The Wood Green Drama curriculum.
At Wood Green, we are passionate about Drama as both an academic subject and a powerful vehicle for personal growth. Our curriculum develops students’ acting skills while nurturing creativity, individuality, and a love of storytelling. We believe that performance is a vital form of storytelling, it reflects the dilemmas, cultures, and experiences of societies throughout history, and we celebrate and explore this with our students.
We strive for the highest standards in practical work, celebrating students’ achievements within lessons and beyond. Our teaching promotes theatre and performance as a rich art form, with a focus on both contemporary theatre companies such as Frantic Assembly and Kneehigh, and influential practitioners from history, including Bertolt Brecht and Antonin Artaud.
Through Drama, students develop expressive, interpersonal, and oracy skills, broadening their use of literacy and confidence in communication. We are committed to ensuring as many students as possible experience live theatre, inspiring their understanding of performance and deepening their appreciation of the art form.
Year 7
Term 1 ATMOSPHERES- An introduction to the fundamentals of performing culminating in students creating their own drama based on the genre of horror.
Term 2 THE GREEDY KING- Using this enchanting story students will learn how to create and sustain a character on stage. Students are assessed on their creating and performance skills this term.
Term 3 and 4 GREEK THEATRE AND THE JABERWOCKY- Students learn where theatre began and work as a team to create a choral performance- developing discipline and unity in a performance. Students are assessed on their creating and performance skills this term.
Term 5 MELODRAMA Using the melodrama characterisation principles, students create and sustain a character using a script to help guide them. Students are assessed on their creating and performance skills this term.
Term 6 MAKING MEMORIES This term focusses on watching and analysing a piece of theatre, a murder mystery that students need to solve and developing a story using a shadow screen.
Year 8
Term 1 THE MERCHANT’S TALE - Exploring physical movement through the original story of Beauty and the Beast.
Term 2 VISUAL COMEDY - Using key skills from the silent movie era, students produce their own visual comedy performance. Students are assessed on their creating and performance skills this term.
Term 3 REFUGEE BOY - Exploring dramatic techniques, students effectively bring this powerful story alive from the page to the stage. Students are assessed on their creating and performance skills this term.
Term 4 NON-NATURALISM Developing an understanding of the practitioner Bertolt Brecht through various stimuli.
Term 5 THE TERRIBLE FATE OF HUMPTY DUMPTY - Exploring themes of bullying and gangs through a script. Students are assessed on their creating and performance skills this term.
Term 6 MAKING MEMORIES - This term focusses on watching and analysing a piece of theatre, a murder mystery that students need to solve and developing a story using a shadow screen.
Year 9
Term 1 KNIFE CRIME - Creating awareness of knife crime within our society through real-life stories
Term 2 DIPPING INTO SCRIPTS - Giving students a range of different scripts to explore their characterisation skills in preparation for GCSE. Students are assessed on their creating and performance skills this term.
Term 3 9/11 - Exploring techniques and ideas of Frantic Assembly using the terrorist attacks on 9th September 2001 as a stimulus
Term 4 THE PRISONER - Physical theatre and devising skills as well as an introduction to lighting for GCSE. Students are assessed on their creating and performance skills this term.
Term 5 BLOOD BROTHERS - Explore this rich script developing their characterisation and directing skills. Students are assessed on their creating and performance skills this term.
Term 6 MAKING MEMORIES - This term focusses on watching and analysing a piece of theatre, a murder mystery that students need to solve and developing a story using a shadow screen
At Key Stage 4 and 5 students must be able to produce practical work from a script. We develop this in skill in Year 7 through The Anansi scripts, Year 8 through The Terrible Fate of Humpty Dumpty and Year 9 in the Page to Stage unit. All three of these units, but specifically the Year 9 unit focusses specifically on breaking a script down into chunks, developing and building a character, and how to convey the director’s vision.
At Key Stage four and five students must be able to write about drama through coursework and the written exam. At key stage 3 we promote literacy through emphasising key terminology and oracy which is clear to see in any drama lesson. We are developing the written work skills at KS4 in particular by changing the course structure to allow for a deeper understanding of the theory and re-visiting this element more often.
Term 1 and Term 2- Students explore the set text for the Component 3 written exam- Find Me by Olwen Wymark.
Term 3 and Term 4 - Students prepare and perform their first piece of live theatre which makes up part of the 40% of their overall drama GCSE
Term 5 and Term 6 - Students prepare for the written coursework and controlled assessment. By the end of Year 10 students will have “banked” 40% of their final Drama GCSE.
Year 11
Term 1- Students return to exploring the set text for Component 3 written exam- Find Me by Olwen Wymark
Term 2 and 3- Students prepare and perform a scripted performance for a visiting examiner. This performance is worth 20% of the GCSE.
Term 4 and 5- Students return to preparing for the written exam for the final time, exploring the set text as well as prepare for the live theatre evaluation. The written exam is worth 40% of the GCSE.
Exam assessment
Component 1: Devising Theatre (40%)
Component 2: Performing from text (20%)
This unit introduces students to the content of plays written for the theatre. They will student two key extract and will then participate in a performance of a key extract.
Component 3: Interpreting Theatre (40%)
Section A: Explore one set text as an Actor, Designer and Director then answer serous of question on the text
Section B: Live Theatre Review. 1 extended question on a performance that students have seen live.
This is an externally assessed unit. All students will present their work as either performers or performance support students in a single performance to an examiner appointed by Edexcel.
The aims of the Edexcel A Level Drama and Theatre are to encourage students to:
Integrate theory and practice through their understanding of critical concepts and the discriminating use of specialist terminology.
Year 12
Term 1 and Term 2 - Students explore the two set text for the Component 3 written exam - Equus by Peter Shaffer and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen.
For the rest of Year 12 students prepare and perform an original piece of theatre based on a stimulus using their chosen practitioner as a key influence. Students will also produce a written piece of coursework which details their creative journey. The performance and the coursework is worth 40% of the Drama A Level.
Year 13
Term 1- Students return to exploring the set text for Component 3 written exam
Term 2 and 3 - Students prepare and perform a scripted group performance as well as a monologue for a visiting examiner. These performances are worth 20% of the A level.
Term 4 and 5 - Students return to preparing for the written exam for the final time, exploring the set text as well as prepare for the live theatre evaluation. The written exam is worth 40% of the A level.
Assessment
Component 1: Devising. This internally assessed unit
Component 2: Text in Performance 20% 60 marks
This is an externally assessed unit. The first section requires students to offer either a monologue or duologue. The second section requires students to contribute to a performance of a professionally published play by a known writer. Students may offer either acting or a design form and must also provide a concept of the interpretation of their chosen roles or designs.
Component 3: Theatre Makers in Practice 80 marks2hour 30 minutes written exam
Section A: Live Theatre Evaluation 20 mark question
Section B: Page to Stage: Realising a Performance Text 36 marks
Section C: Interpreting a Performance Text 24 marks
A level Drama and Theatre Studies specification
Updated November 2025
