Vision Statement

Rationale

At Loxford School, we take a pluralistic approach to teaching Performing Arts, that draws upon various theories and practices of Drama and Music education.

We believe that:

• Drama and Music are art forms in their own right that deserves a place in the curriculum

• Music and Drama, in their many forms, remains the most popular leisure activities; every day millions of people around the world watch and participate in drama at the theatre and cinema, on television, video, DVD, interactive computer games, role-play, drama clubs, amateur theatre groups. Similarly, we listen to and participate in musical activity throughout our lives. The study of these activities is an important part of the cultural entitlement of students

• Participation in practical drama lessons affords students the opportunity to explore thoughts, feelings, ideas, concepts and emotions through "imagined experience" (Neelands)

• Drama education builds upon children’s" play as a way to explore the world our live in and to practise and develop the skills and confidence to have a positive impact on our lives

• Music education allows us a chance to ref lect on a range of emotions, moods and thoughts in an abstract and creative manner

• Drama and Music education has an important role to play in developing the emotional intelligence and social intelligence of students

• Drama and Music education allows students to develop important transferable life skills, including communication and interpersonal skills

• The sense of "awe and wonder" created by participating in and watching drama or by participating in and listening to music is an important part of the spiritual development of students.

Clear ground rules are established from the outset and the atmosphere is one of a serious, whilst hopefully enjoyable study. In a subject that relies so heavily on group work, the need for self-discipline in vital.

Aims:

• Teaches practical drama and music skills through active participation

• Teaches students to critically appreciate Drama and Music as performing arts

• Uses Drama as a tool for exploration of issues and Music as a tool for the exploration of thoughts, feelings and emotions

• Develops the communication and interpersonal skills of students.

 

 

About the Staff

This is my 8th year teaching at Loxford where I started as an NQT. In September 2004 I became Head of Drama and in May 2008 I was appointed Curriculum Team Leader of Performing Arts – inclusive Drama and Music

I studied drama Media and Film at Kings Alfred"s university. I took a year out where I worked for various companies in the community running drama workshops. In this time I also set up my own theatre school which still runs on Saturday mornings. This then lead me into teaching. I did my teacher training at the London Arts consortium as a SCITT course. 

In the Performing Arts faculty my main responsibilities are its administration, the monitoring of exams/classwork and coursework, staffing development, ensuring the delivery of teaching and learning is appropriate to all learners, overseeing behaviour and finally rewarding students for their positive behaviour.

I am also a Year 13 Tutor where we are working on UCAS applications and  I teach PSCHE. 

 

I started teaching Drama at Loxford in September 2010.

I first became interested in Drama when I was in Year 7. At my primary school we didn’t study drama so as soon as I started Drama lessons in secondary school, I fell in love with it! I went on to study Drama for GCSE and A Level and went to The Central School of Speech and Drama to study Drama, Applied Theatre and Education. During this time I travelled across England to perform in theatres such as The Minack Theatre and to run drama workshops. I have even travelled to Michigan to perform with a Theatre Company called The Young Americans. 

I joined Loxford in 1999 having previously taught in Enfield.

I studied at Manchester Metropolitan University and trained as a teacher Central School of Speech and Drama.  Before I became a teacher, I worked as a director with youth theatres around the country: I have directed plays as part of the Greenwich Festival, St Albans Arts Festival and Luton Youth Festival.  I also acted in a number of plays and toured Scotland as a magician's assistant.

I am currently the ATL for year 12 and the CTL for Learning to Learn.

As well as Drama, I also teach English and L2L.

 

I started teaching music at Loxford in September 2011 and worked in the MFL department for three years beforehand.

I have always liked music and love the performance side of it. I’m an instrumentalist and I play the piano, guitar, flute and violin, instruments which I play professionally in musicals, orchestras and solo around the world.

I studied music in a French Conservatoire before embarking on a Music degree in Chicago. I then studied for my PGCE at the Institute of Education

 

I have been teaching English and Drama at Loxford since 2010. I studied English Literature combined with Drama at the University Of Essex and trained as Teacher at the Institute of Education. Before embarking in a career in Teaching, I toured across England as a Professional Actor. I worked in Theatre, TV and Radio. My biggest achievement during this time was as a supporting Artist for Eastenders. I gained invaluable experience as an Actor, and have been fortunate that I can share my experiences with my students to enhance their learning and potential in Drama. 

Royal Albert Hall

22nd March 2012
The Loxford School Choir are taking part in the Redbridge Schools’ Choral Festival 2012.

We Will Rock You

11th – 13th July 2012
We are currently working on this years’ school production of We Will Rock You. Please come and support our students.

Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th Febuary (5pm - 6pm):

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory performance in the Theatre. Ticket prices: £2 adults, £1 children Proceeds to Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

 

Outside the Classroom

Extra Curricular Activities

We believe in allowing everyone to have the opportunity to take part in Performing Arts in a variety of ways. Students from each year group at Key Stage 3 will have the opportunity to take part in a ‘Drama Challenge’, which consists of visits to the RedbridgeDrama Centre. The pupils take part in creating a play and developing new skills.

At Key Stage 4, Year 10 visit the centre and develop their performance skills to help prepare them for Year 11. Year 10 work on a performance piece as part of their GCSE course, which leads to an evening performance. There is also an opportunity for Year 10 to become a part of the technical team, where the pupils are trained in lighting, sound and are given responsibility as stage management.

Year 10 have the opportunity to work with Design and Technology to create staging, scenery and costumes for the department, working alongside a school production.

