Drama has been introduced as an Extended Project Qualification at QE for the first time.
Five pupils from Year 13 are staging an abridged version of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men as part of their EPQ work. They join Sixth-Formers taking the EPQ in a range of Arts and Science subjects as part of the School’s A-level enrichment programme.
Devised by Sir Mike Tomlinson in 2006, the EPQ is equivalent to half an A-level. Students have a free choice of topic, but it must be academically useful and related either to their current course of study or their future career.
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The Drama EPQ unit taken by the QE boys gives them the opportunity to produce a performance for an audience, which they have to ‘plan, research, develop and evaluate’. Specifically, this has involved them researching and evaluating the approach of different theatrical practitioners, before borrowing or modifying their ideas to realise their own performance. They have then adapted and scripted their chosen piece to a 'commission' from the English department. The department hopes to be able to make use of the resulting production.
As with other EPQs, the boys are required to provide written evidence to accompany their project. After evaluating their work, they have to present their findings to a panel.
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The boys involved in the Drama EPQ are: actors Sahil Handa, Miles Huglin, Paavan Sawjani and Alex Wingrave, together with Shiras Patel, who worked in the technical areas.
Other EPQ topics being taken this year include:
- Is the NHS sustainable in its current form? Subject: Health
- Which criminological theory best explains the 2011 London riots? Subject: Criminology
- How can we feed the world’s growing population? Subject: Geography
- How have the developments in behavioural Economics challenged the existing neoclassical theory? Subject: Economics