Earlier this term we held a Consultation Meeting [Meeting Notes] at the Crypt for any members who shared our concern over the current position of Primary Drama.

Primary Drama – once the fulcrum of the integrated curriculum in schools across the country - went into a kind of deep freeze when the national curriculum came in. For a good few years it remained fossilized in the memory of those who could recall the days when it energized disenchanted learners, carried those with language problems and engaged those with behavioural and concentration problems but there was ‘no time for it on the current timetable’. Drama teachers who knew the benefits of drama in the primary classroom stewed in frustration as they tried to explain that if you taught through drama it would save time on the curriculum, not spend it. However the boxed curriculum was here to stay for a while, policed by Ofsted and subjects taught in isolation soon produced teachers who knew nothing else themselves. However it is precisely this generation of teachers who sense that something is missing – they are the ones having to deal with increase disenchantment in their classrooms and where best else to turn for enchantment than drama? It is a welcome irony that teachers who never knew drama in their own primary classrooms are now calling for its return. Drama has a strange way of refusing to die.

Secondary school ASTs and drama specialists are doing what they can. A watered down secondary programme for drama may be enough for year six but essentially primary school drama is a different subject, requiring a different skills base from its secondary relation and these skills have not been taught at teacher training level for years now. While secondary drama grows backwards from theatre, primary drama grows upwards from play – the two should enjoy a most rich and healthy overlap in KS2 and3 where sadly we lack our expertise most.

We are fortunate enough to have not just as a member but also as a trustee for many years now, Carol Olivier who has been a deputy head in a primary school for many years…and, unusually, a Drama specialist. She is delighted to see that there is not only an interest but also a demand for primary drama skills to make a comeback. We are lucky indeed that she is happy to lead and shape this strand of development for us at London Drama.

However at our meeting what we thought was the case was indeed confirmed. When something has been put in the freezer too long, it has burnt on the edges, gone dry and has splintered in places. We all look at each other and ask – ‘Is it still alright to use this?’

The group started to pool together what they are doing – and yes we have thought tracking and hotseating and maybe some freeze frames – the occasional Thought Alley. (A few faces suggest we think this could all be done better – but how? ‘I managed to get a book on it but…’

We all know that the way to learn about drama is to do it – reading about it helps afterwards but it is not really the place to start. So we champion those new teachers in primary who have even ventured to try out something they have read in a book – but agree we need to bring workshops back and start to pull practice together and to fill in the gaps. The big task is steering the return of process drama and mapping a topic web across the curriculum.

The Rose report has helped a great deal putting in print what we have been saying for years and profiling the position of drama in the primary curriculum both as an art form and a learning tool. If rejected by a possible future Tory government focus will return to the Cambridge report – the Rose report’s forerunner – which is an even more thorough document valuing Drama. Either way, the task of forming a current model of Drama in the primary school is upon us.

Following the meeting we ran a training session, consisting of some background basics. We had a very keen group – all of whom echoed the sentiments from the meeting. Carole introduced the political and curriculum position of drama, Jo Fife led an inspiring session on community mapping all grown from a picture book, and I led a short piece on the hazards and joys of teacher in role.

We are keen to look at early years at some stage soon as this is not plotted into the Rose report which seems an odd omission – a gap we can start to fill maybe.

In addition to this we had a discussion with a primary school over drama who said they would like to be a London Drama flagship school. We are at the same time drawing up an idea of what this might look like.

Please join our group – we have over 40 interested parties on the email address book wishing to be part of this process. We plan to meet again next term and will have another follow-up evening course.

Be part of the thaw!

Amanda Kipling