11-16 Years
Studying English and Drama at King’s is all about the enrichment that comes from using language imaginatively. Words empower us: they let us express ourselves, share feelings and knowledge. Through the study of books, but also topical media texts, we develop the key skills of empathy, insight, analysis and imagination which are fundamental to work and life.
Small class sizes enable us to focus our curriculum on the needs of individual pupils and their own interests. Creative writing competitions and creative writing week help us develop the writing skills that will carry through not just to their working lives but to their appreciation of life itself. Special Reading Periods for all groups similarly allow pupils to find and develop their own interests as well as enjoy whole class teaching of some of the finest novels poems and plays that have ever been written. At the heart of all we do is a love of language and literature and the life-enhancing creative imagination, but also a determination to equip all our students with key communication skills for the world of work in today’s multimedia society.
The aim of our teaching is to share our love of books, drama and media with our students and inspire in them a life-long interest, but whilst we insist on many traditional classroom approaches like the proactive teaching of grammar and spelling, the emphasis is on enjoyment and far from just conventional. Spectacular drama productions, creative writing competitions, regular pupil pages in the Gloucestershire Citizen, Debating Competitions locally and nationally, Stage School and Book Club, as well as regular author visits and theatre trips, all offer excellent opportunities for developing crucial confidence, life and imaginative skills in contexts that are rewarding and challenging. Staff are proud of their pupils’ achievements.
Recent achievements have included students being admitted to RADA, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, and Bristol Old Vic Drama School also well as excellent examination results. Recent drama productions include The Merchant of Venice, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, The Tempest, The Wind in the Willows and Much Ado About Nothing. Many of our students also starred as extras in the Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.