Throughout the end of January and early February, students in KS3 have been exploring the theme of drama and film through a collaborative, cross-curricular ‘Act It Out’ month. Students have been encouraged to engage in a variety of dramatic activities, developing confidence, empathy, and collaboration skills through facial expression, voice, body movement, and role-play.
In Year 7, students have explored themes of child labour and human rights through their study of the set novel, Iqbal. In class, members of 7L held a mock United Nations speech delivery, acting as ambassadors for UNICEF (a charity that helps disadvantaged children across the globe). Students took it in turns to deliver speeches in groups of three, encouraging members of countries to unite together and end child labour.
As well as this, in both Year 7 and 8, students have been delving further into experimenting with the process of filming and directing. Year 7 used iMovie and a series of well-constructed camera angles to construct a reimagining of a chapter from Iqbal, where the main character is released after prolonged imprisonment by his slave master. In Year 8, students used similar techniques to explore translation work and the modernisation of scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mrs Johnson encouraged 8i to work in pairs to develop their own camera shots, including establishing shots, Dutch angles, and the POV. Miss Palmer even had 8L working collaboratively to film Act 3 Scene 2, taking her own students outside of the Valdstejnska building to replicate the magical forest setting!
With Mr Goodman, 9P have been creating adverts to explore the visual and linguistic techniques advertisers use to manipulate and influence an audience. Max H. and Daniel Š. created a fantastic advertisement selling Air Jordan shoes for Nike. We hope that these activities, alongside those in other subjects, have helped students to reimagine approaches to class tasks in a creative and imaginative way!
Mr Tim Allen
Teacher of English