Sixth form

Drama is also a popular A level option. In Key Stage 5 we will follow the 4 units of the Edexcel course. During this course, students study a number of theatre practitioners including Stanislavski, Brecht, Beckett, Artaud and Berkoff. They are also expected to study two play texts in detail (including a number of written essays on each); perform, direct, or design two specially adapted plays to a public audience; study a performance they have seen and research the history of a Shakespearian play from its original conditions, through the centuries to a present-day production. In preparation for this research, the students are taken to see a production of a Shakespeare play at 'The Globe' in London and to a Royal Shakespeare Company production in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Despite the stresses and work load inherent within the course, the students always have a positive attitude to their work and much of the subject's popularity is due to A-Level students advising future learners to continue their studies in Drama:

Teaching spaces

The department currently uses a black box Drama studio complete with basic lighting rigs and has the use of the school sound systems and also the schools Large hall endearing named the Drama Centre.

Extra Curricular

We aspire to give our students as much experience as possible in order to aid them in their progression through the drama syllabus. Our extra-curricular timetable is created with this in mind.

Some of our Drama Clubs are taken by 6th form students where the shared knowledge improves the community atmosphere of the department as well as sharing responsibility of students' learning. We also have strong links with local Theatres, and frequently organise director's and designer's workshops to compliment the productions we see there.

Recognition of achievements

Drama teaching staff feel it is important to reward students whom we feel have worked at a consistently high level to receive a certificate of achievement a postcard home or a special football merit.

The department also periodically offers the following to pupils across the board in recognition of excellent work and effort:

• backstage theatre tours
• theatre trips
• residential workshops
• theatre vouchers

Cross-curricular

Activities that relate to drama are often used in other areas of the curriculum. Equally, the Drama department aims to support the learning of our students in other subjects through the topics we teach.

The study of Drama also aids the students' progress when developing their key skills in preparation for working life. At Quinitin Kynaston School, the Drama department aim to encourage this development through focus on four of the key skills inherent within a Drama syllabus:

• Working with others
• Problem solving
• Improving own learning and performance
• Communication