At Newfield School, the Drama Department endeavours to ignite our students’ passion for the Performing Arts and cultivate creativity.  We aim to inspire a love of learning through a curriculum that allows students the freedom to explore their creativity, whilst developing an extensive practical skillset, and a deep and broad theoretical understanding of Drama and Theatre. The curriculum is designed to engage and grip the interest of students and lessons are taught by subject specialists who love their subject and strive for the best outcomes for all students. From their first Drama lesson in Year 7, students are encouraged to create and refine performance work to the highest standard and additionally, develop the crucial skills of analysing and evaluating their own work and the work of others; skills our students need to be successful at GCSE and beyond.

The Drama Department is committed to developing students’ Cultural Capital through a curriculum that introduces and explores the vast world of theatre and provides them with opportunities and experiences that span beyond classroom learning by allowing them to watch live professional theatre and take place in industry standard workshops.

The Drama Department curriculum is one which allows all students to achieve their potential; carefully considered sequences of lessons and teacher chosen working groups ensure that the curriculum is inclusive to the needs of all students and they are given a platform to meet their potential.

The Drama Department curriculum is committed to equipping students with transferable skills which will undoubtedly make them successful young adults, these include: collaborating and creating successful working relationships, communication (both verbally and physically), empathy, problem solving, confidence and the ability to express ideas and opinions.

Reading and literacy are a core part of the Drama Department curriculum; students are taught a range of play texts and key vocabulary is continually embedded. 

Drama Department Key Stage 3 Curriculum Key Principles:

At Key Stage 3, the Drama Department is committed to delivering engaging schemes of learning which introduces students to a range of different performance styles and Theatre Practitioners, providing students with an incredibly strong foundation of skills and knowledge of theatre, these include: Frantic Assembly, Konstantin Stanislavski, Bertolt Brecht and PUSH Physical Theatre. The Key Stage 3 curriculum is carefully sequenced so that students learn and then revisit the skills and theories over the course of Key Stage 3. 

The KS3 Drama Department curriculum teaches students about the world around them through schemes of learning which focus on a range of real-life topics and issues; within these schemes of learning we aim to develop students’ understanding of cultural, social and global issues. Additionally, we strive to expose students to range a play texts which allow them to explore the lives of others and how to realise these on stage creatively. 

Drama Department Key Stage 4 Curriculum Key Principles:

At Key Stage 4, students study GCSE Drama; the curriculum is carefully designed to ensure that students have the greatest platform for success in their practical and written examinations, whilst continuing to develop the transferable skills of our students to prepare them for their next steps and entering the working world.  The Key Stage 4 curriculum ensures students develop a depth of knowledge of the world of Drama and Theatre by exposing them to a variety of performance styles, genres and Theatre Practitioners; students are taught how to analyse and evaluate the work of others and the impact of artistic choices on an audience.  Students learn about the range of roles of theatre makers and are challenged to step into these different roles. During KS4, students are given the opportunity to create theatre that is in direct response to the world around them and create and realise their own artistic visions and intentions. 

The Key Stage 4 curriculum is designed to enhance and refine the practical abilities of students; they are required to produce their own original pieces of work as well as stage and creatively realise the work of others. 

The Key Stage 4 curriculum is designed to make students as successful as possible in their examined components by giving students the opportunity to partake in mock components of each of the exam units prior to final performances and written examinations.

"Theatre is a form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it." - Augusto Boal