English teachers across West Berkshire are pinning their hopes on drama strategies in a bid to improve the results of students taking their KS3 Shakespeare paper. Too often in the past teachers have taught Shakespeare's plays as books to be read rather than as plays to be performed, according to West Berkshire English consultant Frances Gregory. Along with colleagues, Frances has written schemes of work emphasising practical drama strategies which she hopes will encourage students to write confidently about the language as a drama text. Frances believes Much Ado is a gift for drama strategies. The two key scenes involve conflict between Benedict and Beatrice with whom she believes students can readily identify. For English AST Carol Horner, these strategies are reinforced by her experience as a first time director of Much Ado for the Shakespeare Schools Festival. Watching Head of Drama Pip Shaw, she has learned to let students find out about characters for themselves.

Video Series: KS3 English
Release Date 2006