Drama

At Badminton, we want all pupils to develop curiosity, interest and enjoyment in Drama.

Mr Chilcott, Head of Drama

We ensure that pupils are active participants as performers and creators of Drama. We encourage the pupils to work with specialist staff who can guide them as to how to produce and organise performances. We stage a whole school production each year with recent highlights including Oliver, The Wizard of Oz and My Fair Lady.  

Our Year 7 performance in the Summer Term forms part of our end of year celebrations. Pupils can get involved with smaller performances throughout the year as part of co-curricular activities. 

We also take part in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as a biennial theatre tour. Pupils from Years 10 to the Upper 6th can take part in a five-night run as part of the world’s largest cultural festival. 

Years 7-9 

In Year 7 - 9, Drama is taught once a week in curriculum lessons. In Year 7, we explore the works of Shakespeare to experiment with how we can tell a story and the many ways to convey a narrative on stage.  In Year 8, we look at different genres of performance and travel around the globe to explore World Theatre.  

In Year 9, our focus is on developing the skills to succeed at GCSE Drama, we look at a range of Theatre Practitioners, devise performances that are influenced by one of the practitioners and explore scripted work for performance. 

GCSE

At GCSE pupils build on the work undertaken throughout Year 9, developing and refining their creative response to practitioners, devising stimuli and scripted work.  

Inspiration for devised work comes from many stimuli, including song lyrics, paintings, novels and props. We also study our set text ‘An Inspector Calls’ from the perspective of actor, director and designer. Alongside this we look at how we can bring scripts to life, focusing on character-based work.  The assessments take place in Year 11 and include a devised practical piece and written evaluation, a practical, scripted performance and a written examination. Throughout the course, pupils keep an online journal of their practical work and their reflections. 

We aim to take pupils to at least two performances in each of their years of study. These plays are chosen to give ample opportunity to answer their written examination questions. They also provide a springboard to develop their own performance work. 

A Level

A Level Drama & Theatre Studies lets pupils perform, direct, discuss, analyse and evaluate as practitioners.  In the first year of the course, we build on existing skills and participate in practice assessments.   

In the second year, we devise a practical piece inspired by a stimulus and influenced by a theatrical style, followed by a scripted practical performance. The written examination focuses on two set texts from the perspective of an actor, designer, or director. Throughout the course, pupils keep an online journal of their practical work and their reflections.