NET Section Drama Competitions:
‘Speak Out – Act Up!’ Improvised Drama Competition 2017/18
Conditions and Regulations
1. Organiser
The Regional NET Coordinating Team (RNCT), Native-speaking English Teacher (NET) Section, CDI, Education Bureau (EDB).
2. Aims
The aims of the ‘Speak Out – Act Up!’ competition are to:
· give students an opportunity to learn improvised drama techniques and use English in a creative way;
· give students an opportunity to experiment with the use of English in different roles and dramatic contexts; and
· support the learning and teaching of the Elective Module, Learning English through Drama, in the Senior Secondary English Language Curriculum.
3. Description of ‘Speak Out – Act Up!’
‘Speak Out – Act Up!’ is a competition open to all students from secondary schools in Hong Kong. Students will work in teams of 4 to 6 to create and perform an improvised English drama of 4 – 5 minutes.
4. Schedule of Events and Submission Deadlines
Schedule / Event or Deadline / Related DocumentLate October 2017 / Invitation to take part in
‘Speak Out – Act Up!’ / Fax from the NET Section informing schools of website link to entry form, poster and regulations and conditions
2 November, 2017
2:30-3:30pm &
3:45-4:45pm / Briefing session (optional)
Rm W420, West Block, EDB Kowloon Tong Education Services Centre, 19 Suffolk Road, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon / EDB Training Calendar System (TCS) notification – online application
(Course Codes: CDI020171378 & CDI020171379)
28 & 30 November, 2017
3:00-6:00pm / Improvised drama workshops for teachers (compulsory)
Tsuen Wan Government Secondary School, 70 Hoi Pa St, Tsuen Wan, NT / EDB Training Calendar System (TCS) notification – online application (around 1 month before event)
(Course Code: CDI20171276)
1 December, 2017
5:00pm / Deadline for submission of entries / ‘Speak Out – Act Up!’ Competition Entry Form
27 February –
16 March, 2018 (TBC) / Topics will be given out. / Email from the NET Section, CDI, EDB
6 – 23 March, 2018 (TBC) / Competitions and prize-giving ceremonies / Email from the NET Section, CDI, EDB, to notify schools of the confirmed dates
3 July, 2018 / NET Section Filmit 2018 Awards Ceremony, EDB Kowloon Tong Education Services Centre, 19 Suffolk Road, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon / Email invitation from the NET Section to 2 first-prize winning teams to perform
5. Expectations
5.1 Schools:
· may send one or two English teachers to attend the competition briefing sessions in November (optional);
· must send one or preferably two English teachers (one of whom may be the NET) to attend the two professional development workshops in November, 2017 (compulsory); and
· send one or two teacher(s) to escort students to the competition between March 6 and 23, 2018 (TBC).
5.2 Teachers will need to:
· attend the briefing if necessary;
· hand out and collect parental consent forms for the NET Section to take images of students for later possible use for educational purposes and for uploading on to the Internet;
· participate fully in all drama activities at both professional development workshops;
· use what they have learnt to prepare their students for the competition; and
· ensure that students are escorted to, and supervised at, the competition.
5.3 Students will need to:
· participate fully in any training sessions organised by their teachers in preparation for the competition; and
· participate in the competition by performing a 4 – 5 minute improvised English drama on one date in the time period between March 6 and 23, 2018 (TBC).
6. Conditions of Entry
6.1 The deadline for submission of entries is 5:00pm Friday, 1 December, 2017. Late entries may NOT be considered.
6.2 The two identical Briefing Sessions will provide teachers with competition details and regulations and introduce a few improvised drama activities. Schools entering the competition for the first time are strongly encouraged to attend the one of the two identical briefing sessions.
6.3 There will be two mandatory workshops on teaching improvised drama. (Please refer to the information above.) Teachers with reasonable expertise in improvised drama may contact Ms Gina GREEN on 3549 8353 for exemption. Please refer to the EDB Training Calendar System (TCS) for online application around one month before the event.
