About ND

'I feel like I've been working in isolation and suddenly I've lifted my head and made contact with other drama people. It's great!

'Remarkably professional and attractive'

'A really professional body that gets results'

'ND's York Conference still rates as one of my all-time best events'

'Drama magazine is excellent - visually interesting and a strong voice for teachers. Splendidly edited.'

'The CPD site is a fantastic resource'

'Drama Research is a great innovation. The possibilities for sharing research and understanding in our field in an e.journal like this are exciting.'

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Welcome from the Chair

National Drama is a well-respected and influential professional organisation. It lobbies for drama teaching and theatre as a curriculum entitlement for all children and young people across the United Kingdom and provides professional support for practitioners in the sector. ND has been in existence for more than 20 years and I am proud to have been the Chair for the last 6 years. Each year the demands on the organisation grow and I believe that what we achieve grows too.

This newly structured and designed website together with the national CPD Drama website, our international peer-reviewed e.journal, Drama Research, and our magazine of professional practice, Drama, are all testament to the organisation going from strength to strength in order to provide for its members' professional needs.

I urge all drama teachers and those involved with drama and theatre education in any form to recognise the importance of joining National Drama and becoming active as members. Joining National Drama is of course the easy bit, but contributing to this organisation and its ongoing success is the rewarding step I would ask you to consider taking. The experience and range of expertise amongst our members is staggering and we have much that is worthwhile to offer each other and the organisation itself. Ultimately the organisation is its members, who are drawn from schools, universities, theatres, cultural institutions (including museums) and arts organisations. As well as specialist and non-specialist drama teachers in schools, our members include drama and teaching students, theatre workers, lecturers, advisers and consultants, inspectors, freelance arts and creative industry workers anywhere in the drama/theatre/education sector, as well as a strong international membership.

ND is highly regarded both nationally and internationally. In the UK we regularly meet with key agencies, and with other relevant professional organisations to help shape policy and practice. We advise on curriculum direction and content and campaign committedly for drama in the lives of children and young people. We represent UK drama teachers and theatre educators in Europe and worldwide through ND's active membership of the International Drama/Theatre and Education Association (IDEA). We have a commitment to the provision of continuing professional development and, in addition to online CPD we also organise day events and longer conferences (both national and international) that reflect and meet the needs of a diverse and constantly evolving sector.

So, welcome to National Drama's website and may your engagement with ND be both long and fruitful.

Patrice Baldwin
Chair