Does anyone know what GCSE drama is going to be like?

Bojorojo my DCs remote rural school does offer trips, including a West End trip and several trips to other theatres s throughout the year. I suspect however there is more to getting an A* than throwing money at it., and there are many children with parents who can't afford these opportunities. Hence school being as inclusive as possible. However, this is derailing the thread

Maybe having the opportunity to see top class stage productions separates schools out as being briliant at teaching this subject. I loved my DDs seeing the best in theatre and it inspired them! I think it is a disadvantage not to see top class productions. Mine also went to open air theatre too. My DDs have a continuing interest in going to the theatre and we regularly go to West End productions. It is a fabulous part of our lives and I feel sorry for children who are denied top class opportunities whilst trying to do well at drama. I guess that's why nearly everyone got A*s at our school. Brilliant teaching and inspiration.

Yes if she's y10 it will be. Y9 onwards have the new one where the emphasis at 60% is on written.

DD(year 10) enjoys Drama GCSE. She does music as well. Good so far, I think it is 60% performance 40% written exam in her school. She has been doing drama since she was 5 and now also attends Youth group in our local theatre. No expensive WE trips for us, just one trip to the neighbouring borough theatre.

Oh blinking heck! Luckily ds2 isn't that fussed by schoolwork (ds3 is, but he's 3 years younger so they'll hopefully know what they're doing by then). A lot of the teachers said there were core bits they knew would definitely be included so were focussing on that.

You are right to have the hump over it. The whole thing has been rushed through st breakneck speed and teachers don't know what they are doing with it. The kids will be Guinea pigs for at least 2 or 3 years till we start getting the hang of it and see different assessments etc. It's useless.

It is draft but a lot of schools start teaching the GCSE in y9 so will be use that and the draft is unlikely to change.

Draft though? I'm just getting in a hump about his year being largely experimental in every sodding subject (I know he'll be the 2nd English/Maths cohort).

Anyway ds2 is enjoying it (wants to be an actor, has quite a lot of professional experience).

In his school the keen ones & the there-to-mess-around ones seem to be separated, which from talking to other parents can make the process less painful.

He's doing music as well OP, and drama & music are definitely his favourite lessons.

It will be 60% final exam and 40% practical. The grade boundaries are anyone's guess.

Here's the spec - have a look:

www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/drama/gcse/drama-8261

I wan't suggesting it was! Just saying that the spec for GCSE's for current year 9's isn't known yet (for any subject judging by conversations at parent's evening last week). A lot of the teachers seemed to think this was ridiculius.

Plenty do it over 2 years so I think they may just have to move to a 2 year course like many other schools. Not the end of the world.

Ds2 loves drama. He is in year 9, but already doing GCSE (they do GCSE's over 3 years at his school). The spec is not known yet (ridiculous).

"but a major influence is the quality of teaching"

This^^

A lot of people at DD's school did badly in drama last year because the teacher missed out one of the topics on the syllabus. There were some pretty talented pupils doing the course who are members of various local theatre groups. These students scraped a C, but many failed.

Quite possibly, but in other subjects where she had less than perfect teaching, she could influence the amount of extra work she put in, in drama she couldn't. Obviously, with an excellent teacher, the situation could have been different, but just relaying her experience as one thing to possibly consider.
My ds (who at the time really wanted to be an actor 'when he grew up') didn't do drama at GCSE, but got some superb experience and learning through doing drama as an outside activity - not for an exam, but for the pure enjoyment of it. It's another thing for the OP to possible think about

Poor teaching then BackforGood and low expectations. Good teachers really cut that out and get the students to focus and cut out the arguments. We were amazed how much some students grew up during this process and worked really effectively with each other to meet the deadlines.

With hindsight, my dd wishes she'd never chosen drama due to the reliance on group work. She is fine working with other people (does loads through Scouts etc), but what she found was the drama option seemed to attract a higher than proportionate number of the pupils who just thought it would be a lesson they could doss around in. She was very frustrated with the whole situation.

They don't have to be expensive theatre trips. DD has done 1 trip, not too expensive, from a range of options. The cheapest of which was half price ticket to school musical.

I would say if any child is not gifted at drama or art, then they will have to work hard but a major influence is the quality of teaching. At DDs school only two got an A at Drama, the rest were A*s. The teachers knew the syllabus inside out and really knew how to encourage the students to extend themselves and produce their best work. They were innovative and well rehearsed. I think teachers like this will get to grips with any new syllabus and still produce the goods. There may be the odd strong character who wants everything their way but a good teacher will guide and cajole so the best ideas come to the fore and are developed. Going to plays may cost a bit but it provides a excellent opportunities and is no more than a geography trip would cost. Drama is an excellent subject to combine with English (and music too) and at our school a high grade was more or less guaranteed.

Therefore, look at track record of the teachers and the school. What are their Musical offerings like? What is the school play like, or school musical? What do they do at Christmas or Drama A level showcase evenings? Is it high calibre with dedicated young people taking part? Does your child aspire to getting a good role, writing, directing, staging and taking part? If you can answer yes to enough of these questions, then go for Drama. My DDs loved it.

My DD is doing Drama GCSE now (Y10) and one thing that I hadn't thought about is the requirement to submit various reviews of plays etc which has meant a few (so far) expensive trips to the West End /NT

She enjoys it as there is kess written work /deadlines so it is a relief from the other stuff. It's a small group that get in well, I can imagine there might be "dramas" if there were more people who maybe didn't gel together.

I did the AQA drama GCSE, though it was ten years ago. It was mainly acting exercises like being in character for 30 mins solidly, acting out plays, being given a basic script and idea and improvising, going to theatre performances and writing reviews of them.

I think its the sort of class that you get out what you put in. Yes there was messing around but there were people taking it seriously too. I know our teacher didn't try to save the messers in our final performance by mixing them through the groups. He put the hard workers together and left the arseholes to it.

I also did art and drama was less time consuming and much less stressful, though that might differ depending on personality. Performing can be pretty nerve wracking for some people. I am not sure how I did it, I couldn't do it now.

Sorry, this is probably out of date ramblings, but I had a really good experience of the subject and great memories, so theres my two pence. :o

DD (Y11) is loving her Drama GCSE, I think it's the one bright spot in her week just now!

My DD who is doing music GCSE is reporting lots of drama (sorry) in the Drama gcse class. Squabbling, people not feeling listened to, others not attending practices, not wanting to do certain parts. Sounds far too stressful.

easier = not so stressful & time-consuming