Welcome to Performing Arts, this site has been developed for the Performing Arts course. I have added a Yr 11 'Get Ahead' page that has been designed with the Year 11 school leavers in mind. Here you will find some information on the course, key practitioner studies and various tasks you can complete so that you are ahead when we start in September.

You have a great opportunity to prepare for the course and to ensure that you are ahead and therefore should hit the ground running in September. Hopefully you will have plenty to talk about and discuss when the course starts and by spending a bit of time watching extracts of suggested theatre of all styles and taking part in recommended technique classes I have suggested on this site we could have some lively and engaging classes.

You can see the topics listed on the pages section of this site and you should be able to see that there are quite a range of different topics, styles and disciplines throughout the course. The practitioners, styles and pieces of theatre aren't set in stone, when I meet my students in the new year I spend time getting to know you all and your strengths and interests and we shape the course with you in mind. Also, a lot of our tasks are student driven, like our end of year musical, this is chosen and prepared by the students. But I have included topics students enjoy studying. Our course is never the same one year to the next as the performing arts industry moves so quickly and we move with it, to ensure your education is relevant to the world you will be going into after your course. I have also included a list of available theatre I would recommend watching to broaden yourself as a theatre practitioner.

If you have any questions about the course/sixth form or need any help with any of the activities please feel free to contact me at rebecca.brierley@hartlepoolsixth.ac.uk.

The course is equivalent to two A levels over two years and after your first year you will achieve the equivalent to one full A level in one year. Therefore alongside this course you chose one other subject, in the past students have chosen an array of third subjects, some stay in the creative family choosing Music, Film, Photography, Art etc. but many others chose subjects from across the whole college and this is fine! I find within performing arts everyone is different and we celebrate that and it is always good to be able to pull from our experiences and learning in a range of subjects to really enrich our creativity in our performing arts sessions.

The entry requirements for the course are 5 GCSE's including English. We have students from all backgrounds, some who have been training for years, some who haven't done the subject before because of the lack of opportunity etc. everyone is accepted and within the first term I will assess your work and how successful you will be on the course. Work ethic, resilience and creativity are personality traits I rate highly and the performing arts industry rate highly. You may all start at different technical abilities but I care about your drive and passion to improve!

We work as a group year round, we create a great ethos in our sessions, we work as one big family across first and second years and in no time you will make friends and relationships that will enrich your learning. As well as your timetabled lessons you will take part in enrichment on a Wednesday afternoon, this includes workshops from myself and visiting lecturers and professional companies. I have built many relationships over the years with companies and people to be able to offer you real industry experience and workshops. Wednesday afternoons will also be used for rehearsal and skill development. We have a vocals teacher who comes in regularly on Wednesday afternoons. It is also used for tech and dress rehearsals, audition preparation etc. Your performing arts experience will be a fully formed one both inside and outside of your lessons. We regularly get offered professional commissions at festivals and local events therefore we will also shape performance material in this time. I believe the more real experience you can get while at college the better you will be in the future when going to further education or work.

What you will study

The course is spit into year one and two and it is designed to build upon your knowledge from unit to unit. By the end of the year you will use all of your collective knowledge to develop rather than studying stand alone units and knowledge, this doesn't reflect real life and therefore I have designed the course so you are building your knowledge.

First year content

The first year contains 4 units, 3 of which are mandatory units and 1 is optional. All this means is one unit I chose based on the group and what their interests are, for the last few years we have completed a musical theatre unit as part of our end of year show and it is always one of the students favourite units. The task I set for you will help you along the way with at least one of the units of study.

Unit 1: Investigating Practitioners' Work

This unit is a mandatory unit and is externally assessed. This means you will complete teaching and learning activities and then complete a task you are set by the exam board and it will be marked by an external examiner. The task you are set will be given to you four weeks before you complete it therefore it is like an exam but you get to prepare, research and take pre-prepared notes in with you. This course is a modern hybrid of traditional exam driven A level and a vocational coursework driven course. It reflects the modern world with both exam-like expectations and also ongoing live projects. In this unit you will learn about different practitioners from different disciplines, you will also take part in your own practitioner investigation, then you will use two for your external assessment. Therefore if you have more interest in musical theatre you can choose musical theatre practitioners and if you are more interested in dance then dance practitioners etc. you may also choose to do a mixture of drama and dance practitioners, it depends what sparks your imagination. We will watch multiple pieces of theatre, learn how to analyse the work and we will take part in many class discussions which tend to be student led. You will also learn about a range of practitioners and their contextual factors and relevance to the performing arts industry both past and present. This is a theory unit (the only one across two years) but I teach it in a practical way, for example if we look at a practitioners’ work, we will learn to devise in their style or we will recreate some of their work practically.

Unit 2: Developing Skills and Techniques for Live Performance

This is the unit we will start with, everyone starts at a different point and through this unit we look at different styles and genres and we discuss everyone's interests. We will then look at the skills and attributes of a performer and you will learn to self-analyse your development as a performer using correct terminology. You will then be set an induction task, which sort of acts as your audition to the course. I am more interested in your passion for the subject rather than technical ability, but it is your opportunity to express yourself and your interests. We will then work together on a performance which will be a piece of professional repertoire, either a play, musical extract, dance extract, physical theatre extract. This will be decided as a group or it can be two groups depending on discipline choices. This will be performed professionally, either in one of our shows in the theatre, one of our showcases or as part of a professional commission in the community. For the past 5 years we have performed at the Wintertide Festival, we have performed at the Christmas lights switch on and we worked with professional touring company Zest Theatre last year shaping and performing their touring piece Youthquake.

Unit 3: Group Performance Workshop

Unit 3 is one of my favourite units as you get a lot of creative freedom to explore, research and develop original work. This is an externally assessed unit also, but it is a practical unit. You will explore different devising techniques in class and then you will be given a stimulus to work from in groups. In the past we have worked as one big group, smaller groups, a couple of dance focused groups, a dram group etc. You can specialise this unit in this way, a lot of the time however students like to work in a multidisciplinary way and explore the different strengths of their group to create something modern and different. You will work as a group to create your concept, shape the piece, rehearse the piece and stage the piece, this will then be recorded for the examiner and performed to an intimate invited audience. However usually we then develop and showcase your group pieces in our end of year showcase so you get the opportunity to share you work with family and friends.

Unit 27: Musical Theatre Techniques

Unit 27 is a musical theatre unit, you will spend time watching musicals either recorded or in the theatre. You will then get the opportunity to compare your own chosen musicals in a research project. You will take part in technique classes, including movement and fitness, vocal workshops, characterisation sessions and rehearsals. You will then work with the second years in that year's chosen musical. The second years are in charge of choosing the musical and the production of it including the rehearsal organisation, box office, fundraising and advertising etc. and you will be the cast alongside them, then the next year you get creative control. This is always a much loved unit for students as they get a real sense of achievement performing their work, we run this as a professional show, we hire tech equipment, we pay for licensing and run the show for a week, it is an intense but rewarding experience and gets you ready for the real world of work. (See the student experiences tab)