Performing Arts Department

Director of Performing Arts – Janine Hansen

The Performing Arts Department is a vibrant and dynamic hub of creativity and excellence, led by our extremely experienced, inspiring, visionary, and dedicated team of teachers and theatre makers.

Students are taught weekly curriculum Drama lessons from Year 7 to Year 9, with the option to pursue GCSE Drama, GCSE Dance and A Level Drama and A Level Dance.

Year 7 students are introduced to the exciting world of drama, developing and mastering the skills needed to become excellent actors, accomplished performers and confident in front of an audience. They also participate in the Year 7 Drama Competition (Autumn Term) and Year 7 Drama Festival (Spring Term). Year 8 have a stimulating and engaging year of Drama; from Shakespeare and puppetry to physical theatre and naturalism. Year 9 enjoy a variety of highly creative and invigorating performance styles, topics and genres including promenade, immersive, verbatim theatre and Dance. Year 10 and 11 follow the AQA specification for GCSE Dance and GCSE Drama. AQA Drama and AQA Dance are taught at A level.

Our GCSE and A level examination results are exceptional and our students enjoy the creative freedom in their practical work, complimented by their rigorous theory lessons. We are proud of our 100% success rate of A level students gaining access to the top Drama Schools and Universities in the country. As a Performing Arts Department, unique to other schools in the area, we provide our students with opportunities, classes, workshops, trips, and courses in Drama, Acting, Dance, Musical Theatre, design and agency work.

St Teresa’s Performing Arts Department offers students an exemplary selection of extra-curricular clubs and activities from Drama and Dance Clubs to our Performing Arts Conservatoire and Musical Theatre Club. LAMDA is highly popular, and our excellent LAMDA examination results are testament to the high standard of tuition offered to our students, we are extremely proud to have Mark Jermin Theatre School and Agency as part of our after-school offerings and a number of our pupils have worked professionally appearing in various films and television programs for a variety of media companies including Netflix and the BBC.

We have two main whole school productions each year, with a large-scale drama production in the Autumn Term and a musical in the Spring Term. Productions have included Les Miserables, Hairspray, A Christmas Carol, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Wendy and Peter Pan, Oliver and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

We are keen for as many students to be involved in each production, and our large cast and orchestra are supported by students in charge of lighting, sound, costume, make-up and stage management. Individual year groups are given the opportunity to perform pieces worked on in the lessons to an audience throughout the year and the Performing Arts Department’s calendar is brought to a close by the Performing Arts Evening, at the end of the Summer Term, which showcases all of the exciting and wonderful work the Performing Arts students have created throughout the year.