The Performing Arts Department

The Performing Arts Department

Drama, dance, music, music technology, media, performing arts

Accommodation

Performing Arts facilities are excellent and include a professionally equipped theatre, 4 purpose built dance studios, 5 drama studios with professional lighting rigs, a Media computer suite and 4 music rooms, all with access to several practice rooms. There is also a state of the art recording studio.

The Performing Arts department is well resourced with data projectorsin the majority of classrooms. We also have access to class sets of laptops and tablets and all staff have a lap-top for work-related use.

Personnel

The department comprises the equivalent of 10 full-time staff and 3 part-time staff, who are specialists in their field. All teach across the ability range up to year 11 and staff with the necessary qualifications and experience, have the opportunity to teach Post 16 up to A Level.

Academic Structure

The faculty leadership team comprises the Head of Faculty, Second in faculty andheads of each specialist subject who also have responsibility for leading a key stage. The faculty is currentlydeveloping its leadership model to reflect staff strengths and to drive forward its vision for the future.

Organisation of classes

At KS3 Performing Arts students are taught in mixed ability classes. Each student has one lesson of Dance, one lesson of Music and one lesson of Drama per week.

SEND

It is the responsibility of all subject teachers to differentiate within their teaching plans, for students of all abilities, supported by differentiated schemes of work. Additional assistance for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities comes from classroom assistants whose time is usually given to classes which contain statemented students. The school has well-regarded specialist provision for students with language and communication challenges and is highly inclusive in its approach.

The Curriculum

Performing Arts is highly valued at Stantonbury. It is an important part of the school curriculum that helps build confident, creative and respectful students. The Performing Arts Faculty expect all students to have a positive attitude towards their lessons and perform to the best of their ability. The school’s CREATE values underpin our distinctive ethos of wide horizons, proud traditions and high achievement and support positive approaches to learning.

Key Stage Three

The Year 7 and 8 curriculum and schemes of work enable all students to reach key stage 3 age-related expectations, whilst providing them with the foundations needed to achieve success at GCSE. The faculty offers a thematic approach until the end of year 8, covering themes such as: social dance styles; heroes and villains;rhythms and melodies of the world.

Key stage 4 and 5

Students opt to specialise in Year 9 and follow a 3 year GCSE/BTEC Level 2 course. The PA Faculty also offer a variety of Post 16 courses.

Students then opt to specialise in Year 9 and follow a 3 year option in one or more of the above options. The Performing Arts Faculty also offers a variety of Post 16 courses which attract students from across the city and for which a bursary is available for outstanding students.

SEND

It is the responsibility of all subject teachers to differentiate within their teaching plans, for students of all abilities, supported by differentiated schemes of work. Some additional assistance is in place in class for students with EHC plans. The school has well-regarded specialist provision for students needing support with their language and communication skills and is highly inclusive in its approach.

Achievement:

We have held Performing Arts Status and Artsmark Gold for many years and have a strong reputation both within the local community and nationally. Traditionally the Performing Arts GCSE/BTEC and Post 16 results are amongst the strongest in the school and some courses compete at levels that are above national. Many of our students go on to study the Performing Arts and enter the Performing Arts industry.

Alumni include:

Diarmid Scrimshaw – Has won 3 BAFTAs and is an up and coming film producer

Nikki Bentley – Currently performing in Mamma Mia in the West End

Rhodri Hoskings – Talented actor in the iconic TV series Games of Thrones

Carol Jarvis – Was on tour with Sting & Seal

Chris DiMargary – Sax/flute player with Simply Red, Supergrass and Blur

Matthew Reeve- Is a successful composer

EmaJolly - Is a full-time solo artist and tours regularly across Europe under the name 'Emika'. She recently released her third solo album.

Laura Turner – Completed an acting course at RADA.

Matthew Clay – Has been accepted for a Stage management course at RADA.

Harrison Jenkins – Received the National BTEC Award for outstanding Performing Arts student of the year 2016. Harrison has been accepted on the Contemporary Dance course at De Montfort University course, Leicester.

Other Opportunities

The faculty has an extensive extra-curricular programme including choirs, orchestras, bands, Soul band, drumming groups, guitar groups, KS3 dance groups, A-Level and GCSE dance technique class, youth theatre and instrumental lessons. There are numerous performances throughout the year offering opportunities to all students. The faculty produce a musical every year involving over a 100 students such as ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Joseph and the Amazing TechnicolourDreamcoat’, ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Annie’. There are also numerous theatre trips organised throughout the year and workshops by professionals within dance, drama and music.

The Performing Arts Faculty also contributes to the cross-curricular Rich tasks, “Forensive Detectives: patterns, sequences and transformations” and ‘Heroes and villains’. Rich tasks are exciting whole school learning activities at key stage 3 that enable students to apply their learning to new contexts.

PROUD TRADITIONS|WIDE HORIZONS|HIGH ACHIEVEMENT