Welcome to Drama

Curriculum area intent & rationale/department introduction

At Queen Mary’s High School, we want to develop KS3 pupils love of Drama- not just performing but an appreciation of what it takes to put a performance together and an enjoyment of watching others perform. We offer a wide, diverse and challenging curriculum whilst encouraging our children to be confident, creative, curious, risk takers who are not afraid of making mistakes, failing and who have the confidence to work with a variety of people. We believe that physical theatre has a strong place in the Drama curriculum due to it being movement rather than vocally led; developing pupils' confidence in this discipline is a firm focus for our department as we believe that physical confidence can lead to vocal confidence. It is also a very contemporary approach to theatre- physical theatre is at the forefront of a huge proportion of Drama and many companies and practitioners are practicing this discipline.

Aims and values of the department

Through the curriculum we aim for all our pupils to develop not only their performance skills; physical, vocal and interactive skills but a variety of life skills that are important as they negotiate school life into early adulthood. As they progress through the years we build on their past experiences and raise the challenge. We want them to enjoy and thrive on the challenge that the Drama curriculum provides and aim to develop:

Empathy levels through schemes with sensitive topics and current issues affecting young people through schemes such as Year 7: Inside Out, Year 8: Timothy Winters and WW2, Year 9: Status, Katie Mitchell practitioner focus and devising projects.
Creativity and imagination through the use of warm up activities, starters, role-play and improvisation. We believe this aspect to be an important skill that has a huge impact on our children, not just within the drama classroom but in other lessons and the outside world.
Vocal and verbal ability to review and evaluate, not only their own work but that of their peers and others. Deepening their evaluative and analysis skills as they move up the year groups.
Their knowledge and experience of styles, practitioners and genres as we deliver workshops in the style of practitioners and/or theatre companies- either actual practitioner led or teacher led.
The transferable skills that are so important to life outside of school; problem solving, trouble-shooting, negotiation, teamwork, communication, motivation, planning and time keeping, independent learning.

Where next? Links to careers

Direct links to a future in Drama and Theatre include: Arts/Theatre Administration, Arts Journalism, Director, Actor, Designer, Playwright, Stage Management, Theatre Management, Theatrical Agent, Technician, Broadcasting, Media Presenting, Education, Drama therapy and Scriptwriting.

Further Education opportunities:

Here at Queen Mary’s High school pupils can study Drama at GCSE level, this can then assist students to study any A Levels of their choosing or more directly A Level Drama and Theatre (offered at QMHS), Performing Arts or Musical theatre. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) value and respect the skills our drama and theatre qualifications give students, and it is a useful subject for students considering Higher Education in any arts or humanities subject including English Language and Literature, Journalism, Dance, Music, Art and Design, and Media Studies. Students have also gone on to study Law, Speech Therapy, Drama Therapy, Psychology, Counselling and Teaching.

Trips & visits

We collaborate within our Academy Trust to provide our KS3 students with opportunities to access live theatre and performance. We have out annual Junior show in which our KS3 students work with KS5 directors to produce a show over the Autumn term.

Department staffing

Miss E. Lippiatt (Subject Leader)
Mrs Houlder- Jarvis ( Drama Specialist and SENDCo)

How can parents help?

Encourage your children to look at the world around them and get creative. Storytelling is a great way to encourage creativity, imagination growth and verbal confidence that students can benefit from. If children have the opportunity to go and see any live performance work; however big or small then this is strongly encouraged.

Queen Mary's High School