Cover lesson · Drama · Year 9 · Intermediate
DCF: Citizenship → Online behaviour and online bullying
Name: Class: Date:
Print: this sheet, one per pupil, and the stimulus sheet “The Fan Club”, one per group of five. No computers or phones are needed — phones stay away. Everything can be done seated: in Step 4 the group reads the scene at their desks and interventions are read out as new lines.
Run: 8 min groups of five read the scene aloud, one part each · 10 min Step 2, the role map · 10 min Step 3, plan three interventions · 15 min Step 4, the forum: one volunteer group reads or plays the scene at the front, the class stops it at the stop points and tries their ideas; you are the Joker and read out the three Joker questions after each attempt · 7 min Step 5, written reflection.
Collect: this sheet. Casting is by volunteer only. Nobody has to read Cai, and nobody is cast because of who they are. The actors reading Elin and Jac use the scripted lines only — stop any improvised insult straight away.
Safeguarding — read this before you start: a pupil may recognise this situation. Do not take a disclosure in front of the class. Say “come and see me at the end”, take their name, and pass it to the class teacher or the school’s safeguarding lead the same day. Do not promise to keep it secret. Finish the lesson by reading out the help box at the bottom of the stimulus sheet.
You are going to take part in a forum theatre performance of a short scene in which a rehearsal video is shared in a class group chat. The scene goes badly on purpose. You will work out who had the power to change it, plan what they could have done instead, try those ideas out in the forum, and decide which ones would really work.
| If it is happening to you | If you are watching it happen |
|---|---|
| Screenshot the evidence before anything is deleted. | Do not react, like or share. A laughing reaction is joining in. |
| Do not retaliate. Anything you send back can be screenshotted too. | Message the person privately so they know someone is on their side. |
| Report the post and the account in the app. | Report the post yourself — you do not need to be the target. |
| Block or leave. That is not losing. | Screenshot it in case it disappears. |
| Tell a trusted adult. | Tell a trusted adult, even if the target has asked you not to make a fuss. |
In groups of five, read The Fan Club aloud, one part each. Read the forum theatre rules at the top of the stimulus sheet first.
For each character, say what they did, one thing they could have done instead, and what stopped them. Be honest about the last column — the reasons people stay silent are real.
| Character | What they did | What they could have done | What stopped them (the cost) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elin | |||
| Jac | |||
| Sara | |||
| Dev | |||
| Cai |
Choose three different stop points. For each, decide who you replace (Cai, Dev or Sara only), exactly what they say or do instead, and how Elin and Jac would probably react. Then be the Joker for yourself: is it real, or is it magic?
| Stop point | I replace | What I say or do instead | How Elin and Jac react | Real or magic? Why? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
One group plays the scene through once. On the second run, say “Stop!” at a stop point and try one of your interventions. After each attempt, note what the class decided.
| Intervention I watched (who, which stop point) | What changed? | What did it cost the person who tried it? |
|---|---|---|
(a) Which intervention changed the most, and why did it work when the others did not?
(b) At Stop point C, Dev says “just ignore it, it’ll blow over”. Explain why that is not enough.
(c) Write the private message Dev should have sent to Cai at Stop point C. Thirty words maximum.
(d) Name the adult in school Cai could go to first, and one place outside school he could contact.