6.4 Teams that pull out of the competition two weeks or less before their event will not be eligible to enter the following year.
7. The Theme of the Performance
7.1 The play must be based on the given topic: ‘20 Years – Hong Kong: …’.
7.2 Two topics will be sent out one week before the competition, and at the competition the team will perform one of those topics, chosen by ‘lucky draw’. The two topics will come from a list. The whole list will be distributed with the first group email to participating schools, e.g. ‘20 Years – Hong Kong: religion’ (‘religion’ is not one of the topics).
8. Student Participants
8.1 Each school can enter one team only with 4 to 6 participants.
8.2 The team can be made up of students from any year level or a combination of year levels.
9. Performance
9.1 Each section will have around 12 to 14 teams. Teams may be asked to change venues if numbers are uneven.
9.2 Teams must arrive at least 10 minutes before the competition starts. Start and end times will be confirmed later.
9.3 No written scripts will be allowed during the performance.
9.4 No narrator is allowed.
9.5 The performance must be within 4 – 5 minutes.
9.6 The first bell will be rung at 4 minutes. A second bell will be rung twice at 5 minutes. The student speaking when the second bell is rung must immediately stop and the team will be asked to sit down. In this case, no marks will be deducted. If the performance is less than 4 minutes or more than 5 minutes, marks will be deducted.
9.7 No lighting, music, costumes or make-up will be allowed. Two chairs are the only props.
9.8 The audience (teachers and students) will remain silent during performances. At the discretion of the organisers, marks may be deducted if any team members in the audience cause a disturbance. Mobile phones must be switched off or set to silent mode.
10. Adjudication
10.1 / While judges deliberate, teams may perform their second plays for fun, if they wish.10.2 / The judging panel will comprise representatives from the EDB and outside organisations.
10.3 / The decision of the judging panel will be considered final. No correspondence will be entered into after the results have been announced.
10.4 / Student performances will be assessed on the criteria below:
A. Content / well well developed in terms of relevance, character, setting, plot
B. Use of English / intelligibility, fluency, stress and intonation, range of vocabulary
C. Drama technique / use of the stage, body movements, expression of emotions, voice projection
D. Creativity / convincing story and characters, original ideas, entertainment value
E. Teamwork / All students interacting meaningfully with one another, and contributing significantly to the performance and use English
11. Awards and Certificates
Awards and prizes will be given for each session of the competition.
Team awards and prizes:1st Prize / $900 book coupons + trophy + certificates
2nd Prize / $700 book coupons + trophy + certificates
3rd Prize / $600 book coupons + trophy + certificates
Merit / $500 book coupons + trophy + certificates
Merit / $500 book coupons + trophy + certificates
Individual prizes:
Speak Out – Act Up! Superstar Performer (best overall) / $200 book coupons
Speak Out! Star Award (best use of English) / $200 book coupons
Act Up! Star Award (best acting) / $200 book coupons
Other:
Every team member / Certificate of Participation
12. Reminder of Submission of Entry and Forms
Deadline / Related Document5:00pm Friday, 1 December, 2017 / The deadline for submission of forms. Late entries may NOT be considered.
The day of the competition / A hard copy of the team members’ names
The school and parental consent form
Within 3 working days after the competition / A soft copy name list must also be submitted through Google Forms. This soft copy name list will be used to issue the Prize Winners’ Certificates and the Certificates of Participation. Teachers are responsible for the accuracy of the names. Certificates of participation will be posted out to the competition contact teachers within one month of the competition.
Entry forms can be emailed, faxed, posted or dropped off in person to the NET Section office:
Attn. ‘Speak Out – Act Up!’ Improvised Drama Competition
Native-speaking English Teacher Section,
Room 1120, 11/F, Tsuen Wan Multi-storey Carpark Building,
174 – 208 Castle Peak Road, Tsuen Wan, NT.
Fax: 3549 8379
13. Enquiries
For enquiries, please contact Ms Gina GREEN at 3549 8353 or by email at .
NET Section, CDI, EDB
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