Editorial: Summer Term 1 2020-21

Since my last editorial, all has been quiet as regards the government consultation on the future of vocational FE courses such as BTEC Performing Arts, and the drama teaching community awaits outcomes. There is no reason to expect these outcomes will come quickly, so in the meantime Harriet Clifford has been speaking to teachers of these post-16 courses about their value to students, and reaction to the threat remains universally appalled. Jane Milne, Director of Performance at Impington International College, wrote to us saying ‘The BTEC qualifications in Performing Arts offer something unique. The vocational focus means that students gain an insight into the variety of jobs within the industry. Not only do they practice, develop, and reflect on their skills as an artist, but they also learn what it is to work as a jobbing actor in the profession. The courses require a very rigorous approach from the students who choose them. I believe BTEC courses prepare learners for work within the performing arts industry like no other.’ Turn to page 22 for a full report on this story.

In better news, Drama & Theatre's first online conference took place at the beginning of March – a four-day focus on school productions, with delegates attending from across the UK and as far afield as Kuwait. It was wonderful to see so many teachers raring to go in getting their students back into performance: and giving thought to this in their very first week back with all the students in their school buildings.

It feels that the slow reawakening is beginning, and for that reason I am more delighted than ever to be able to confirm that the Music & Drama Education Expo London 2021 will be going ahead in person at the Business Design Centre in Islington on 24 and 25 September, and that a full programme is in place and will be announced shortly. The isolated nature of life for all of us for the past year will make this opportunity to gather and share inspiration with other teachers more welcome than ever. The Music & Drama Education Awards did take place online, hosted by Alexander Armstrong, just before this issue arrived with you – so if you missed it, go to musicdramaedawards.com to watch.

Elsewhere in this issue, Matthew Nichols makes a rallying cry for Drama teachers as their students emerge from lockdown: ‘“Operation catch-up in Drama” is going to be huge,’ he writes on page 16, ‘We need to work together.’ As such, in our online Schemes of Work published with this issue, our teacher-writers offer ideas adapted to ‘the new normal’ of blended learning; and designed to help students develop deeper and richer understanding and recall from various cognitive processes. Features offer inspiration for projects to expand students’ thinking and encourage creativity – see pages 18 and 20, for example – and the usual host of practical pages provide ideas to take into the classroom and implement on their feet straight away. With exam season cancelled, and plenty of complications still to get your heads around, I wish you a productive ‘operation catch-up’ summer term.

Sarah Lambie

Editor