Drama
Mrs. A. Barnes – Curriculum Leader
Drama at Testwood School encourages every student to explore character, creativity, and performance in a way that feels meaningful and accessible. Our curriculum is built on doing drama, not just learning about it: students improvise, devise, rehearse, perform, and evaluate, discovering how theatre works by experiencing it first-hand.
From their first steps in Year 7 through to GCSE, they encounter a rich and varied theatrical world that includes physical theatre, melodrama, musical theatre, and the study of influential playwrights and practitioners like Bertolt Brecht. This breadth helps students understand drama as both a personal art form and a powerful tool for social communication.
Key Stage 3 Curriculum Intent
As they progress through Key Stage 3, students develop growing confidence in their performance skills—such as characterisation and stage combat—and their ability to work collaboratively in ensembles. They learn how to use voice, movement, and staging to communicate meaning to an audience, building resilience and empathy through regular rehearsal and feedback.
Key Stage 4 Curriculum Intent
By the time they reach Key Stage 4, students are equipped to engage thoughtfully with the AQA GCSE course, drawing on years of hands-on experience and creative curiosity. Our aim is for every pupil to leave Testwood with a strong sense of their own artistic voice and an appreciation of the wider theatrical world, ready to continue as performers, creators, or simply informed and confident individuals.
