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Drama

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Foundation to Year 2

Foundation to Year 2 Band Description

In Foundation to Year 2, learning in The Arts builds on the Early Years Learning Framework. Students are engaged through purposeful and creative play in structured activities, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing and developing their connection with and contribution to the world.

In the Foundation Year, students undertake The Arts appropriate for their level of development.

They explore the...

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In Foundation to Year 2, learning in The Arts builds on the Early Years Learning Framework. Students are engaged through purposeful and creative play in structured activities, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing and developing their connection with and contribution to the world.

In the Foundation Year, students undertake The Arts appropriate for their level of development.

They explore the arts and learn how artworks can represent the world and that they can make artworks to represent their ideas about the world. They share their artworks with peers and experience being an audience to respond to others’ art making.

As they experience the arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.

As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, forms and processes, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make early evaluations of artworks expressing what they like and why.

Students learn about safe practices in the arts through making and responding safely in the different arts subjects.

They experience the role of artist and they respond to feedback in their art making. As an audience, they learn to focus their attention on artworks presented and to respond to artworks appropriately. In Foundation to Year 2, students learn to be an audience for different arts experiences within the classroom.

In Drama, students:

  • become aware of role and situation as they listen and respond as fictional characters
  • explore voice and movement to create role
  • learn about focus and identifying the main idea of the drama
  • learn how their ideas can be expressed through role and story.

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Foundation to Year 2 Content Descriptions Examples of knowledge and skills

Use voice, facial expression, movement and space to imagine and establish role and situation (ACADRM028)

Respond to drama and consider where and why people make drama, starting with Australian drama including drama of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACADRR030)

Foundation to Year 2 Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students describe what happens in drama they make, perform and view. They identify some elements in drama and describe where and why there is drama.

Students make and present drama using the elements of role, situation and focus in dramatic play and improvisation.

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Foundation to Year 2 Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students describe artworks they make and those to which they respond. They consider where and why people make artworks.

Students use the elements and processes of arts subjects to make and share artworks that represent ideas.

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Years 3 and 4

Years 3 and 4 Band Description

In Years 3 and 4, learning in The Arts builds on the experience of the previous band. It involves students making and responding to artworks independently and collaboratively with their classmates and teachers.

As they experience The Arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the...

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In Years 3 and 4, learning in The Arts builds on the experience of the previous band. It involves students making and responding to artworks independently and collaboratively with their classmates and teachers.

As they experience The Arts, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity.

As they make and respond to artworks, students explore meaning and interpretation, elements and forms, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They make personal evaluations of their own and others’ artworks, making connections between their own artistic intentions and those of other artists.

Students continue to learn about safe practices in the arts and in their interactions with other artists. Their understanding of the role of the artist and the audience builds on their experience from the previous band. As an audience, students focus their attention on the artwork and respond to it. They consider why and how audiences respond to artworks.

In Years 3 and 4, students’ awareness of themselves and others as audiences is extended beyond the classroom to the broader school context.

In Drama, students:

  • extend their understanding of role and situation as they offer, accept and extend their ideas in improvisation
  • vary voice and movement to create role when devising drama
  • learn about focus, tension, space and time in their own and others’ drama
  • explore meaning and interpretation, forms and elements including voice, movement, situation, time and place, and tension as they make and respond to drama
  • use language and ideas to shape dramatic action
  • use story structures to shape drama for audiences.

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Years 3 and 4 Content Descriptions Examples of knowledge and skills

Explore ideas and narrative structures through roles and situations and use empathy in their own improvisations and devised drama (ACADRM031)

Use voice, body, movement and language to sustain role and relationships and create dramatic action with a sense of time and place (ACADRM032)

Shape and perform dramatic action using narrative structures and tension in devised and scripted drama, including exploration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander drama (ACADRM033)

Identify intended purposes and meaning of drama, starting with Australian drama, including drama of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, using the elements of drama to make comparisons (ACADRR034)

Years 3 and 4 Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 4, students describe and discuss similarities and differences between drama they make, perform and view. They discuss how they and others organise the elements of drama in their drama.

Students use relationships, tension, time and place and narrative structure when improvising and performing devised and scripted drama. They collaborate to plan, make and perform drama that communicates ideas.