We go on many theatre trips to enable the students to gain an insight into the different styles of performance and the opportunity to go to the theatre.

School productions allow for all year groups to work together. This year we are doing ‘A Christmas Carol’, working on the NYT Connections project with Gifted and Telented across the school. In the summer term we will be doing a presentation of AK, sharing some of the work we have done over the year.

There will be many opportunities throughout the year for people to get involved in:

• Year 7 Drama Club and Singing Club.
• Music lessons.

Why Do We Go To The Drama Centre?

The Drama Centre Trip is offered to 30 students across KS3 who are mixed ability and enjoy the subject. It allows classes in the year to mix and for students to work with the drama teachers at the centre and develop there skills.

They spend the day work-shopping ideas, looking at different stimuli and working towards a performance. They get to work with the technicians and are given the opportunity to come up with lighting and staging ideas. The scenes are put together to create a short play which is performed at the end of the day.

Year 10 will visit the Drama Centre to help prepare them for their devised work in Year 11.

  

 

Support for your Learning

• To provide opportunities for students to participate in a range of practical Performing activities, including performances where appropriate
• To develop an understanding and critical appreciation of Performing Arts as performing arts and leisure activities
• To provide opportunities for students to see live theatre and to hear live music when possible and to develop the range of recorded and broadcast drama and music that students see
• To develop the oracy of students, thereby contributing to the Literacy strategy
• To use a range of explorative strategies to develop students" understanding of a variety of themes and issues that are relevant to their lives in the modern world
• To use "imagined experience" in Drama to allow students to explore and refine their intellectual, emotional and critical responses to a range of real life issues
• To provide students with opportunities to develop their interpersonal skills through practical group work tasks
• To provide students with opportunities to reflect critically on the content of their drama and music and their contribution to the group tasks, thereby developing their emotional and social intelligence
• To foster a multi-cultural approach to Drama and Music
• To foster and develop the creativity of students

We acknowledge a continuum of approaches to Performing Arts education thus:

 

Our curriculum is structured to encompass all aspects of the Drama and Music Education continuum; our delivery moves fluidly through the continuum as appropriate to the learning objective.

Practical work is underpinned by continuous and ongoing analysis and evaluation of:

• The content of the Drama
• The themes expressed through Music
• The dramatic and musical techniques used
• Key skills (communication and interpersonal skills) developed by participation in the work
• The impact of the work on an audience
• Social, cultural and historic context of the work
• To provide a friendly, secure and supportive working environment based on mutual respect and a shared work ethos.

Additionally, at Key Stage 4:

• To provide students with the knowledge, skills and experiences required to pass GCSE Drama following the Edexcel specification
• To provide students with the knowledge, skills and experiences required to pass GCSE Music following the OCR specification

Additionally, at Key Stage 5:

Booklist

Read the story, live the life stories involving teenagers with artistic talents and how they use them.

1. High School Musical The Book of the Film   ( title says it all)! adapted  By N.B. Grace
2. Shakspeare"s Apprentice by Veronica Bennett (theatre)
3. Festival by David Belbin( Glastonbury music festival)
4. Coram Boy by Jamila Gavin (classical Music)
5.The Singer of all the Songs by Kate Constable(teenage)
6. Film Star by Ruby Parker(soap/star/movie star)
7. Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson  (music)
8. A Spoonful of Jam  by Michelle Magarian (theatre)
9. 6X Loud, Fast and Out of Nontrol by  Nina Malkin  ( Older Teenage Rock Band)
10. Song Quest    by Katherine Roberts  (music)

 

Learning Links

Good websites to be aware of and theatres to look at:
www.rsc.org.uk
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
www.royalcourttheatre.com
www.barbican.org.uk
www.artscouncil.org.uk
www.solt.co.uk

Local theatres for the pupils to visit:
www.redbridgedramacentre.co.uk
www.kenneth-more-theatre.co.uk
www.thebroadwaybarking.com
www.stratfordeast.com

BBC bitesize is excellent:
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/drama

And for those wanting to act:
www.nyt.org.uk/

 

Drama Vocabulary List

Thought-tracking:
A character speaks out loud about his/her inner thoughts at a particular moment in the drama.

Narrating:
Giving a spoken commentary on the action taking place during a drama.

Cross-cutting:
After you have created a series of scenes or sequences you re-order them to create a drama that goes forwards and backwards in time.

Hot-seating:
A way of developing (or deepening) character. If you are in the hot-seat you answer questions from others in the group while you are "in role’.

Forum Theatre:
A group watching a scene is encouraged to stop the action when they think it necessary, to suggest a different action. Sometimes someone else can step in and take over a role - or even introduce a new one.

Marking the moment:
A scene has been created and the group decides if it"s a significant moment in the drama, and they want to show it in some way.

Plot:
The storyline of a piece of theatre.

Physical Theatre:
Using your body to create an object or to express an emotion.

Mime:
Acting without words.

Body language:
Using your body to communicate a feeling or an attitude.

Facial Expression:
Using your face to communicate a feeling or an attitude.

Monologue:
A speech for ONE character.

Duologue:
A script for TWO characters.

Montage:
Putting a series of scenes or images together.

Naturalism:
A style of theatre that is true to life.

Absurdism:
A style of theatre based on the belief that the world is irrational and meaningless.

Split Scene:
The stage area is split into two or more areas - and each area represents a different place or different time.

 

Music Vocabulary List

Key Stage 3 Key Words:

Key Stage 4 Key Words:

All parts moving together but not necessarily playing the same thing.