Expressive Arts Curriculum

The Wellington Academy Expressive Arts curriculum aims to give students a love of learning, the confidence to be creative in a wide variety of settings and an understanding of how to develop important life skills, transferable across the school curriculum and beyond. 

We aim to create a triangulated, interwoven curriculum between all three subject areas of dance, drama and music that is aspirational and engaging for all, from the start of key stage 3, right up until the end of key stage 4, and looking ahead into KS5.  The application of skills through practical tasks in every lesson and regular peer and teacher feedback, allows students development and progress through the curriculum to be visible.  

The 3 key strands of music, dance and drama are creative (choreography, devising or composing), performance and evaluation (key stage 3) or critical appreciation (key stage 4). Therefore, each stage of the curriculum is driven and sequenced by these skills. Starting in year 7, the basics of these strands are learnt. These are then developed year upon year, meaning that whilst students study the same key skills, they do so on a deeper level. As a result, students can build their knowledge, understanding and application of all 3 elements, meaning they can tackle a wide variety of tasks confidently and creatively as well as successfully achieve the GCSE specification requirements.  

Beyond lessons, the department also offers a wide variety of extra-curricular activities such as clubs, workshops with external professionals, a programme for career guidance and advice and trips to see performance work live. These additional opportunities allow pupils to extend their love of learning and understand how their curriculum knowledge can be applied to the real work of creative and performing arts.