Looking Ahead: 10 Original Scripts with Activities for KS3 Drama

Issues covered:
  • Social media
  • Drug addiction
  • Immigration
  • Knife crime
  • Social equality
  • Terrorism
  • The 2019 general election
  • Extinction Rebellion
  • The growth of the Internet
  • Fake news

A collection of 10 thought-provoking plays for KS3 Drama, designed get students looking ahead to the future. Each 10-minute play explores an important topical issue to engage and inspire your students.

  • Ready to rehearse and perform – no preparation needed
  • A range of viewpoints presented to develop awareness of the intricacies of important societal issues
  • Ready-made activities, including:
    • Write/improvise tasks for deep exploration
    • Tasks exploring key dramatic features, such as action, movement, lighting and costume

An engaging resource which explores contemporary issues relevant to students from a range of settings, cultures and contexts

J Kearney, Teacher of English & Drama & Peer Reviewer

Ultimate flexibility: Explore as a class • Read in small groups • Use as a springboard for discussion / written work • Perform in class/assembly

  1. Think before You Tweet: Young footballers are trained to use social media. Is the online world as straightforward as they think?
  2. Kicking the Habit: An experiment involving prescription heroin has some surprising results.
  3. Taking Back Control: A glimpse into the inner workings of the Home Office, as workers discuss the eviction of foreign students
  4. Living with Fear: In London, residents hold a meeting about county lines gangs and knife crime. What can be done to resolve these issues?
  5. Another World – Next Door: A locked playground gate divides neighbourhood children and opinions.
  6. Kicking Down the Door: A television segment covering the 2019 London Bridge attack explores what happened that terrible day, and how we should move forward from those events.
  7. Picking up the Pieces: Television reporters discuss the result of the 2019 general election, the factors that affected the outcome, and what comes next.
  8. Taking It Seriously: After an Extinction Rebellion protest, 16-year-old Nina is reported under the government’s Prevent strategy. Was this intervention needed?
  9. Changing the World: The story of how the Internet grew, and how it changed.
  10. Teaching the Truth: Junior school teachers discuss how to teach their pupils about fake news. Could Finland’s approach be the solution to this tricky issue?
Plus! Each play is based on detailed research, with sources provided for further information.

What do teachers say about this resource? (11023)

An engaging resource for Key Stage 3 Drama, which explores contemporary issues relevant to students from a range of settings, cultures and contexts.

A useful introduction outlines the philosophy for the resources, whilst the teacher tasks at the back of the resource provide clear suggestions for how different scripts might be approached with groups. These include both practical suggestions (e.g. improvisation work) and written work suggestions (e.g. writing in-role through an autobiography)

The contemporary nature of the scripts links to modern news stories and areas of interest. Topics are dealt with sensitively and include a range of different characters which would help to broaden students’ awareness of alternative viewpoints and perspectives.

This resource – if taught with care and sensitivity – has the power to enhance the KS3 drama experience and contribute to the SMSC agenda.

A number of the topics will be areas of interest/awareness for 13/14 year old pupils.

The teacher tasks help to guide the ‘creating’ of drama, which enables targeted teaching towards the drama assessment strands. 

J Kearney, Teacher of English & Drama & Peer Reviewer