So we are fully underway with the Higher at Knox. We successfully performed the investigatives Drama’s (Unit One) last week in the Drama studio to packed audiences of Staff, pupils and parents. The Groups chose the themes of ‘Teenage Life’ and ‘Cruelty’ and created engaging plays based on a variety of topics including self-harm, eating disorders, animal cruelty and women’s rights to name a few. After tears, drama strops and a few shouting matches they really shone as Playwrights, Directors, Drama-turgs and Actors.

A lot of people don’t seem to understand the amount of work that the pupils have to do to achieve the first unit and parents were quite shocked at a) how mature they approached the topics being dealt and b) how much work they had put into achieving their first unit. The SQA ask that each pupils research a choosen topic and from their research write a play. Their written play is then directed by them and they have to liase with the technical pupils to light and sound their production. They must also act in their peers plays and all the plays had to link to make one whole production - phew even writing it i’m shattered!

So we’ve now moved on and we’re all a go go! for Unit Two we are studying ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles. I studied it when doing Higher and my Drama Teacher, Mrs Chetty, was passionate about the text that it’s last with me all these years! It’s such a great story and how amazing that it was written ove 2500 years ago and still relevant to the world today!

Unit 3 is Contemporary Scottish Theatre and again another passion of mine so it’s been great to start teaching this and seeing the pupils really engaging in the first two lessons (Lecture on National Theatre Scotland and an introduction to playwright Linda McLean). We are going to be studying ‘Passing Places’ by Stephen Greenhorn, ‘One Good Beating’ by Linda McLean, ‘Black Watch’ by Gregory Burke, ‘The Women of Lockerbie’ by Deborah Brevoort and ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by M Spark.

So we are all go at Knox and through practical workshops our pupils will, hopefully, be ready for their acting exams in March/April and the written exam in May!

I love all forms of movement, as I mentioned in previous posts, and try to incorporate movement as early as possible into the drama curriculum so students experiences of it are fun, challenging and enjoyable.

When I mentioned this week to the second years that they are starting dance/drama their faces dropped and the boys were shouting… nnnnooooooooo!!!!!! This is the normal response!

Having taught it for the past 3 years it doesn’t come as a surprise, however by the end of the first lesson EVERYONE was fully engaged and had created a wonderful piece of dance/drama as a class.

I don’t teach it as ‘dance’; we don’t do tap, ballet or Jazz and we don’t need to! I explain that dance/drama is a form of communication that the meaning is created through our bodies and movement, unlike in Drama where it is mainly verbal.

We watched a clip from the National Theatre of Scotland’s award winning play ‘Black Watch‘ which showed a movement sequence that communicated the anger the young soldiers were feeling. This really represented what we were trying to achieve. We use gymnastics, balance, movement, gesture to create our meaning, the faces were beginning to change!

Last year I had an incredible group of boys who created a dance/drama piece about football violence which included a slow motion football match and lifting people as well as the class who used dance/drama to tell the story of 9/11 and the attacks on London.

In today’s 2nd year class the boys again outshone the girls by being daring in what they created. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX! The theme was city life to Speedway by the Prodigy. I had boys lifting one another, someone jumping over shoulders and going into a forward roll. The linking of the piece by movement really showed everyone how interesting this form of drama can be. The last words from the class… ‘are we doing this next week as we really want to!’

A message to Drama teachers… don’t be scared to try something outside your box!

Hello! After an insightful CPD on ICT  and being friends with someone who is very passionate about blogging I have decided to create my own teaching BLOG.

I am a Drama Teacher at Knox Academy in Haddington, just outside Edinburgh in East Lothian. I spent a great two years at Maxwelltown High School in Dumfries and Galloway. I am drama graduate from Queen Margaret University College school of Drama and have worked as a Director, Actor (Musical Theatre) and Drama Facilitator. Two years ago a few friends and myself created random ACT theatre company to facilitate the work of gender theatre. We’re still new but hailed as an ‘exciting and up and coming theatre company’ by the Scotsman is quite exciting. Hopefully I can help use some of the work we do at random ACT within the classroom and vice versa.

Knox Academy is a great school with lots of stuff going on and am very excited to be part of an amazing team of staff. At present we offer Drama to all S1 and S2 students with Standard Grade being introduced next year. The S6 students have the chance to take Drama as an option throughout the year; focusing on drama technique and production skills. At present I am involved in writing and Directing the S6 pantomime as well as the school senior play ‘In Holland stands a house’. I’m very passionate about education and how drama can enhance learning. ‘In Holland stands a house’ is the story of Anne Frank but told through a docu-drama making the audience flip between the secret annex and what was happening throughout Europe at the time.

The senior play is just one of a series of curricular events I am proposing for national Holocaust memorial day in January. I feel very strongly about this area and feel each student should be aware of the Holocaust and similar acts since. Through the work we do  we should educate young people to accept each other and themselves as indivduals.

So… my first blog… not much really but it’s a start…