Burntwood School

Burntwood offers a broad and balanced Arts course (Dance, Drama, Music and Art) in the Lower School. Arts subjects are studied to GCSE and Advanced Level. We also provide a variety of activities outside the curriculum. School productions have included Hairspray, Bugsy Malone, The Last Resort, Guys and Dolls, Animal Farm, The Grimm Tales, Daz 4 Zoe, The Wakefield Mystery Cycle, The Oresteia, The Tempest and Willy Russell's Our Day Out. As part of Shakespeare's Schools Festival, we performed The Taming of the Shrew at Burntwood and also at The Secombe Theatre. We also took part in the Connections Festival with The National Theatre and performed a new play DNA at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith. We run a Year 7 Drama Club each week and organise visits to the theatre regularly for all year groups and our Sixth Form Theatre Club. The school is regularly involved in Arts projects with professional groups such as local museums, galleries and art schools. We also produce work for exhibitions and companies such as Ing Bank. In Music, students worked on an electronic music project and have recorded a CD with professional musicians as well as performing at The Barbican with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The School has a strong belief in the value of the Arts both in the curriculum and in after-school performance. Class music lessons provide each student with a thorough grounding in vocal technique, recorder skills, percussion and keyboard skills. In addition, advanced specialised vocal tuition is provided for Gifted and Talented students. Musical activities have ranged far and wide; the Orchestra has taken part in school productions and toured Holland, the Chamber Choir has sung at Westminster Abbey for Her Majesty the Queen, and at every major concert hall in London. Please see the Chamber Choir webpage for further information. The Steel Band has played in front of royalty at the Commonwealth Institute and at local events. In 2005 and 2009, Burntwood was awarded 'Artsmark Gold' by the Arts Council of Great Britain ...