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Y8 Drama
Head of Department
Mr M Vogler
Organisation of the subject:
Students have 2x 50 minute lessons a week.
Key Concepts (The big ideas underpinning the subject)
In Year 8 students build upon the skills learnt in Year 7 and are introduced to different forms of theatre including Melodrama. They are taught how to create the right space for their performances and how drama can be created for different purposes, for example ‘Theatre in Education’. Students begin to study play scripts in more detail and how to compose their own scripted work.
What will your child be learning?
Having developed their skills from Year 7, students build on their Year 7 knowledge and are also introduced further to:
- Planning and structuring short coherent plays and devised dramas that use a range of techniques, for example – mime in physical theatre or narration in story theatre. Students should be able to write and perform their own short simple scripts.
- Experimenting with voice and movement to create or present different characters in performance.
- Theatre traditions such as melodrama, farce, physical theatre and theatre in education.
- Techniques and technical vocabulary such as – genre, contrasts (movement/stillness, sound/silence), sound collage, marking the moment, symbolism, cross-cutting, climax, anti-climax. Comedy and tragedy. Multi-role playing, Creating tension, pace, rhythm, flow and pause, realism, non-realism.
Key 'Learning Capacities' in this subject
- The skills to work collaboratively with others to create new ideas and explore and evaluate a variety of Drama texts.
- Develop a sense of confidence to interact with e noticed for the right reasons.
- The development of social skills such as offering ideas, sharing thoughts to overcome problems and listening to others.
- The application of Drama techniques to shape and enhance performance work.
How will your child be learning?
- Paired and group work to devise and shape a variety of Drama work
- Whole class discussion and evaluations
- Individual teacher/student learning conversations
How will learning be assessed?
- Half termly assessments through small scale class exposition work to assess performance skills.
- Learning conversations during lessons (recorded in exercise books) on how your child’s work is being refined and developed through the rehearsal process and what they can do to improve.
What can you do to support your child?
- Speak to your child about what they have been learning.
- Encourage them to take part in extracurricular Drama clubs in and out of school.
- Encourage your child to experience some live theatre.
Equipment needed for this subject
- Pen, pencil, planner and exercise book
Extra-Curricular/Enrichment Opportunities
- UVHS hosts a vast range of extracurricular theatre clubs and opportunities to take part in Drama outside the classroom.
- Regular theatre trips across the North-West and beyond to see the best in theatre and musical drama.