Key Stage 3: Drama
Curriculum Intent
Drama at Murray Park School aims to help a generation grow their passion for theatre and the history surrounding it. The curriculum also aims to help students and prepare them to innovate as theatre evolves in the future.
We broach character creation from a number of different angles throughout KS3 and try to understand what has happened in the past to make the character into who they are today. The aim of the Drama department at Murray Park School is to help pupils make sense of the theatre and performance in the world they are growing up in by studying some of the key moments, themes and patterns of the last six hundred years. We aim to do this on several levels by looking at local, national and international styles and by looking at theatre groups and acting styles. By helping students to see how all of these things from the past fit together, we create the wonderful subject of Drama.
The curriculum will be challenging. We do not always have the answers to the questions we are asking and we want our young performers to be able to grapple with these frustrations and to delve deeper into their character in a myriad of ways to find the answers. We also aim to encourage students to enhance their emotional and spatial development; it is our aim to weave this throughout all work units.
Curriculum overview
In Year 7, students study a wide range of modern acting styles. This currently starts with a character creation unit of work. This encourages the students to work together and to accept non-linear thinking. This is then complimented by a second unit on characterisation that focuses on using a set stimulus. This is contrasted in their third and final unit of the year where they experiment with characterisation and understanding personal motives in their Murder Mystery scheme.
In Year 8, students focus on key skills themed theatre, starting with a characterisation unit using Dicken’s Oliver Twist as the premise. The students then move onto Commedia D’ell Arte and the development of physical comedy. The students finish this year with a new unit exploring the history of Grecian theatre how it still influences theatre today.
In Year 9, students begin with a unit on theatre job roles and responsibilities which shows students the variety of careers that the theatre can open up for them. This is then followed by a Frantic Assembly and Stage Combat devising unit wherein the students use stylized movement to create a performance piece. The students’ Key Stage 3 studies are then brought to a close with Live Theatre unit which lets them explore all of their KS3 Drama skills in one final unit.
Useful links:
The students are encouraged to watch online theatre at home, plays can be accessed through youtube, for any recommendations please see your drama teacher.
- BBC Bitesize Drama – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/zrnjwty
Extra-curricular activities
Murray Park School has an active Drama club and the curriculum is enhanced through opportunities to visit the theatre.
