This term Trinity College London (TCL) has relaunched its drama syllabus, now available in five separate categories, from a pre-grade one level through to grade 8, under the slogan Prepare to Perform.
‘We wanted to make it really easy to follow and totally fitting for today’ says TCL's head of production development, Julia Martin. ‘This work is about more than performance in the narrow sense. The focus across all five strands is on building confidence, communication and creativity. It's all about how to make the very best of yourself. Drama is a really positive 21st century skill.’
A varied offering
‘The five syllabuses are Acting, Communication Skills, Musical Theatre, Performance Arts and Speech and Drama. Although we provide exemplar material and digital resources to support teachers and learners including a new anthology, all our exams include free choice of material’, says Martin, pointing out how every candidate can use their choice of texts to demonstrate their individual capabilities.
The syllabuses are suitable for one-to-one work, small groups, whole class and Performing Arts schools so they lend themselves to almost any form of Drama teaching.
TCL's Performance Arts option is unusual in that it allows candidates to explore all avenues of contemporary theatre making, including makeup, costume, set design, mask work and puppetry. There are also opportunities to explore modern technology in performance such as film, lighting and sound.
‘We are an international examination board with candidates in, for instance, India, Hong Kong and the Emirates as well as in the UK’ says Martin. ‘The Performance Arts syllabus really allows all of them to focus on what works for them such as puppetry or mime in India, or cultural Drama – or a magic show.’
Performance Arts seems to be a syllabus which is appropriate for all, irrespective of background, culture, geography and interest. Whoever you are, wherever you are, there's something here to help you to communicate better.
The Musical Theatre syllabus stresses the intersection of acting, singing and dancing through the grade's practical tasks such as performing songs and extracts from musicals followed by a discussion of the work with the examiner.
A candidate preparing for one of the Acting grades can expect to perform play extracts, work on improvisation, answer questions in character, rework material, sight read and discuss work with the examiner.
The traditional Speech and Drama route focuses on bringing texts to life through performance, so students can choose to prepare poetry, prose or drama texts which are then discussed with the examiner.
The Communication Skills syllabus has changed the least. It still features tasks that reflect real-world situations such as preparing and delivering CVs for interview, stories for broadcast and presentations relating to current issues. ‘The focus is on transferable organisational skills to enable progression in life’ explains Martin. A new set of updated, clearer grade descriptors is the only real change here.
Approachable and unique
‘We wanted to make everything as straightforward and easy to use as possible for teachers and candidates and for it all to be relevant for the 21st century’ says Martin, pointing out that performing arts industry professionals have been closely involved in the development of the new syllabuses.
Teachers wishing to teach any of these modules can simply sign up and then use the framework as a guide. ‘We have no pre-requisite qualification for teachers who use our material’, says Martin ‘but there's a registration process and we are very supportive.’
Of course, there are several competitor organisations offering Drama and spoken word examination programmes for the enhancement of communication skills in children and young people, so what sets TCL apart? ‘The freedom to choose your own programme’ says Martin without hesitation, ‘and our extensive free resources.’ She also stresses the clarity and distinctiveness of the five separate courses and the unusual inclusion of Performance Arts as an option.
Finally, she notes that examiners have no advance notice of the chosen piece or pieces. The candidate is required to take copies to the exam room for the examiner. In theory – although probably not very often in practice – it means that the examiner might be assessing material that he or she has never seen or heard before. ‘The examiner, therefore, is really responding to the candidate individually and that's another of our unique selling points.’
Trinity College London's new drama syllabuses will be examined from September 2020. For more information, visit: http://www.trinitycollege.com/drama