National 4 and 5
Purpose of the Courses:
The National 4 and 5 courses enable learners to develop and use a range of drama and production skills. Learners develop practical skills in creating and presenting drama, as well as their knowledge and understanding of cultural and social influences on drama. They will analyse and evaluate how the use of self-expression, language and movement can develop their ideas for drama. They also develop critical-thinking skills as they investigate, develop and apply a range of drama skills and production skills.
COURSE OVERVIEWS
National 4
The aims of National 4 Drama are to enable learners to:
Generate and communicate thoughts and ideas when creating drama
Develop a knowledge of social and cultural influences on drama
Develop skills in presenting drama
Develop production skills in presenting drama
Use drama skills in a drama performance
Explore form, structure, genre and style
The Units
Drama Skills
This unit helps learners explore and develop dramatic techniques and ways of communicating ideas to an audience. They will learn how to respond to text, stimulus and context. They will also learn how to interpret role and character. They will learn how to reflect on their own performance and that of others. They will learn how to develop a basic understanding of structure, form, genre and style by creating a drama, and will consider the social and cultural influences on drama.
Production Skills
In this unit, learners will be required to provide evidence to demonstrate their skills and apply knowledge of simple theatre arts, production skills and technologies when creating and presenting drama. Learners will demonstrate knowledge of the use of theatre arts, production skills technologies, and will evaluate their own work and that of others.
Assessment
To achieve the Course award, learners must pass all of the required Units, including the Added Value Unit. All National 4 Units are internally assessed on a pass/fail basis.
Added Value Unit: Drama Practical Activity
The Added Value Unit will address the key purposes and aims of the Course as defined in the Course Rationale. It will do this by addressing one or more of breadth, challenge and application. The learner will draw on, extend and apply the skills they have learned during the course. This will be assessed through a Drama practical activity involving creating and presenting a drama; this will be sufficiently flexible to allow for student personalisation and choice.
National 5
The course aims to enable candidates to:
Generate and communicate thoughts and ideas when creating drama.
Develop a knowledge and understanding of a range of social and cultural influences on drama.
Develop a range of skills in presenting drama.
Develop knowledge and understanding of the use of a range of production skills when presenting drama.
Explore form, structure, genre and style.
The Units
Drama Skills
This unit helps learners explore and develop dramatic techniques and ways of communicating ideas to an audience. They will learn how to respond to text, stimulus and context. They will also learn how to interpret role and character. They will learn how to reflect on their own performance and that of others. They will learn how to develop a basic understanding of structure, form, genre and style by creating a drama, and will consider the social and cultural influences on drama.
Production Skills
In this unit, learners will be required to provide evidence to demonstrate their skills and apply knowledge of simple theatre arts, production skills and technologies when creating and presenting drama. Learners will demonstrate knowledge of the use of theatre arts, production skills technologies, and will evaluate their own work and that of others.
Assessment:
To achieve the Drama National 5 Course award, learners must pass all of the required Units as well as their Course assessments. All units are internally assessed against SQA requirements on a pass/fail basis and the course assessment is externally assessed by the SQA.
External Assessment:
Practical Acting Exam (60%)
The practical acting exam takes place around March. Students perform one group extract from a published play, lasting approximately 15 minutes. This is assessed by an external examiner and is worth 60% of the overall course award. In addition to this, candidates write a 400 word essay on how they developed their character for performance.
Written Exam (40%)
Section 1: Evaluating Drama – 20 Marks
Students evaluate a drama that they have seen or have particpated in.
Section 2: Creating Drama from a Stimulus – 40 Marks
Students choose one stimulus and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of how to create and present drama.
