Our annual residential to Edale took place last week. The students were taken to a strange world with no internet or mobile connections and forced to cook and clean for themselves. It was a shock for many! Working together, even on this level, the bonds created will stand them in good stead for the coming intensity of the Practical and written exams.

Chiefly, they were there to work on practical techniques and exacting and exhausting workshops to hone their creative and performance skills. They worked incessantly and with a commendable determination and focus. At midnight each night, we were still creating and debating to an incredibly high standard. And, as always, we were amazed by the work that our students created outside of the normal working environment; no bells, no distractions. During the two days we covered all aspects of the new linear A Level. Our exam preparation covered work on set texts and Devised theatre. We used different stimuli as starting points for creating Drama and we led workshops on style and genre covering Verbatim theatre, Physical theatre, Creative Adaptation and focusing on practitioners such as Augusto Boal, Complicite and Frantic Assembly. Staff and students were exhausted at the end of the Edale experience but we were thrilled by their commitment, concentration, cooperation, creativity, collaboration and self-discipline. An enormous amount of work goes into planning trips such as these but it is time well spent and we look forward to our students reaping the rewards in their final exam.