and frequently organise director’s and designer’s workshops to compliment the productions we see there.

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