What will this subject enable me to do?
Our Performing Arts programme in Drama and Dance enables students to develop creativity, confidence, and a deep understanding of performance. Through exploring a range of styles and genres, from physical theatre to contemporary dance, students refine their technical and expressive skills while learning key theatrical devices and performance elements. They engage in workshops with industry professionals, gaining hands-on experience in movement, voice, characterisation, and choreography. Live performance opportunities, both as audience members and performers, help them analyse and apply professional techniques. By the end of their studies, students will be skilled, reflective performers with a strong appreciation for the power of the arts.
Here are 10 key skills developed in Performing Arts (Dance and Drama) that are highly valued by employers:
- Communication Skills – Effectively expressing ideas through speech, movement, and body language.
- Confidence & Self-Presentation – Performing in front of others and presenting ideas with clarity.
- Creativity & Problem-Solving – Thinking innovatively and developing original ideas.
- Collaboration & Teamwork – Working effectively with others in rehearsals and performances.
- Adaptability & Resilience – Responding to challenges, handling feedback, and staying motivated.
- Discipline & Commitment – Rehearsing, meeting deadlines, and maintaining high standards.
- Analytical & Critical Thinking – Evaluating performances, interpreting scripts, and refining work.
- Time Management & Organisation – Balancing rehearsals, coursework, and deadlines efficiently.
- Leadership & Initiative – Taking creative and organisational responsibility within a group.
- Public Speaking & Presentation – Developing confidence in delivering ideas to an audience
These skills make Performing Arts students highly adaptable for careers in creative industries, business, education, and more!
Performing Arts Staff
Mrs A Davison
Miss Peat
Music staff
Mrs S Golovko
Keystage 3
Homework is set within Performing Arts to provide ongoing assessment of understanding and progress in the form of short quizzes. Students may be asked to complete short tasks at home to consolidate learning in different units and to allow for contact time to be further focused on practical work or teacher guided development.
| Topic | Content | Assessment |
| Year 7 | ||
| Drama – building confidence and Key knowledge. Dance – Lights Camera Action | Key characterisation skill vocabulary. Performing as a character. Audience awareness and confidence. Movement skills, Action , Space and dynamics. Genre and choreography | Mini quiz tests Holistic overall teacher assessment. |
| Drama – Keep it real! Dance – Fosse! | Stanislavski and naturalism. Script and stage directions, incorporating character. Recognising influences in modern pieces. Creating Fosse influenced work. | Mini quiz tests Holistic overall teacher assessment. |
| Year 8 | ||
| Drama – Genre exploration Dance – What’s the difference? | Melodrama and silent movies. Placards and non-verbal communication skills. Retrograde, fragmentation, refining, clarity, expressive quality | Mini quiz tests Holistic overall teacher assessment. |
| Drama – What do you think? Dance – Cultural dance | Brecht as a partitioner, communicating meaning onstage and in performance. Bhangra and Bharatanatyam. Cultural traditions and communication. | Mini quiz tests Holistic overall teacher assessment. |
| Year 9 | ||
| Drama – Exploring theatre Dance – A voice for change | Theatrical elements and their impact upon intentions. Creative careers and transferrable skills. Diversity as practitioners and dance as a talking point. | Practical demonstrations. Holistic assessment Mini quizzes. |
| Drama – MAKING & EVALUATING THEATRE Dance – The power of theatre. | Devising and creating processes as a professional. Frantic Assembly. The crossover between theatre and dance. | Practical demonstrations. Holistic assessment Mini quizzes. |
Keystage 4
Performing Arts Technical Award is taught with a focus on Drama and Performing or Dance and taught by individual specialists in these areas. The course units are the same, but with individual tailored content for specialisms.
| Topic | Content | Assessment |
| COMPONENT 1: Exploring the Performing arts. | Students explore a range of professional works and their influences and creative processes. | Coursework portfolio. 60 marks 30% Internally marked Re-sit optional |
| COMPONENT 2: Demonstrating skills in the performing arts. | Students demonstrate their ability to perform work for an audience in their chosen style / focus. | Reflection log Performance 60 marks 30% Internally marked Re-sit optional |
| COMPONENT 3: Responding to a brief. | Students combine their knowledge of how work is created and performed for specific effects and create original work for performance in response to a brief. | Ideas log Development log Performance Evaluation 40% Externally marked. |
Keystage 5
On the course Students will undertake all non-exam assessment in the certification year and sit the written exam at the end of the course. Practical focus Learning is through experience, seeing theatre and making theatre. Exploring plays practically, devising using a wide range of theatrical styles and contexts. Engaging exams The exam side of the course is designed for students to demonstrate their creativity and imagination in interpreting set texts and to apply independent thinking and evaluate a live theatre production.
| Topic | Content | Assessment |
| Component 1: Drama and Theatre | · Knowledge and understanding of Drama and theatre · Study of two set play · Analysis and evaluation of the work of live theatre makers including theatre visit | · Written exam: 3 hours · Open book · 80 marks · 40% of A-Level |
| Component 2: Creating Original Drama | · Process of creating devised Drama · Performance of devised · Devised piece must be influenced by the work and methodologies of one prescribed practitioner | · Working Notebook (40 marks) · Devised performance (20 marks) · 60 marks in total · 30% of A-Level |
| Component 3: Making theatre | · Practical exploration and interpretation of three extracts (Extract 1, 2 and 3) each taken from a different play · Methodology of a prescribed practitioner must be applied to Extract 3 · Extract 3 is to be performed as a final assessed piece · Reflective report analysing and evaluating theatrical interpretation of all three extracts | Performance of Extract 3 (40 marks) · Reflective report (20 marks) · 60 marks in total · 30% of A-level |