Walsall Studio School
Post 16 Performing Arts
Year 1 – BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma in Performing Arts
Year 2 – BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Performing Arts
The intent of the performing arts department
The Performing Arts Department at Walsall Studio School is bespoke through the variety of ways in which it provides a curriculum that supports the growth and development of learners, from school student to young creative professional. Performing Arts develops learners to become versatile professionals who can succeed within a demanding industry by bringing all aspects of the specialism together, through Acting, Dance and Musical Theatre. This vocational setting allows learners to access all areas of the curriculum and develop through project based learning and cross-collaborative practice.
The Performing Arts department promotes high aspirations and expectations for all our students, with a view to every performer fulfilling their potential.
Our aim is to design lessons that sustain curiosity and create an eagerness to learn. The strong creative ethos allows students to develop their confidence, self-awareness and emotional intelligence in order that they become life-long learners within all subjects. Students will be provided with transferable skills and tools to improve their learning in other subjects, thus enhancing their employability and skill when leaving or furthering their education.
Units and Assessment
Over the two years students will complete a number of units equating to 1080 guided learning hours (GLH) which will equate to the equivalent of 3 A Levels.
Students complete a range of assessments which are made up of internal and external units (9 internal and 4 external).
Please see below for an example of the yearly plan for students completing the course.
| Year 1 | Year 2 |
| Unit 2 – Developing Skills and Techniques for Live Performance. | Unit 5 – Individual Performance Commission |
| Unit 4 – Performing Arts in the Community | Unit 13 – Healthy Dancer |
| Unit 19 – Acting Styles or Unit 12 -Contemporary Dance | Unit 7 – Employment Opportunities in the Performing Arts |
| Unit 3 – Group Performance Workshop | Unit 24 – Children’s Theatre |
| Unit 1 – Investigating Practitioners Work | Unit 26 – Physical Theatre |
| Unit 22 – Movement in Performance | Unit 6 – Final Live Performance to a Live Audience. |
| Unit 27 – Musical Theatre Techniques |
Performances that all performing arts students will take part in.
•October Showcase (Presentation to parents and friends the progress students have made in just six weeks of joining the Studio School).
•Christmas Charity Ball (Cross-collaborative project where all vocational subjects produce an event of celebration and support the ‘The Gap- Headspace).
•Mercian Festival (New for 2019/2020- A celebration across the multi academy trust to applause the hard work and diverse talent we have across the trust.
•Physical Theatre Production (Cross-collaborative project where students, write, devise and perform the work based around local social issues).
•Musical Theatre Production in A Week (Whole school production where learners work in a professional environment to put on a musical).
The performing arts department has been proven to contribute to raising confidence, knowledge and experience for learners to enable them to be successful with their next steps to Higher Education. A number of our alumni students have gained places at some of the most prestigious institutes in the country.
A personalised, project based, collaborative learning space are all key factors in driving the curriculum in performing arts, to allow for creativity, together with reflective evaluative learners who are equipped with the skills required for the real world of work.
