The Dance & Drama Department at Reading Blue Coat fosters and celebrates the gifts and talents of all students. It aspires to provide inspiring and effective access to Dance & Drama across the curricular and co-curricular provision.
Curricular Dance & Drama
All pupils participate in formal academic Drama lessons in the Lower School and have the option of Drama in Year 9 as a one-year pre-GCSE course. As part of the GCSE & A-Level Drama curriculum, the department offers both acting and technical/theatre design pathways to ensure all students can reach their potential within the GCSE & A-Level courses.
Students in Year 7 & 8 are currently being taught one lesson a week of Drama. The focus here is on the introduction of key drama terms and the foundation of theatre history. At Year 9, students will explore genres and plays as a foundation to GCSE Drama, as well as developing key skills in both stage lighting and sound.
Years 10 and 11 will receive four periods of teaching per week as part of their GCSE as they follow the Eduqas specification. As part of the course, students learn about key practitioners such as Bertolt Brecht, Constantin Stanislavski and Augusto Boal. Students explore plays as a director, actor or designer and they learn to reinterpret work to create their own devised performances. Year 12 and Year 13 Drama candidates will be following the Eduqas specification at A Level.
Extending student learning and engagement comes by enabling educational visits as regularly as possible. This is partially achieved through Theatre Maker Days. Students visit a range of theatre and performance venues in order to see different genres, styles and companies. London and Oxford are visited during the academic year as well as smaller local venues such as The Mill in Sonning.
Dance was introduced into the curriculum in September 2023, with the appointment of the new Head of Dance.
Co-Curricular Dance & Drama
We aim to stage three annual productions. A larger drama production is directed in the Autumn Term. The production is aimed at giving students an opportunity to perform at the best standard whilst exploring a wide variety of dramatic literature.
In the Spring term there is a large school musical which encourages mass participation across the Middle and Senior Schools. Past musicals include Les Misérables, Our House, Billy Elliot and Footloose.
A significant Lower School Production starts rehearsals in the Spring Term and has been performed outdoors in the Summer Term. The cast is made up of students from year 7 and 8.
Technical Theatre Co-Curricular
Every production at Blue Coat is supported by a student crew. The crew build skills in lighting, sound and set design. They are mentored by our Theatre Technical Director. The highest standards in Health and Safety are adhered to when working with young people in the performances spaces of Way Hall and the Drama Studio.
House Drama
A fiercely competitive co-curricular event in the Autumn Term, House Drama is completely led by students. In September and October, our Senior School students take on the roles of playwright, director and actor to produce a 30-minute play based on a set theme or genre. House Drama competitions in years gone by have included farce, Shakespeare’s tragedies, pantomime and soap opera.
Music thrives at Reading Blue Coat.
Its young musicians and many of the staff are involved in numerous performances throughout the year, including the Grand Concert, a number of chamber concerts and recitals, a Jazz Cabaret, the Swing into Summertime outdoor concert, music festivals and an annual musical theatre production.
Past musicals have included Footloose The Musical, Billy Elliot, Little Shop of Horrors, Anything Goes, Oliver!, Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, and Grease. More than a third of pupils learn instruments, and many of these pupils take part in our co-curricular programme.
There are many ensembles for pupils to join: a 60-strong choir, Chamber and Treble choirs, Barbershop group, Concert Band, String Ensemble, Saxophone Group, Guitar Ensemble, Swing Band, Wind Band, Piano Trio, Brass Ensemble, Senior Brass Group and many rock and pop groups. Our visiting instrumental staff provide tuition on a wide range of orchestral instruments plus piano, organ, voice, guitar (classical, electric and bass) and drums, and pupils are regularly entered for Associated Board Exams.
The art of public speaking and debating is a real strength at Blue Coat; we have developed a strong internal structure to foster interest and commitment from the students. Blue Coat regards the ability to speak in public as a vital skill, as a result, students take part in a course during their Activities Programme in Year 7 and 8.
For those wanting to hone their skills further, a team of staff run an after-school weekly club at Junior, Middle School and Senior level. Boys and girls present public speaking evenings for parents and compère the many concerts that are held throughout the year. There are House competitions in both debating and public speaking and House Just a Minute which are fiercely contested.
In addition, weekend training sessions are given to those chosen to represent Blue Coat in external competitions, such as the Woodley Festival and Rotary Youth Speaks, and we are proud to have been national Rotary champions. Middle School pupils are involved in English-Speaking Union Competitions; and the Seniors do all of this plus annual international competitions, travelling to compete in America and Canada annually.
