Melrose Drama - Our Curriculum
Drama in the Junior department operates on two levels. On one level it supports areas of the curriculum where appropriate e.g. English work – exploring texts, poetry and playscripts, role play in History etc. On the second level it is explored as a subject in its own right and is used to develop various skills, including that of self-expression and, equally importantly, each child’s self confidence and ability to communicate with others. At Melrose, we believe that these are vital life skills and that our girls are confident individuals, as a result.
In Junior Remove we begin the year with work on the basic skills including listening to each other, working as a team, voice projection and expression of ideas.
In Form I we build on these skills further through improvisation inspired by various stimuli e.g. music, poetry, art. We also support the work in English on playscripts.
In Form II we tune these skills further, this time linking them to characterisations, using masks, props and exploring characters in texts and scripts. This is again linked to English work.
In Form III, Drama work links closely with English, focusing on Shakespeare and exploring a play in various ways.
All Junior year groups also have the opportunity to use these skills and experience a sense of ‘real’ performance in the form of the Junior Production in the Lent Term. They also learn backstage skills, including operating light and sound systems.
In addition, all classes have a chance to develop their group skills in the LAMDA performance exams in Choral Speaking, which are held in the Trinity Term.
