Brighouse High School - A Leading Edge School With Specialism In Applied Learning

• ‘Blood Brothers’ by Willy Russell
• ‘Shakers’ By John Godber
• ‘Road’ By Jim Cartwright
• ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ by Timberlake Wertenbaker
• ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Shakespeare
• ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Shakespeare
• ‘A Taste of Honey’ by Shelagh Delaney
• ‘Two’ Jim Cratwright
• ‘Macbeth’ by Shakespeare
• ‘Crush’ by Little D-fects
• ‘East is East’ by Ayub Khan-Din

• To stimulate and/or maintain pupil interest in drama
• To create an atmosphere where wish an feel able to learn
• To enable each pupils to achieve their own potential
• To teach pupils a body of knowledge, principles, skills, techniques and vocabulary related to drama
• To enable pupils to see drama as a part of a major culture feature
• To develop an awareness and appreciation in pupils of dram’s place in a variety of cultures and traditions
• To employ teaching methods and resources that allow all pupils, irrespective of their gender, ethnic origin or academic ability, to have equal access to drama and to experience success and enjoyment in their work
• To encourage pupils to approach issues of race, gender and ability with tolerance and insight
• To enable pupils to work independently and as a part of a team in a variety of activities
• To allow pupils to develop informed opinions and to be ale to support them by reasoned arguments free from prejudice or intolerance
• To ensure pupils make good progress, building on prior attainment, asthey move through the Key Stages

Our teaching objectives

• Lessons should be conducted in a secure, supportive and disciplined manner
• Staff should use the School’s Rewards System to encourage pupils to work to their full potential and to experience a sense of achievement
• Pupils should use a range of resources from a range of times and cultures
• Pupils are to be encouraged to share their experiences and culture with others in order to enhance the quality of learning
• Staff should provide a variety of activities during a scheme of work and, if appropriate, during a lesson
• Staff should encourage pupils to develop their skills as independent learners, particularly at KS4 & 5
• Staff should use, and make available to pupils, the level descriptors published by The Arts Council, as criteria to monitor and assess the progress of pupils.

• Broadening experience; generating ideas and perceptions; developing emotions; speaking and listening; working collaboratively; developing imagination; self-understanding and self-esteem.
• Cultural and Artistic Skills, Knowledge and Understanding: Developing an awareness of drama as an art form in a range of cultures; learning dramatic conventions; analysis of contemporary dramatic texts; understanding the place of performance; developing performance skills and ability to use dramatic form to communicate with others .
• Cross Curricular Learning:
• Enhancing learning across the curriculum. Drama is an invaluable teaching method and can be used as a learning medium that gives a lively focus for learning in other areas of the curriculum.

Citizenship

Within the Programme of Study at all Key Stages, Citizenship issues are explored by providing a starting point or theme for the drama, for pupils to empathise with characters and explore situations through role play.

Business & Enterprise

Many enterprising skills are explored in almost all drama lessons. Pupils will learn through drama how to successfully communicate with their peers and present themselves to an audience. Planned improvisation is used frequently and requires the pupils to discuss and plan what they will do before working practically. Pupils will also be frequently challenged with problems which they must solve when involved in devising projects. They will work in a variety of team groups developing their thinking skills and …

Drama within English

Although the English department are responsible for drama in the National Curriculum for English, the drama department will also cover many of the criteria and will reinforce the learning in terms of;

• Speaking & Listening skills
• Contributing to Group Work
• Use of a variety of dramatic techniques
• National Literacy Strategy

We offer experiences in drama that meet the all criteria outlined in the National Literacy Strategy. (See Appendix 1)

ICT

ICT is used in drama as a teaching tool in the form of the use of video. In addition to this digital video recording is used to provide a record of work for student self evaluation. Pupils will also have the opportunity to gain technical experience in the form of lighting and sound to gain a total theatre experience.

Assessment, Recording & Reporting

The assessment of learning takes place at the end of each scheme of work. The pupils are marked according to the whole school policy and levels are attained using the Arts Council’s Framework. (See appendix 2)

Progression and Development

Progression is evident in the work that the students undertake and the standards that are achieved. It is monitored and recorded using the drama levels.

“Successful differentiation by task is achieved when teachers are aware of individual pupils’ strengths and weaknesses in drama and organise tasks which encourage learning by acknowledging and building on existing attainment. Differentiation by outcome accepts that some pupils will complete tasks more successfully than others. However it is important to remember that pupils in drama may produce widely differing interpretations of a given theme.”

Drama is well placed to accommodate the different needs of individual students. Our aim is to provide work that is comfortable yet challenging, explore the four central ways that pupils learn (Visually, Aurally, Verbally & kinaesthetically) and ensure suitable tasks and/or roles are allocated. Pupils with Special Needs are well catered for and have full access to the programme of study.

The pupils are allowed to work at their own pace, with extension work available for those who require it. The same task is set for all pupils and the outcome is to their ability or aptitude but praise is paramount to future success. The group work that takes place is largely in mixed ability and mixed sex groups.
Differentiation in drama lessons will occur in the following ways:

• Verbal differentiation when setting up a task
• (The correct specialist vocabulary is supplemented by simpler terms)
• Supplementing instructions with a practical demonstration
• (Demonstration will help the visual learner)
• Differentiation through use of stimulus material
• (A variety of stimuli will be drawn upon o appeal to different genders, cultures and abilities)

Rational

In line with the ethos of the school, the drama department seeks to promote equality of opportunity and to encourage excellence, in order that all pupils recognise their full potential. This policy is intended to establish an effective response to the challenge of providing for the pupils who have been identified as having a significant talent or gift for drama. It goes beyond, therefore, the provision made in the policy for differentiation.

AIMS

The drama department aims to:

• Identify and monitor pupils with exceptional dramatic ability, either as performers, writers, designers or technicians.
• Provide such pupils with challenging learning opportunities to ensure that they can develop their talents in order to fulfil their potential.
• Provide opportunities outside of curriculum time for pupils to further their learning.
• Ensure they have access to outside agencies and professionals as appropriate, to further their experience and learning.
• Provide pupils with the opportunity to encounter drama from other cultures, encouraging them to be open to ideas presented by others, thus promoting the importance of citizenship and cultural diversity.
• Ensure that relevant guidance is offered about further education and career opportunities and that students are fully prepared for auditions.
• Celebrate achievement and share exemplary work, as a way of inspiring all pupils to strive to achieve their best.

Definition

Using the criteria for ‘exceptional performance’ as set out in the Level Descriptors in ‘Drama in Schools’ by The Arts Councils. This criterion has been used in the absence of national curriculum levels.

“I really enjoy drama because its very creative and you are always moving around and using your voice and body. East is East was interesting but became boring towards the end of the topic. I love physical theatre because you really start to get to know everyone you work with and you get to use music and dance.”

• “I like drama because its group work and we can do our own thing as a team.”
• “I think drama GCSE has been fun to do due to us all learning something new each lesson. Also I like the way we always keep moving on to new projects instead of spending lots of time on just one.”
• “I think GCSE Drama is enjoyable because I learn new techniques on how to act and different styles of acting and it is fun at the same time, acting and performing.”
• “I think that GCSE Drama is a very good subject and I’m glad I took it. It has helped me build up my confidence and has improved my drama skills dramatically.”
• “I have enjoyed studying GCSE Drama so far this year, mostly because of all the new and exciting techniques we have learned and the people we have studied, for example, Brecht and Stanislavski. It has been fun to do also because of the performances we have done for the group. Working together as a group has been helpful because when you put the ideas of multiple people together you can come up with something that is better to do, watch and understand rather than it just being one person doing something.”