In the Year 9 Drama course we aim to provide you with a solid foundation of practical drama skills and drama literacy. These skills will support those who wish to pursue Drama at year 10, all the way up to Scholarship Drama. 

We acknowledge that students will come to Year 9 Drama with a wide range of drama experience. Some of your will have a lot of prior drama experience, and for some of you this will be your first, or perhaps even only, formal Drama education. No matter your background experience or your future plans for your Drama education, we want to provide you with opportunities to explore creativity, collaboration, performance, and world-building, all the while developing your confidence in doing so.

Drama can be an amazing opportunity to add balance and variety into a student's timetable. Exploring ideas collaboratively and physically can contrast with classes that may have a more theory-based focus. As well as this, a student's involvement in Drama has been linked to superior oral language development and communication, improved reading outcomes, deepened emotional maturity and empathy, as well as greater self-confidence. (Podlozny. A, 2000). 

In year 9 Drama you will:

Experience an introduction to drama

• This includes:

  • Developing manaakitanga in the Drama classroom (wellbeing, trust, respect, and hospitality)

  • Building your kete of drama games and warm-ups for different purposes

  • Developing your understanding stage performance and audience etiquette

  • Building confidence in performing live in front of an audience

  • Understanding how to use your voice, body, space, and movement to create characters

Devise and perform original performances

• This includes:

  • Reading and viewing a range of texts that have alternate adaptations. For example: Hamlet/The Lion King, Brothers Grimm fairy tales/Disney adaptations.

  • Utilising an existing narrative to reimagine a new context for performance

  • Learning how to structure, create, and write a theatrical performance

  • Working collaboratively to create an original short theatrical performance, to be performed in front of the class

Ultimately, after Year 9 Drama, you will come away from your drama rotation with: 

• An appreciation and enjoyment of practical, on-your-feet learning

• More confidence speaking and performing in front of others

• An understanding of how you can utilise your voice, body, space, and movement to have impact on an audience 

• An interest in world-building and character creation

• A better sense of your identity as an actor and creator

• Collaboration skills

• Developing awareness of how drama supports emotional intelligence and awareness of others, 

Year 9 Drama is approximately a 12 week rotating trimester course. In this course you will:

Participate in a number of drama circle games and warm-up activities

This includes focusing and energising games, improvisation, theatre sports, story-telling, public speaking, use of voice, body, movement, and space. You will develop your understanding and enjoyment of practical and creative learning activities.

Explore how stories can be re-written or adapted

This includes reading or viewing a range of narratives that have been re-written or adapted, as well as re-writing or adapting our own original narratives. Learning activities will include performing published scripts, improvisation activities, discussion, and script-writing.

Create and perform an original drama

You will conclude the rotation by performing an original drama in groups to the class. Your original performance will be planned, scripted, directed, and performed entirely by you and your group. Students will have the option to present their devised dramas as a live stage performance, or as a live radio drama.

Experiment with theatre technologies

Throughout the rotation, you will have opportunities to experiment with theatre technologies such as costume, props, and foley (sound effects) to enhance the impact of a performance.

To be successful in this course you need:

• • an open mind and the will to focus

  • the ability to listen and work autonomously

  • to accept feedback and act on feed forward

  • to think critically and be adaptive to arrange of learning environments

  • a sense of humour and a positive outlook to class

  • to be open to performing in front of others

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We understand that the performance elements of Drama can be a source of uncertainty and stress for some of you. We work hard to make our classrooms safe and positive environments for you to explore this.

All course content is based around practical, performance-based assessment. All assessments will also require the completion of theory-based components, including portfolios and presentations, that demonstrate understanding.

Although all performances are as a group, you will be assessed individually.

Other Details
An integral part of studying Drama is the opportunity to see professional theatre. Students will be taken on class trips and may have local theatre practitioners run workshops with them.

Formative and summative assessments (checkpoints) take place throughout the year. You will be advised of due dates at the start of each term.

Assessment in the Junior School

Learning Progressions are an evaluation of student progress using various modes of learning as evidence (not just a one-off test).  They are based on the New Zealand Curriculum, and show the level at which a student is demonstrating knowledge or skills.  Our Learning Progressions Framework maps out students’ development as they move through Years 9 - 11.  

Within each subject, at the end of a phase of learning (ie. topic, unit or skill), students will be evaluated using these indicators: Emerging, Developing, Proficient, Advancing.  For more information about what these mean, please see the Year 9 - 11 section of our website.