At Northwood Prep,
we celebrate the role every individual pupil has to offer in
our progressive learning environment where ‘everyone is someone’.
In line with recent developments in the new Primary National
Curriculum, Speech and Drama has become an important part of
our quest to develop well rounded and assured boys who will approach
their future schools, lives and careers with confidence and high
self-esteem.
Nursery and Junior School
Northwood Prep boys receive Drama tuition as early as in Nursery
and Reception, where they participate in a wide range of drama
games and exercises to explore characters, to raise social awareness
and to consider the emotions and challenges of the modern world.
All Junior School boys also take part in school performances
in the New Barn Theatre such as nativity plays, summer musicals
and recitals in collaboration with the Music department. Recent
Junior School productions have included The Boy With No Talent,
Santa's Little Helper, George and the Dragon, A Donkey's
Tail and To Be Or Not To Be..
Years 3 and 4
As they move in to Senior School in Years 3 and 4, Northwood
Prep pupils receive specialist Drama tuition from the Head of
Speech and Drama. Weekly workshop sessions include physical and
vocal exercises which help to build confidence and to remove
inhibitions. The boys work together to promote a healthy atmosphere
of teamwork, co-operation and trust towards future dramatic projects
and everyday school life. There is a strong emphasis on storytelling
in Year 3 as well as the exploration of characters to work alongside
the English curriculum. We also focus on clear public speaking
in the delivery of poetry, prose and dramatic text.
By Year 4, the boys use Drama sessions to explore specific characters
and scenarios from their English class readers. They also work
more closely with play scripts and the spoken word, before moving
on to experiment with the body including mime, tableaux and physical
theatre. All Year 3 and 4 boys participate in a spring production
in the New Barn Theatre as well as taking part in the annual
Beale Clear Speaking Poetry Competition. Recent Year 3 and 4
productions have included The Lemonade Kid, Jack
and the Beanstalk and The Three Little Pigs.
 
Years 5 and 6
In Year 5 and 6, pupils investigate characters and dilemmas from
novels in greater depth and detail, with more emphasis on improvisation
and the evaluation of performance. Year 5 boys all take part
in a mask project during the Spring term, exploring the demands
of mask technique and devising their own scenes for public performance
using the school’s selection of character masks provided by Trestle
Theatre Company. There is also an opportunity for Year 5 pupils
to write and perform their own scenes in the style of their English
class reader, The Boy Who Fell into a Book.
Boys spend the first half of Year 6 rehearsing for a full-scale
school production in February. The production is auditioned,
rehearsed and produced by a creative team of ex-industry professionals
including the director, stage designer and lighting designer.
Recent Year 6 productions have included The Prodigious Snob, Grimm
Tales, and the musical adaptation of The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe as part of the school’s centenary celebrations.
Year 6 Drama lessons then return to more intensive study of characters
from novels, preparation for the Beale Clear Speaking Poetry
Competition and the devising of individual play scripts inspired
by Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations.
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Years 7 and 8 – LAMDA Examinations
As part of our world class educational outlook, Northwood Prep
has recently introduced LAMDA public speaking examinations to
our progressive curriculum. All Year 7 boys receive individual
tutorials in preparation for their Level 1 Grade 3 Communication
exams in The Speaking of Verse and Prose. LAMDA examinations
are globally renowned and highly regarded by future schools,
boosting the boys’ confidence and self-esteem in readiness for
next school interviews as well as their future lives and careers.
Year 7 boys celebrate their exam success with an Evening of Poetry
and Prose at the New Barn Theatre for family and invited guests.
LAMDA examinations are an ideal preparation for the challenges
of future school interviews and practice for such meetings forms
the basis of Drama lessons at the end of Year 7 and beginning
of Year 8. In particular, the boys practise their sight reading
of unseen prose and verse texts in readiness for interviews.
Finally, with their next school places secured, Year 8 boys audition,
rehearse and perform one final major school production in the
New Barn Theatre as part of their farewell to Northwood Prep
at the end of June. Recent Year 8 productions have included The
Ragged Child, Hiawatha, A Tale of Two Terry’s and A
Midsummer Night’s Dream as part of our centenary celebrations.
  
The New Barn Theatre
Northwood Prep is fortunate enough to have its own purpose-built,
200-seat performance space,the
New Barn Theatre, which was opened by Kevin Spacey in 2008. Spencer
Hinton, our Head of Speech and Drama, is an ex-professional theatre
director who has staged over sixty productions in the UK and
abroad, working for such companies as the Royal Shakespeare Company,
the National Theatre and with Sir Peter Hall in the West End.
He was the Artistic Director of Brave New World Theatre Company,
of Manitou Theatre, Canada, and the recipient of the Rose Bruford
Memorial Trust Theatre Director Award 1998.
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