Drama & Dance
Confidently performing on stage and developing technical and design skills.
Drama provides a wealth of opportunities and benefits for our pupils. We believe the subject boosts children’s self-confidence, developing their emotional intelligence and compassion.
Drama also teaches pupils how to concentrate and cooperate, as well as how to articulate and express themselves, which is especially beneficial at this young age.
At Pre-Prep, Drama focuses on developing pupils’ role-play, imagination and language skills, giving the children a growing confidence in themselves as performers and also for performing to an audience.
The Drama department enjoys working with our other academic teachers in a cross-curricular way in order to develop these skills and interests in young children.
There are many opportunities for children to participate in Drama at Berkhamsted Pre-Prep, from the Stepping Stones Christmas Songs performance to class assemblies, whole school assemblies and whole year group productions.
Write Dance
In addition, we have developed ‘Write Dance’, a programme for Stepping Stones Nursery and Reception children which uses movement and drama to develop the gross and fine motor skills required for physical development and early handwriting skills.
‘Write Dance’ is delivered by taking a theme such as the seaside and integrating learning movements around the chosen theme. These movements are then linked to handwriting that children then transcribe to large sheets of paper. The programme has been successful in developing not only the children’s fine and gross motor skills, but also their imagination.
As pupils progress to Year 1 and 2 they take part in their first LAMDA exam. They perform in small groups to learn and recite a short poem together. The emphasis is on gaining confidence in public speaking and collaborating together to produce a performance. Most importantly it is about having fun.
LEAP INTO ACTION
Open Events
As dreamy country schools go, the pre-prep is right up there, while the prep – a five minute drive away – is much bigger and so urban it could almost be London.
Staff share an ambitious vision, with high expectations for what all children can achieve and ensure that high standards of learning and care are delivered.
Inside, the emphasis on teaching and learning, as well as cross-curricular, is evident from the glass-covered noticeboards alone – among the largest and most comprehensive we’ve seen.
