Drama
Everything the Drama department do is underpinned by their inspirational vision: ‘Logic will get you so far; imagination will get you anywhere.’
Through the Drama Curriculum at Ridgewood School we help our students to become active members of their community - developing their confidence, self-expression and co-operation to believe they can make a difference to others. Drama helps our students to develop perseverance, empathy and creativity. It is a tool with which to explore the world and develop students’ skills to be compassionate and collaborative individuals. Drama at Ridgewood School fosters a love of the subject and the life skills that students need to be well rounded, confident individuals.
Our Drama Curriculum will give students the opportunity to:
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For information about studying Performing Arts at Sixth Form, please visit our Sixth Form courses page.
KS3
Year 7
- Half-term 1 — Darkwood Manor
- Half-term 2 — Scripted text exploration: Humpty Dumpty
- Half-term 3 — Devising based on a theme: Inside Out
- Half-term 4 — Silent Movies
- Half-term 5 — Genres and Styles: Greek and Melodrama
- Half-term 6 — Matilda
Year 8
- Half-term 1 — Missing: Devising from a stimulus.
- Half-term 2 — Pantomime
- Half-term 3 — Alice in Wonderland (Surrealism), Practitioner: Berkoff
- Half-term 4 — Scripted text (Missing Dan Nolan)
- Half-term 5 — Improvisation
- Half-term 6 — Masks
Year 9
- Half-term 1 — John Godber
- Half-term 2 — Tell Me Why
- Half-term 3 — Practitioner/Style Study: Physical Theatre
- Half-term 4 — Scripted Text: DNA
- Half-term 5 — Let Him Have It
- Half-term 6 — Mental Health
Assessment:
Students study topics connected with the Edexcel BTEC Tech Award in Performing Arts in order to embed skills in Key Stage 3 which will be developed further at Key Stage 4. Initially students are asked to participate in a baseline assessment which targets skills associated with each topic being studied.
Following the baseline assessment, students work on improving their knowledge and understanding of the topic whilst also trying to master the associated performance skills. To support this process of mastery and to ensure each student gets the very best chance of improving their work, lessons focus on exploration and analysis. Emphasis is placed on peer, self and teacher assessment and a very collaborative ‘no fear of failure’ atmosphere is encouraged.
KS4
BTEC TECH Award Level 1/2 in Performing Arts
Component 1: Exploring the Performing Arts
For this component students will study three different styles of performance and explore the creative intentions of those involved in creating them. Styles of theatre studied will range from Physical Theatre to Verbatim and contemporary Naturalism. Students will explore these styles of theatre practically and chart their progress in the form of a research journal and presentation.
Component 2: Developing Skills and Techniques in the Performing Arts
For this component students will develop their performance skills through a series of workshops focused on vocal, physical and interpretative performance skills and apply them to texts for development. They will then focus on applying their developed skills to a short performance of a text in a chosen performance style. Students will finally evaluate their progress through the course of the component and their progress as a performer.
Component 3: Responding to a Brief
This component is a cumulative assessment of all the skills and techniques that students have learn throughout Component 1 and Component 2. Students are given a starting point from the exam board and work in small groups to create a short performance from this starting point. Students will also complete logs of their skills and ideas as well as an overall evaluation of the work created.
Assessment:
Component 1: Internal Assessment
Component 2: Internal Assessment
Component 3: External Assessment
Useful web links:
Enrichment
Drama and Music Autumn Term enrichment:
- Production rehearsals solo — Tuesday from 3.00 -4.00pm
- Production whole cast rehearsal — Wednesday from 3.00 - 5.00pm
- Rock school — Thursday in the Music block 3.00 - 4.00pm
Please get in touch via the enquiry form on our Contact Us page, should you have any questions about our Drama Curriculum or to speak directly to our Acting Leader of Performing Arts, Mrs Loiuse James.