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Years 3 and 4 Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 4, students describe and discuss similarities and differences between artworks they make and those to which they respond. They discuss how they and others organise the elements and processes in artworks.

Students collaborate to plan and make artworks that communicate ideas.

Show subject achievement standard

 

Years 5 and 6

Years 5 and 6 Band Description

In Years 5 and 6, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations...

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In Years 5 and 6, students draw on artworks from a range of cultures, times and locations. They explore the arts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and of the Asia region and learn that they are used for different purposes. While the arts in the local community should be the initial focus for learning, students are also aware of and interested in the arts from more distant locations and the curriculum provides opportunities to build on this curiosity. 

As they make and respond to the arts, students explore meaning and interpretation, and social and cultural contexts of the arts. They evaluate the use of forms and elements in artworks they make and observe.

Students extend their understanding of safety in the arts. In Years 5 and 6, their understanding of the roles of artists and audiences builds on previous bands. They develop their understanding and use of performance or technical skills to communicate intention for different audiences. They identify a variety of audiences for different arts experiences as they engage with more diverse artworks as artists and audiences.

In Drama, students:

  • develop understanding of character through voice and movement and extend their understanding and use of situation, focus, tension, space and time
  • extend their understanding and use language and ideas to create dramatic action and consider mood and atmosphere in performance
  • use conventions of story and other devices such as dramatic symbol to communicate meaning and shape and sustain drama for audiences
  • explore meaning and interpretation, forms and elements including voice, movement, situation, space and time, and tension as they make and respond to drama.

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Years 5 and 6 Content Descriptions Examples of knowledge and skills

Develop skills and techniques of voice and movement to create character, mood and atmosphere and focus dramatic action (ACADRM036)

Rehearse and perform devised and scripted drama that develops narrative, drives dramatic tension, and uses dramatic symbol, performance styles and design elements to share community and cultural stories and engage an audience (ACADRM037)

Explain how the elements of drama and production elements communicate meaning by comparing drama from different social, cultural and historical contexts, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander drama (ACADRR038)

Years 5 and 6 Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 6, students explain how dramatic action and meaning is communicated in drama they make, perform and view. They explain how drama from different cultures, times and places influences their own drama making.

Students work collaboratively as they use the elements of drama to shape character, voice and movement in improvisation, playbuilding and performances of devised and scripted drama for audiences.

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Years 5 and 6 Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 6, students explain how ideas are communicated in artworks they make and to which they respond. They describe characteristics of artworks from different social, historical and cultural contexts that influence their art making.

Students structure elements and processes of arts subjects to make artworks that communicate meaning. They work collaboratively to share artworks for audiences, demonstrating skills and techniques.

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Years 7 and 8

Years 7 and 8 Band Description

In Drama, students:

  • build on their understanding of role, character and relationships
  • use voice and movement to sustain character and situation
  • use focus, tension, space and time to enhance drama
  • incorporate language and ideas and use devices such as dramatic symbol to create dramatic action and extend mood and atmosphere in performance
  • shape drama for audiences using narrative and non-narrative...

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In Drama, students:

  • build on their understanding of role, character and relationships
  • use voice and movement to sustain character and situation
  • use focus, tension, space and time to enhance drama
  • incorporate language and ideas and use devices such as dramatic symbol to create dramatic action and extend mood and atmosphere in performance
  • shape drama for audiences using narrative and non-narrative dramatic forms and production elements
  • draw on drama from a range of cultures, times and locations as they experience drama
  • explore the drama and influences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and those of the Asia region
  • learn that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have converted oral records to other technologies
  • learn that over time there has been further development of different traditional and contemporary styles of drama, including contemporary styles developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dramatists, as they explore drama forms
  • explore meaning and interpretation, forms and elements including voice, movement, situation, space and time, and tension as they make and respond to drama
  • consider social, cultural and historical influences of drama
  • evaluate the directors’ intentions and expressive skills used by actors in drama they view and perform
  • maintain safety in dramatic play and in interaction with other actors
  • build on their understanding from previous bands of the roles of artists and audiences as they engage with more diverse performances.

