Drama

Welcome to the Ridgeway Academy Drama faculty. We pride ourselves on providing students a varied and purposeful Drama curriculum alongside exciting and enriching opportunities throughout the year. We believe that the subject develops many personal and social skills and helps foster life-long confidence that our young people need in the wider world.

We are extremely proud of the excellent quality of work our students produce in Drama. This is across all year groups in their lessons, exam pieces, extra-curricular productions. We have very high standards and instill these expectations in our students across the year groups. Our Drama curriculum encourages the students to be curious about the origins and developments of theatre and how this has informed new writing, directing and performances. Students learn to critically analyse live Theatre across the years groups providing further understanding and appreciation of the art form.

Welcome to the Performing Arts Faculty – Subject Leader: Ms S Standage

Key Stage 3

Students study a range of units within Key Stage 3 aimed at developing their practical drama skills and theatre appreciation. See the Key Stage 3 overview for more details.

Key Stage 3 Drama OVERVIEW

Key Stage 4

Students follow the AQA GCSE Drama course. There are three components:

C1 – Understanding Drama, written paper, externally assessed, weighted 40%.
C2 – Devising Drama, controlled assessment, internally assessed, weighted 40%
C3 – Texts in Practice, practical assessment, externally assessed, weighted 20%

Students study Blood Brothers in Year 10, watch Live Theatre in preparation for their mock exams and devise and perform their own pieces in the summer term. Year 11 students study a range of plays for their performance exam, complete their devising logs and prepare for the written paper.

Key Stage 5

Students follow the BTEC Nationals Performing Arts Extended Certificate (Acting) course which lasts two years.

There are four units:

Year 1:

Unit 1: Investigating Practitioner’s Work (externally assessed)

Study of theatre practitioners, theoretical and practical approach, controlled assessment conditions.

Unit 2: Developing Skills and Techniques for Live Performance (Internally assessed)

Exploration of the practices of the actor, presentation of the Performing Arts industry, rehearsal and performance of a chosen play, rehearsal log and evaluation.

Year 2:

Unit 3: Group Performance Workshop (externally assessed)

Devising theatre performance working from a given stimulus, rehearsal and performance to an audience. Rehearsal logs and evaluation of work completed in controlled assessment conditions.

Unit 19: Acting Styles (internally assessed)

A range of acting styles studied and explored, student theatre-led workshops, rehearsal and performance of a selected play in a chosen style, rehearsal logs and evaluation.

Additional opportunities include professional theatre visits, theatre company and practitioner workshops, interviews with professional playwrights and actors. We also have great opportunities with our links with Sandpit Theatre.

In the BTEC National units, there are opportunities during the teaching and learning phase to give learners practice in developing employability skills.

For example:

Cognitive and problem-solving skills: using critical thinking, approaching non-routine problems applying expert and creative solutions, using systems and technology
Interpersonal skills: communicating, working collaboratively, negotiating and influencing, self-presentation
Intrapersonal skills: self-management, adaptability and resilience, self-monitoring and development.

Extra-curricular opportunities:

Musical Theatre club, Drama club, MADD festival (to be launched) and our annual whole-school musical. We have an excellent design and technical team who work extremely hard to ensure the quality of our shows are of the highest standard. We have excellent links with The Sandpit Theatre at Sandringham School providing our students with professional technical and design opportunities.

We organise many theatre trips and workshops throughout the year for our students. Recent examples include:

Theatre trips:

Blood Brothers
War Horse
Everyone’s Talking About Jamie
Splendid Production’s Dr. Faustus
In Anchor We Hope
Pop Music
Things I Know To Be True
The Unreturning
Othello

Workshops:

Paperbirds Theatre Company
Splendid Theatre Productions

Previous Whole School Musicals:

Station Road 2018 (Written by Mr Sarjeant and Miss Standage) www.stationroadmuscial.com
Oliver 2019
We Will Rock You 2020
Coming this year…Grease 2021

Coming up:

Performing Arts trip to New York February 2022 AND 2023!

Drama helps students develop a number of skills:

Visual appreciation of drama and theatre
Balanced judgement
Information gathering and assessment
Ability to work on your own or as part of a team
Communication

Ridgeway Academy | Everybody can Achieve

Herns Lane, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, AL7 2AF

Telephone: 01707 351350
Absence Line: 01707 351350 Extn: 315
Email: admin@ridgeway.herts.sch.uk

Alban Academies Trust

Ridgeway Academy is part of the
Alban Academies Trust