Performing Arts

Curriculum Area: Music

Music is fun, entertaining, stimulating, engaging and a chance for all pupils to express themselves.

KS3 Curriculum

	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3
Year 7	Rhythms and DrummingMusic Medals 1	AABA MelodyBlues	Music Medals 2
Year 8	Theme and VariationsFilm and Television Soundtracks	Salsa	Experimental MusicPodcasting
Year 9	MinimalismMusic and Space	Mozart Minuet	Music and Conflict

KS4 Curriculum

	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3
Year 10	Performance 1Listening: AoS 1	Composition 1Listening: AoS 2	Composition 2Listening: AoS 3
Year 11	Solo PerformanceListening: AoS 4	Final CompositionsEnsemble Performance	Revision and Exam Prep

Enrichment:

We offer a huge programme of activities which cater for a wide range of performance interests. A large proportion of pupils participate in regular lunchtime and after-school clubs.

Curriculum Area: Dance and Drama

We aim for pupils:

· to experience and enjoy a wide range of dance and drama techniques.
· to develop the power of their imaginations through the creative medium of drama and dance.
· to develop confidence when working individually or cooperatively, as part of a group.
· to explore ideas, issues and feelings through the medium of dance and drama.
· to learn about theatre as an art form, exploring the history and conventions of different theatrical styles.

We believe that our subject should:

· develop pupils’ powers of self-expression, self-awareness and self-confidence;
· encourage sensitivity towards others;
· develop pupils’ ability to co-operate and collaborate effectively with others;
· develop the ability to concentrate and listen to others;
· give students the confidence to speak clearly and with conviction, encouraging fluency,
enunciation, modulation and expression;
· give them the confidence to move without inhibition;
· help pupils to be aware and appreciative of each other’s efforts, talents and achievements;
· encourage pupils to be observant;
· contribute to the cultural, spiritual and emotional development of young people;
· contribute to the creation of active, informed citizens who value the views of others;
· develop the ability to be critical in a tactful, constructive way;
· develop empathy for other people’s roles and experiences;
· develop the ability to be decisive and to ‘think on one’s feet’;
· encourage students to trust and respect each other.

KS3 Curriculum:

	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3
Year 7	Topic 7/1: Games! Introducing key dance and drama skills; tasks include name games, ice-breakers, games to develop co-operation, concentration, group awareness; sketches using mime and movement skills. Topic 7/2: The Thief. Students devise a narrative dance based on the story of ‘The Thief’. They will respond to action based words to build a phrase (motif) that can be included in a travelling sequence with changes in direction and levels.	Topic 7/3: Evacuation To explore issues, ideas and emotions using the medium of drama. Pupils will focus on the experiences of evacuees during World War 2.Topic 7/4: Machines. Exploring non-naturalistic forms of movement, sound-scaping and forum-theatre techniques. Using pre-recorded sounds, pupils will produce a class machine. In groups they will develop their own machines based on design suggested by others. Groups will devise their own fully automated, futuristic house or factory line and develop this into a dance.	Topic 7/5: Take the Stage!Pupils investigate and learn about the theatrical conventions of script-work and different forms of staging.Topic 7/6a: Dirty WonderlandTaken from a play of the same name, pupils work independently to choreograph a dance with an emphasis on moving with increased imagination and originality. OR Topic 7/6b: Amoeba Dance Use movement with originality and imagination to develop a performance which reflects the movement of an amoeba.
Year 8 Under construction!	Topic 8/1: Introducing SlapstickExploring the conventions of slapstick comedy in the silent film era as means of developing students’ improvisation and mime skills. Topic 8/2: The Story of Oseo.Pupils will explore Native American culture and values using a variety of stimuli and dance and drama techniques. There will be an emphasis on combining dance techniques with some basic characterisation.	Topic 8/3: Take the Stage 2! Exploring and experimenting with the theatrical conventions of other times and cultures, focusing on Greek Theatre.Topic 8/4: Charlotte DymondWorking as a whole-classensemble; exploring a text in an intuitive, imaginative manner using physical theatre techniques.	Topic 8/5: Exploring Stimulus in Dance Using a variety of stimulus to develop students’ improvisatory skills and movement vocabulary.
Year 9 Dance	Topic 9/1: Travel, Turn, Open, Close, Fall. Developing improvisational skills in dance as a basis for creating motifs.Topic 9/2: Clowning Around. Using circus type movement, mime and facial expression to build students’ confidence when moving onstage.	Topic 9/3: Fosse.Exploring the choreography and performance style of Fosse.Topic 9/4: Chance.Exploring Cunningham’s techniques using chance methods for choreography.	Topic 9/5 ‘Dulce et Decorum est’.Exploring poetry as a stimulus for choreographing dances.Topic 9/6 Dance Styles.Examining different dance styles and conventions from various eras.
Year 9 Drama	Topic 9/1: ‘The Perils of Pauline’Developing mime and improvisation skills using the conventions of early twentieth century melodrama.Topic 9/2: Haka Movement based topic examining the form and purpose of rituals in society, focusing on the New Zealand Haka.	Topic 9/3 Take the Stage 3!Concluding our investigation into the theatre of different times and cultures, pupils examine the conventions of Jacobean and Restoration theatre, performing excerpts from Shakespeare and Marlowe.Topic 9/4 Anne and Agnes Building on students’ introduction to physical theatre in Year 8, pupils learn how to construct a narrative using conventional theatre methods, then deconstruct it using physical theatre techniques to produce a stylised, highly individualistic piece of ensemble work.	Topic 9/4: Homeless!Pupils use drama techniques independently to develop a credible character and explore character motivation in an issue based topic on the theme of homelessness. Students will build a back story for characters then devise their own monologue or duologue which will form the basis of their first solo performance in drama!