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Years 7 and 8 Content Descriptions Examples of knowledge and skills

Combine the elements of drama in devised and scripted drama to explore and develop issues, ideas and themes (ACADRM040)

Develop roles and characters consistent with situation, dramatic forms and performance styles to convey status, relationships and intentions (ACADRM041)

Develop and refine expressive skills in voice and movement to communicate ideas and dramatic action in different performance styles and conventions, including contemporary Australian drama styles developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dramatists (ACADRM043)

Analyse how the elements of drama have been combined in devised and scripted drama to convey different forms, performance styles and dramatic meaning (ACADRR045)

Identify and connect specific features and purposes of drama from contemporary and past times to explore viewpoints and enrich their drama making, starting with drama in Australia and including drama of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACADRR046)

Years 7 and 8 Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 8, students identify and analyse how the elements of drama are used, combined and manipulated in different styles. They apply this knowledge in drama they make and perform. They evaluate how they and others from different cultures, times and places communicate meaning and intent through drama.

Students collaborate to devise, interpret and perform drama. They manipulate the elements of drama, narrative and structure to control and communicate meaning. They apply different performance styles and conventions to convey status, relationships and intentions. They use performance skills and design elements to shape and focus theatrical effect for an audience.

 

Years 9 and 10

Years 9 and 10 Band Description

In Drama, students:

  • refine and extend their understanding and use of role, character, relationships and situation
  • extend the use of voice and movement to sustain belief in character
  • maintain focus and manipulate space and time, language, ideas and dramatic action
  • experiment with mood and atmosphere, use devices such as contrast, juxtaposition and dramatic symbol and modify production elements...

Read full description ›

In Drama, students:

  • refine and extend their understanding and use of role, character, relationships and situation
  • extend the use of voice and movement to sustain belief in character
  • maintain focus and manipulate space and time, language, ideas and dramatic action
  • experiment with mood and atmosphere, use devices such as contrast, juxtaposition and dramatic symbol and modify production elements to suit different audiences
  • draw on drama from a range of cultures, times and locations as they experience drama
  • explore the drama and influences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and those of the Asia region
  • learn that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have converted oral records to other technologies
  • learn that over time there has been further development of different traditional and contemporary styles of drama and that dramatists can be identified through the style of their work, as they explore drama forms
  • explore meaning and interpretation, forms and elements, and social, cultural and historical influences of drama as they make and respond to drama
  • evaluate actors’ success in expressing the directors’ intentions and the use of expressive skills in drama they view and perform
  • maintain safety in drama and in interaction with other actors
  • build on their understanding from previous bands of the roles of artists and audiences as they engage with more diverse performances.

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Years 9 and 10 Content Descriptions Examples of knowledge and skills

Improvise with the elements of drama and narrative structure to develop ideas, and explore subtext to shape devised and scripted drama (ACADRM047)

Manipulate combinations of the elements of drama to develop and convey the physical and psychological aspects of roles and characters consistent with intentions in dramatic forms and performance styles (ACADRM048)

Practise and refine the expressive capacity of voice and movement to communicate ideas and dramatic action in a range of forms, styles and performance spaces, including exploration of those developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dramatists (ACADRM049)

Structure drama to engage an audience through manipulation of dramatic action, forms and performance styles and by using design elements (ACADRM050)

Evaluate how the elements of drama, forms and performance styles in devised and scripted drama convey meaning and aesthetic effect (ACADRR052)

Analyse a range of drama from contemporary and past times to explore differing viewpoints and enrich their drama making, starting with drama from Australia and including drama of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and consider drama in international contexts (ACADRR053)

Years 9 and 10 Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 10, students analyse the elements of drama, forms and performance styles and evaluate meaning and aesthetic effect in drama they devise, interpret, perform and view. They use their experiences of drama practices from different cultures, places and times to evaluate drama from different viewpoints.

Students develop and sustain different roles and characters for given circumstances and intentions. They perform devised and scripted drama in different forms, styles and performance spaces. They collaborate with others to plan, direct, produce, rehearse and refine performances. They select and use the elements of drama, narrative and structure in directing and acting to engage audiences. They refine performance and expressive skills in voice and movement to convey dramatic action.

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