Drama
The Drama Department is staffed by a lively, creative and well-qualified team who are keen to give students every opportunity to perform. Students not only gain acting and technical theatre skills, which many have taken further into professional careers, but all students benefit from developing essential employability skills such as communication, effective presentation skills and team work.
Lower School
In the Lower School, students explore drama and theatre through an innovative and exciting programme of study which provides the opportunity for all students to achieve at the highest level. Students study a variety of styles of Drama including being introduced to contemporary scripts, physical theatre, naturalistic acting and comedy. Our fantastic facilities enable students to develop technical theatre skills, specialising in lighting and sound, working with our lighting rig and recording studio. Students have regular assessments in lessons and develop the skills of peer and self-assessment. In this way, students learn to respect one another through this invaluable evaluation process. Lower school students are active participants in the range of Drama Clubs, proving their enjoyment of the subject and their keenness to have more access to Drama.
Upper School
In the Upper School, students follow the Pearson/ Edexcel GCSE Drama specification. Students study a wide range of texts and more complex drama styles, developing skills ranging from naturalistic acting to verbatim theatre. Students have opportunities to work with the lighting and sound equipment during the two years to enhance their understanding of theatre, performance and production. Upper School students are encouraged to become leaders for Lower School students, and take on roles of responsibility within the department. Uptake for Drama is very healthy and the results are strong.
Facilities and Resources
The Department enjoys a wonderful purpose-built Lantern Theatre with tiered seating and a full lighting rig and sound box. We also benefit from a recently upgraded Drama Studio with its own lighting rig and sound system, which enables us to create studio style performances.
Trips, Activities, Extra Curricular
The Drama Department has staged many large-scale productions ‘Aladdin’ 2025, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ 2023, ‘Mary Poppins’ 2022. Furthermore, there are numerous chances for students to indulge their passion for Drama, where they could participate in Drama Club, Musical Theatre Company and the Drama Leaders Company. Throughout the year we welcome visiting practitioners, enabling students to participate in workshops.
The Drama Department runs many visits to local theatres such as The Mayflower, Mayflower MAST Studios and The Point, as well as visits to London’s West End.
My favourite memory of school was the being in the production."
Contact
Ms Hocking is the Head of Drama. You can contact her through this email with the subject line marked "FAO: Ms Hocking Head of Drama".
Production Photographs
