The intent of the Performing Arts curriculum is to:
- Enable all students to become passionate, creative and inquisitive individuals who can see the world from a creative and artistic perspective.
- To recognise the benefits of a Performing Arts curriculum in fostering both cognitive development and character development in individuals.
- Performing Arts encourages and prepares students for lifelong learning, equipping students with an appreciation of art forms generated from different cultures.
- The performing arts curriculum builds self-worth, self -confidence, resilience, dedication, teamwork and self-evaluation skills.
All our students should have the opportunity to participate in a range of performing art forms as a cultural entitlement. We hope that our approach will ensure that all students receive this and are successful in their learning. The following principles have informed the planning of the United Learning curriculum across all subjects.
- Entitlement: All students have the right to learn the Sheffield Springs Academy Performing Arts curriculum alongside the United Learning Performing Arts curriculum.
- Coherence: Students have different starting points in Performing Arts, our curriculum is carefully sequenced so that powerful knowledge is built term by term and year by year.
- Mastery: We ensure that foundational knowledge, skills, and concepts are secure before moving on. Students revisit prior learning and apply their understanding in new contexts.
- Representation: All students see themselves in our curriculum, and our curriculum takes all students beyond their immediate experience.
- Education with character: Our curriculum - which includes the taught subject timetable as well as spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development, our co-curricular provision, and the ethos and ‘hidden curriculum’ of the school – is intended to spark curiosity and to nourish both the head and the heart.
The curriculum is based on a mastery model, in which the ambition is that all students are taught and achieve the essential knowledge and skills in each of the years of the curriculum so that both knowledge and skills can be re-used effectively in future learning to achieve greater depth of learning and outcome.
Our Performing Arts curriculum will:
- Give our students ambition: to perform to a high standard, and to support others who also aim for high standards.
- Build confidence: to perform in both small and large settings as a member of a wider ensemble, participating in memorable occasions that contribute to the school life and community.
- Foster creativity: to create and explore different creative styles, practitioners and mediums.
- Instil respect: for each other in performance and artistry of different art forms from all
backgrounds.
- Drive enthusiasm: to pursue students’ talents and interests through an engaging curriculum and co-curriculum.
- Encourage determination: to persevere and strive for excellence when refining and improving creative, performance and evaluation skills.
KS3
A child at KS3 will be given the opportunity to develop and enhance their skills in areas such as performance and appreciation of artistic forms. By the end of KS3, students should be able to perform with increasing independence demonstrating with competence and expression. A child should be able to work collaboratively and effectively with other performers, showing the ability to lead/direct an artistic performance.
A child at KS3 should be able to perform, evaluate and analyse a wide range of artistic forms form past and present practitioners. Students should have a wide range of opportunities to strengthen and build upon their understanding of cultural influences which have shaped the world we live in. Students should be able to evaluate and analyse work of other practitioners and their own work, using subject specific vocabulary with confidence.
KS4
A child at KS4 will have developed their independence, resilience and character traits in order to prepare themselves to become successful in their lives. They will develop their knowledge of performing arts, develop their skills and techniques within performing arts and gain an insight into the career pathways available within performing arts.
Students will continue to develop their skills in the performance and creative aspects of performing arts, working as a soloist, within an ensemble and as part of production team.By the end of KS4, students should be able to make informed and considered decisions, make subjective judgements about their own work and the work of others and be able to implement these into their work.