The Course - King Solomon High School

The CourseSeptember 2008 sees the introduction of a brand new A Level Drama and TheatreStudies course, a summary of which is set out below:Unit 1 - 20% of A Level - Exploration of Drama and Theatre (taught in the firsthalf of Year 12) Students study two play texts, through practical work and writtencoursework. They must also write a 1000 word evaluation of a piece of livetheatre seen during the course.Unit 2 - 30% of A Level - Theatre Text in Performance (taught in second halfof year 12) Students must perform a monologue or duologue to an externalexaminer. They must also perform as a group, a substantial section of a publishedplay, again to an external examiner.Unit 3 - 20% of A Level - Exploration of Dramatic Performance (taught in thefirst half of Year 13) Students must create their own piece of theatre. They areassessed on both their devising process, as well as the final product, and also onwritten coursework.Unit 4 - 30% of A Level - Theatre Text in Context (taught in the second halfof Year 13) A two and a half hour written exam, split into three sections. SectionsA and B require students to explore one set play from the point of view of adirector. In Section C students study one period of theatre history. Students willsee a live performance of a play written during that period, and compare it withthe original staging conditions of the play.Who teaches the course?The A Level is taught by Mr Hecht and Miss WilliamsStudent AchievementThe department always achieves 100% A-E grades at A Level, with many studentsachieving A and B grades.Preferred Entry CriteriaStudents must have studied GCSE Drama in order to enter this course, in orderto have an understanding of basic Dramatic skills, and, due to the amount ofwritten work that is required, they should have a good pass in GCSE English.Drama is taught in brand new facilities, which opened in September 2007, bytwo specialist teachers.DRAMA