About The Course… GCSE Drama involves making, performing and critically evaluating drama you have seen, read and been practically involved in. The play that an audience sees on the stage is such a small element of drama. Drama is a way of exploring and gaining new insights into the world of thoughts and feelings and then communicating these to an audience. During this course you can expect to:

About The Course… Explore a range of different stimuli such as poems, pictures, music and stories.  Devise and script your own drama to convey a message to the audience.  Explore the different elements that make up a performance.  Learn about the way set, costume, lighting and sound communicate meaning to an audience.  Record the way your ideas and knowledge have developed and evaluate your own and other peoples work.  Learn about drama from different times and places.  Consider what you think of as effective and important drama and why.  Explore the storyline, themes and characters of plays written by professional playwrights.  Learning about how plays are made and what is

About The Course… GCSE Drama is broken down into two units. Unit 1 is the written paper and is worth 40% of your GCSE. The written paper is externally marked and you will sit this paper at the end of the course in Year 11. You will do mock written papers every term. Unit 2 is practical based and is worth 60% of your GCSE. You will be marked on 2 productions each worth 30%. 7.5% will be awarded for the creating process and 22.5% will be awarded for the final product. During the two years we will complete 5 productions. You can then choose the two highest marks and submit these to the exam board.

About The Course… Pupils are free to choose any of the options from the following list, including two performance options, two design options or two technical options.  Devised thematic work  Acting  Improvisation  Theatre in Education  Set design  Costume  Make-up  Masks  Lighting

Year 10 1st Half Term Autumn  Theatre from different places.  Theatre from different times.  An introduction to the written paper. 2nd Half Term Autumn  Pantomime: performance evening and year 7.  Written exam preparation section one. Spring Term  Blood Brothers: performance evening.  Written exam preparation section two. Summer Term  Theatre in Education: performed to year 8.  Written exam preparation section one.

Year 11 Autumn Term  The Crucible: performance evening.  Written exam preparation section two. Spring Term  Themed devised work: This production will be externally moderated.  Written exam preparation section one. Summer Term  The written exam: revision and mock exams.

Drama Diary During the course you need to keep a working diary that explains in detail everything you have done in the lessons and also anything you have done in your own time. This will be classed as your independent learning for the next two years and it will assist you when it is time to revise for your written exam. It will also assist you in each controlled assessment, as it will give you ideas to include in your work.

Top Tips Always keep your eyes and ears open for things that might make a good starting point for dramatic exploration.  Take risks, try things out, and be prepared to learn from things that don’t work out the first time.  Make notes in your diary about how you are linking different ideas, experiences and knowledge together.  The more plays you read and go see the more your understanding and appreciation of drama will grow.  Extra marks are awarded to pupils who use the correct terminology in their exam, so learn the correct words.

Rules 1.RESPECT 2.FOCUS 3.TAKE RISKS 4.BE COMMITTED 5.STAY SAFE

Drama is not a subject you can learn… it is a process in which you develop a talent, a gift and a love for all dramatic arts. 100% commitment will get you an A*