Drama at HD Qingdao

Still fresh in our memories are the Primary School's English Winter Production that ended not so long ago, along with the wonderful performances created by our Grade 3 students. What was so incredible about these performances was not only the children's fluent level of English, but also the spirit of cooperation amongst every child. Today, let us pay homage to the growth of our children on these drama courses!

At HD Qingdao, drama is one of the key areas of the curriculum. Through drama we develop our students’ confidence, public speaking skills and their level of spoken English.

As well as regular poetry recital house competitions and public speaking house competitions, every Primary School class organises at least one class assembly in the year and parents are invited to these so that they can celebrate the children’s hard work.

While students are in the Primary School, we also want them to experience the opportunity of being in a large-scale English drama production at least 3 times during this phase of the school. This year, we are organising the following productions in the Hurtwood House Theatre:

· A Grade 3 Winter Production

· A Grade 1 Spring Production

· A Grade 5 Summer production

Each of the class assemblies and productions mentioned above will involve some preparation time but our teachers plan our curriculum carefully around these special events. 

The benefit that the students will get from developing confidence in speaking in front of large audiences, not to mention the value of practising their ability to speak in English, should not be underestimated. These class assemblies and productions will create memories that our students will be able to reflect back on and enjoy for many years to come.

As part of this scheduled programme of drama productions, our Grade 3 students recently completed a wonderful winter show called Gimme, Gimme, Gimme that the whole school, and their parents, enjoyed.

In previous years, with The Snowman At Sunset production and with Bah Humbug! last year, we selected a range of students from across the school to perform in these shows.This year we have changed how we organise these productions and it was down to our Grade 3 students to perform the entire show.

The key performers in the show had been practicing their lines since September as part of an after-school club and the rest of the students had been practising the 7 songs from the show in their weekly Music classes.

I was extremely proud of the way the Grade 3 students:

· Spoke their lines clearly

· Performed confidently on stage

· Sang the songs they had learned in Music class

I was also proud of our school choir who sang beautifully during the show.

Drama will continue to be a key area of our curriculum and one which we use to make our school motto come alive: Education Creates Character!