By Mr Stratton (Director of Drama and Dance)

Congratulations to our Year 10 Drama students, who last week completed their Devising performance assessment as part of the AQA GCSE in Drama. This marks a key point in the course, contributing 10% towards their final grade, and they approached the task with creativity, ambition and care.

Taking on a range of theatrical roles, including acting, lighting design, set design and costume design, students worked collaboratively to produce original pieces of theatre in response to a variety of starting points. These included lyrics from Like Eating Glass by Bloc Party, Angela Carter’s short story Love, contemporary urban myths, and the sentence starter “she looked up...”.

The final performances were thoughtful and imaginative, with each group developing a distinct interpretation. Actors brought characters and scenes to life with confidence and clarity, while design students created strong visual identities and atmospheres for each piece.

Although devising from scratch brings its own challenges, all students responded with focus and adaptability. Their performances reflected not only their developing technical skills but also a growing understanding of how theatre can communicate ideas and emotions.

This project was also an opportunity to begin shaping their individual artistic voices, and to explore how collaborative theatre-making can be both powerful and personal.

Well done to everyone involved – the commitment and creativity shown throughout the process was clear to see, and this is a great foundation for the rest of your GCSE journey.