Curriculum Lead

Mrs Forni - Curriculum Lead Performing Arts

Curriculum Principles & Intent

Key Stage 3 Performing Arts provides students with the opportunity to express themselves through practical performance. The intent of the Performing Arts curriculum is to encourage creativity and imagination whilst developing students confidence and communication skills.

Students will be provided with the opportunity to explore both Dance and Drama throughout the curriculum, exploring the physical and vocal performance skills required for a performance. The Performing Arts curriculum will enrich students’ knowledge of the Performing Arts industry by exploring various Performance styles and theatrical skills. This will in turn enable students to learn about the technical elements of theatre and various renowned Performing Arts practitioners and Theatre companies. Through the study of Theatre companies, various Dance styles, and a wide range of Performing Arts practitioners, students will gain an understanding and respect for the cultural value of Performing Arts. An appreciation and knowledge of Performing Arts will be developed at KS3 that will provide students with both a historical and contemporary understanding of the Arts.

Performing Arts at Key Stage 3 will encourage students to explore and expand their boundaries of self-awareness and confidence, as well as develop their individual communication and listening skills. Students will be expected to partake in regular class performances demonstrating the various skills studied, as well as being able to show appreciation of the performances of their peers through regular peer-assessment tasks.

Students will be provided with the opportunity to work with others as part of a group, and share their creative ideas and opinions through discussion and rehearsal on a regular basis. Performing Arts students will become creative thinkers who explore practically how to express emotions and develop the skills and techniques required for Acting and Dance. They will be provided with the opportunity to develop their self-expression through regular performances to their peers, resulting in an improvement in self-belief and confidence.

Following from KS3 Performing Arts, students will have secured knowledge to be successful for studying Performing Arts at KS4 with the opportunity to further develop their performance skills through studying BTEC Tech Award Level 1 / Level 2 in Performing Arts at KS4 (Acting or Dance pathway).

In KS4 students will explore the Performing Arts through developing their understanding of the Performing Arts by examining practitioners’ work and the processes used to create performance.Students will gain an understanding of the requirements of being a performer of acting and dance across a range of performances and performance styles. Students will look at elements such as roles, responsibilities and the application of relevant skills and techniques. Knowledge will be broadened through observing existing repertoire and by learning about the approaches of practitioners, and how they create and influence performance material.

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BTEC Specifications

BTEC Level 1/Level 2 Tech Award in Performing Arts

Exam Board: Pearson

Course Content

The BTEC Course is split into 3 components -  2 are internally assessed and one is externally assessed

Component 1

Students will be expected to explore the Performing Arts through developing their understanding of the Performing Arts by examining practitioners’ work and the processes used to create performance. This component will help students to understand the requirements of being a performer (in acting, dance, or musical theatre) and/or designer across a range of performances and performance styles. Students will look at elements such as roles, responsibilities and the application of relevant skills and techniques. Knowledge will be broadened through observing existing repertoire and by learning about the approaches of practitioners, and how they create and influence performance material.

Component 2

Students will develop their skills and techniques in the Performing Arts through the reproduction of acting, dance and/or musical theatre repertoire as performers or designers. In this component, students will develop performing or design skills and techniques. They will have the opportunity to specialise as a performer or designer in one or more of the following disciplines: acting, dance, musical theatre. Students will be expected to take part in workshops and classes where they will develop technical, practical and interpretative skills through the rehearsal and performance process. They will work from existing performing arts repertoire, applying relevant skills and techniques to reproduce performance or design elements of the work. Throughout your development, students will be expected to review their own progress and consider how to make improvements.

Component 3

Students will be given the opportunity to work as part of a group to contribute to a workshop performance as either a performer or designer in response to a given brief and stimulus. In this component, students will be given a brief that outlines the performance and design requirements and that asks them to consider their target audience and to start the creative process by using the given stimulus included in the brief. Working as part of a group, students will develop their ideas for a workshop performance and apply their skills and techniques to communicate the creative intentions to their audience

Why study this course?

The Pearson BTEC Level 1/Level 2 Tech Award in Performing Arts is for learners who want to acquire technical knowledge and technical skills through vocational contexts by studying acting, dance or musical theatre as part of their Key Stage 4 learning. The qualification recognises the value of learning skills, Performance knowledge and vocational attributes, and will broaden the learners experience and understanding of the varied progression options available to them.

Progression Routes

Study of the qualification as part of Key Stage 4 learning will help learners to make more informed choices for further learning, either generally or in this sector. The choices that learners can make post-16 will depend on their overall level of attainment and their performance in the qualification. Learners who generally achieve at Level 2 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to:

• A Levels as preparation for entry to higher education in a range of subjects.
• study of a vocational qualification at Level 3, such as a BTEC National in Performing Arts, which prepares learners to enter employment or apprenticeships, or to move on to higher education by studying a degree in the Performing Arts or Production Arts areas.

BTEC Level 3 Extended Certificate in Performing Arts

Exam Board: Pearson

Course Content

The Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Performing Arts suite is designed to give creative and innovative vocational opportunities for learners wanting to progress to higher education, an apprenticeship or employment.
The combination of mandatory units and external assessment will drive the quality of learning. It will also help learners take increased responsibility for their own development. The demands within the performing arts industry mean learners need to be able to manage deadlines well, work effectively with others and communicate their ideas in different ways. This assessment methodology now more closely matches experiences learners will have in employment and thus increases their chances of successful progression. The units give valuable ways for learners to develop highly transferable skills and to be assessed in a synoptic way. The combination of mandatory content and optional units means that the qualification in Performing Arts can be tailored to suit all sector needs from acting and dance, to musical theatre and community-focused projects. All of the mandatory units can be delivered as a specialist route or across a broader discipline.

Unit 1 - Investigating practitioners work

This unit focuses on developing critical analysis skills. It gives learners the opportunity to undertake research into influential practitioners, relevant to their interests, whose performance work and ideas may engage and inspire them. A practitioner can be an individual or a company with international recognition and an established reputation and presence.Learners can watch and analyse live and recorded productions as well as finding information in books, journals, newspapers and magazines and online. This is a synoptic unit that encourages learners to consider their exploration of practitioners’ repertoire in other units and use this to consolidate and/or inspire their investigation. The external assessment requires learners to carry out research into two practitioners’ work

Unit 2 - Developing skills and techniques for live performance

The focus of this highly practical unit is on the acquisition and development of performance and interpretative skills within the learner’s chosen performing arts discipline. Learners will gain understanding of the nature of work as a performer and through practical training, explorations, workshops and assessments, will develop essential physical, vocal and creative skills to be able to realise performance material in different styles. The unit will serve as a valuable induction, providing learners with a ‘toolkit’ of performance skills and techniques and a solid foundation for work in other internal and external units, and for future progression as performing arts practitioners.

Unit 3 - Group performance workshop

This externally assessed unit provides opportunities for learners to draw on their individual practical performance skills and demonstrate an understanding of the methods and techniques for creating performance in order to contribute to the making and realisation of new performance material. Learners will work in small groups to create an original performance piece in response to a stimulus provided in the external assignment briefing. The emphasis of the unit is on exploration and development of original performance material and the selection and application of appropriate performance skills. Learners will devote much of the unit therefore to experimenting with devising and/or choreographic methods, and using discussion, improvisation, staging and compositional techniques to put together a short performance in which they will ‘try out’ their creative intentions and ideas to an invited audience.

Optional Unit

The optional unit will consist of a unit chosen to best suit the learners, and can range from Contemporary Dance, Jazz Dance, or Street Dance, to Improvisation, Movement in Performance and Developing voice for performance to name but a few.