All children in Years 3 to 8 have a weekly fifty minute Drama lesson in the Singleton Hall, allowing them to grow in confidence on stage. Lessons may link with a topic in humanities like the Greeks, where we explore Greek theatre and choral speaking, or might link with a text studied in English, like Noughts and Crosses, considering how we can show status and power on stage. Pupils are also introduced to genres like melodrama and physical theatre; they also have fun building their creativity and collaborative skills by working on improvisations too.
Productions
Every Christmas our junior pupils perform a topical musical while Year 6 take on a more challenging piece of theatre such as The Tempest or an ensemble piece like Archie Dobson’s War. The Year 8 highlight is the show in the Lent term which might be a full musical a play. Recent productions have included The Wizard of Oz and Beauty and the Beast. St John’s prides itself on the inclusive nature of its productions.
There are even more performance opportunities: the whole school participates in the end of year Summer Concert and our carol service too.
