Y9 can be a difficult time to capture students interest in drama. This lesson is firmly cemented in their own understanding of the world. The setting is rooted in their daily experiences and that in itself empowers them with a sense of empathy and contextual understanding.

I always start the topic by setting high expectations of maturity from the students, and ensuring they recognise that the drama draws on real life events. However, I also temper this with an assurance that they are creating a fiction.

This is a transition lesson. It builds upon students’ prior skills based knowledge acquired in Y7 and Y8 and then allows them to develop their own narrative using these skills.

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