The PA Music course enables students to engage with culture and the world around them from a creative standpoint. An understanding of the context of music from different times and places, and its relationship to a unique set of circumstances is an invaluable source to develop an understanding of others, history and perspectives. Equally, this enhances our own cultural identity. Students explore African drumming, Computer music, Rebellious Artists and Horror music.

Through the development of musical skills and processes, they explore aesthetics (by discussing concepts of beauty and expressive choice), change (such as challenging conventions of genre and expectation), communication (by exploring the purposes and messages within musical experiences), and identity (of how different communities make and use music and their similarities to other cultures and communities. Students respond to, reflect on, create and present music by exploring alternatives to presenting music to a considered audience

When approaching a project in theatre, we focus on successful group work through listening, supporting and contributing. Although the creative process is key, final performances, and the requisite discipline, rigour and enthusiasm, are vital to our success personally and as a group. 

When devising, students are asked to articulate opinions and explore current affairs through drama in a way that engages and challenges their audience. In script work, we look closely at the physical requirements of embodying a character and carefully study the staging possibilities of a text. 

As students move through the MYP course, we begin to approach theatre and its history through a variety of alternative lenses, including psychology, sociology and history, enabling students to conceptualise theatre in an holistic manner and begin experimenting with the form in a more daring, challenging manner. 

At a time in history when there is a lot of social “shouting”, theatre provides a vital opportunity for young people to practice considered discourse through performance, theory and teamwork.