Falkirk schoolgirl has starring role as top student

A Falkirk schoolgirl is one of 600 youngsters to be named Student of the Year 2020 by a theatre school

Emily Graham, who has her sights set on an acting career, has had her efforts recognised along with all the others students at Glasgow-based UK Theatre School.

The principal and tutors decided that Emily (13) and her fellow students had shown “great resilience” during lockdown and all deserved to receive the top award.

The UKTS switched its performing arts training sessions to a programme of 140 online classes weekly during lockdown. As well as focusing on singing, dancing and acting lessons they students were also encouraged to attend other online sessions exploring different musicals and acting for radio.

Principal Lizanne Lambie Thomson said: “We usually have a family fun day in June and present a series of awards to students who have excelled during the year.

“This year because the building was closed down because of lockdown everything switched to online. Our students all worked so hard in the circumstances and adapted to the new way of working really quickly.

“We felt each and every pupil showed great resilience, focus and dedication in the face of the pandemic crisis. We usually run our classes in the evenings and at weekends and we tweaked our timetable a little to allow our students to continue training and maintain some form of routine throughout their week. The added benefits were that they could see each other in the virtual classes and continue having fun learning too.”

St Mungo’s High School third-year pupil Emily, described the award as ‘very special’ and added: “When lockdown started, I was worried that I would really miss my classes – but the online classes started, and they were brilliant.”

Emily who has been attending for three years and is now in the advanced acting class added: “It was great to see my friends and teachers again. I feel that it really helped me with the stress of lockdown and it was a great distraction from my school work at home. I have learned so much from my acting teachers and they have made it really fun.”

Emily’s mum Eve, who works as a nurse, said she was ‘delighted’ that Emily and all the other students received the accolade. She added: “It was a really nice gesture for the school to recognise everyone. Many of Emily’s friends from theatre school live in Glasgow and so these online classes were great for her seeing and keeping in touch with them all. She just loves doing her theatre school work.”

The school which opened in 2001 offers vocational classes for children and young people aged four to 21. As well as the classes the school runs its own in-house castings agency with pupils having secured parts in TV series, films, and advertising campaigns.