Welcome to Performing Arts Drama

The primary intent of our Year 7 Drama curriculum is to provide students with opportunities to explore and express themselves creatively through acting, improvisation and storytelling. Our curriculum provides students with an outlet for creative expression and encourages students to use their voices, bodies, and emotions to communicate ideas and narratives effectively. ​Our year 7 Drama curriculum is designed to ignite students’ creativity and imagination through engaging the themes and characters of the Matilda Musical as well as scripted work based on Harry Potter, our intent is to provide students with immersive and dynamic experiences that foster critical thinking and collaboration. Through devising and script work students will develop original ideas, analyse texts, communicate effectively, work with peers and develop their performance skills

We believe that each of our Drama lessons also provides opportunities for language development as students practice speaking, listening, and articulating ideas with clarity and expression. Being exposed to a range of dramatic texts, genres, and theatrical traditions from different cultures and time periods, students learn to appreciate and respect the cultural diversity of human experiences and perspectives, fostering intercultural understanding and empathy.

Proud Values

In the captivating world of Drama, we teach Professionalism in every performance, as our students embrace the stage with dedication, confidence and commitment.

With Resilience as their cornerstone, we teach our students to rise to any challenge, transforming their set backs into opportunities for growth and mastery.

Optimism is in every lesson as we teach students to approach rehearsal and performance with a positive attitude, showing excitement and possibility for what they can accomplish.

In the heart of our Drama curriculum lies the deep Understanding of human emotion and experience, fostering empathy, connection and unity among students.

Driven by the true value of the Arts, we teach our drama students to exhibit fierce determination to push their boundaries, strive for excellence and make their mark on the stage.

Proudly taking the spotlight, we teach our students to showcase not only their talents but to acknowledge and celebrate students’ achievements, building confidence and self-esteem.

Teaching staff and facilities

The subject of Drama is taught by our experienced Drama teacher Mr Gardiner and is held in our spacious drama studio with black walls and curtains with additional staging blocks. This professional set up creates a neutral, non distracting background where the focus can remain on our performers, setting out a versatile canvas for creativity. The room also offers professional lighting which is essential for creating an immersive, visually stunning theatrical experiences bringing performances to life.

Curriculum Map for Year 7

Dance, Drama and Music lessons are taught on a termly rotation. Students will spend 1 term in each discipline receiving a double lesson each week. 

Yr7 Drama Rotation 1	Our first Topic is Roald Dahl. (Devising) Students will study the story and musical Matilda and explore the story line and characters. Students will explore this through, mime, characterisations, freeze frames, thought tracking and physical theatre techniques. Students will work on devising their own script for class performance giving freedom of creativity.
	Through teaching Musical Theatre students will develop language skills as well as learning how to communicate clearly, expressively, and confidently in front of an audience. Incorporating drama techniques into the study of texts promotes a far greater level of engagement with the narrative, characters and themes on an intellectual, physical, emotional and creative level. This topic is teacher led but students create the bulk of the work through devising in order to explore the elements of Drama and the Actors toolkit. This topic is suitable for the age range and interests and links with the whole school trip to see Matilda. Links to Component 1 Devising in Year 10.
Yr7 Drama Rotation 2	Our second topic is Harry Potter (Script work) Students will study the script of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ and explore the story line and characters. Students will explore this through drama techniques such as role on the wall, mime, physical theatre and choral theatre in order to bring ‘page to stage’. Students will work on a scripted scene for a performance.
	Using story and script to inform drama performances can create a playful way of learning. It creates constructive and creative comprehension of the given matter and allows students to visualise and understand different stories and narratives. It also teaches them about the importance of stage directions and instructions regarding the positioning or movement of the actors. This topic is suitable for the age range and interests of students. This unit prepares learners for the skills required to learn and perform a character from script and is linked to Component 2 script work in Year 11.

Extra-curricular opportunities

Our Dungeons and Dragons club is run by Mr Gardiner.
All students will have the opportunity to audition for our school musical.
Year 7 students will be involved in a performance for the Haverhill Heroes event held in July in either Dance, Drama or Music
Year 7 students will have the opportunity to see Matilda in London as part of a Year 7 school trip and have opportunities throughout the years for other theatre trips led by Mr Gardiner.