KS4 Curriculum:

	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3
Year 10 Dance	Introduction to composition skills. Investigating dynamics in more detail.Developing Choreographic Techniques: Unison and Canon.Introduction to first professional work “Swansong” by Christopher Bruce.	Unit 3 PerformanceIntroduction to Second Professional Work: ‘Still Life at the Penguin Café’. Unit 4a Introducing Solo Composition.Staging, form and structure.	Unit 2 Set DanceDeveloping/Completing Unit 4 Solo Composition .Developing Compositional Skills.Begin Unit 4b.
Year 10 Drama	Participation in the Shakespeare Schools Festival– To introduce pupils to the core skills of the GCSE course, students take part in the largest youth drama festival in England. They will rehearse and perform a half hour version of a Shakespeare play in a professional venue in front of an audience of three other local schools.Unit 1 Practical Work- Monsters of the Mind. Practical drama coursework delivered in a workshop situation and marked by the subject teacher. Assessed by Edexcel. Students use a variety of stimulus to explore and depict the theme of ‘monsters of the mind’.	Unit 1 Documentary Response. Written analysis and evaluation of the Unit 1 workshop completed in controlled assessed conditions.Preparation for Unit 2. Reading, researching and discussing the key themes of the chosen play text for Unit 2.Unit 2 Practical Work- Exploring Play texts. Practical drama coursework using the elements and medium of drama to explore and depict scenes from a chosen play text.	Completion of Unit 2 Practical Work.Unit 2 Documentary Response. Written analysis and evaluation of the Unit 2 workshop completed in controlled assessed conditions.Unit 2 Evaluation of a Live Performance This is a ‘moveable feast’, which is sometimes completed in Year 11. Students undertake a written analysis and evaluation of a live performance that they have seen either at school or during a visit to a local theatre; this is completed in controlled assessed conditions.
Year 11 Dance	Developing choreography for Unit 4b.Preparation for mock examination paper.	Completion of Unit 4b.Revisiting Unit 2 for Controlled Assessment.	Final coursework preparation for moderation; moderation for Unit 3, Unit 4a and b.
Year 11 Drama	The Year 11 Play- Designed to further develop students’ practical skills onstage before the all-important performance examination, this involves rehearsing and performing a complete play-text in front of a live audience in November or December.	Preparation for Unit 3: Practical Performance ExaminationAt the end of Year 11, students undertake a performance examination in front of a live audience and a visiting examiner, who will mark them on their performance skills. Auditions, research and rehearsals take place over an extended period so pupils can refine their work to the appropriate standard. Rehearsals often take place in conjunction with visiting theatre practitioners, who operate as ‘guest directors’ with some groups for the duration of their exam preparation.	Preparation for Unit 3 and Undertaking the Practical Performance ExaminationAfter much preparation, performing Unit 3 material in front of a visiting examiner and a live audience.

Enrichment:

Weekly dance clubs available on a lunchtime for all students.

Arts Award club after school for those interested in dance, drama and art.

A whole-school production every year, in the form of either the school musical or the summer dance/drama production.

Opportunities to work with professional actors/directors for gifted and talented students who are selected to work with Blue Aces Theatre Ltd or the 1812 Theatre Company at Helmsley Arts Centre.

Occasional trips to see dance and/or drama productions outside of school.