Reception - Year 2 pupils: Yearly Overview

Autumn Term 

Our infant pupils work predominantly on poetry. At the beginning of the academic year, pupils work on lots of different poems; building up their range  of experience and developing their vocabulary and performance skills.  We use the poems essentially as dramatic vehicles, where the children learn elements of drama and apply them - for example facial and vocal expression, posture and body language, voice modulation, clarity, projection and pacing. Each lesson we incorporate games and activities to help creatively inspire the children to understand the fundamental components of how to bring energy and expression to a piece, and more broadly how to engage an audience. 

Spring Term 

We then select two poems; to focus on for the Drama Festival performances. These are non- compulsory, competitive drama festivals where children can perform amongst their peers, gaining Public Speaking experience. They receive certificates and feedback, which  often helps to boost their confidence and pinpoint how they can keep on  improving. Prior to the festivals, we run an in-house showcase, in January, for all of our students to get a chance to preview  their poems in a non-competitive environment. 

Summer Term 

In the second half of the year, children then work on their LAMDA exam. For this exam they must select one new poem, and perform it to the examiner to the  best of their ability. After they have done this, they then have a conversation and are assessed on their communication skills. For children in Reception,  they talk about a toy, for children in Year 1, it’s a picture, and for children in Year  2, it’s a storybook.  

The exam is assessing both their public speaking and performance skills,  and their communication skills. It demonstrated the duality in our approach which is echoed across the board for all their ensuing grades and modules - which is essentially that the focus is equally on creating energetic, lively performances for a public audience, but also concentrating on everyday communication skills to be adapted for all walks of life.