N.B. For Newcastle under Lyme School timetables please see the LAMDA tab on the NULS Dashboard.
Speech & Drama (LAMDA) is offered as an optional extra at Newcastle under Lyme School for pupils aged 6-18 from Year 2 to Year 13 (Upper 6th). Speech & Drama lessons not only help students to develop and strengthen their Performing Arts skills but also encourage clear and expressive communication skills whilst building self-confidence and personality.
If desired, students can work towards optional examinations with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). LAMDA is one of the UK’s oldest and most respected awarding bodies, offering practical examinations in communication and performance subjects for over 130 years. LAMDA examinations are Ofqual accredited and the advanced level examinations (Grade 6, 7 & 8) are recognised as equivalent qualifications to GCSEs and A Levels, with UCAS points being awarded accordingly.
Students at NULS can work towards examinations in Acting, Verse & Prose, Public Speaking, Devising Drama and Reading for Performance. LAMDA exam results for pupils at the school are exceptional with 100% Distinctions and Merits (98% Distinctions).
The Speech & Drama (LAMDA) Team at NULS
The Speech and Drama (LAMDA) team is led by Mrs Ella Jones, a freelance Speech & Drama teacher and Acting Coach. She is an expert in her field and teaches to an exceptionally high standard with her students receiving consistently outstanding results whilst developing their self-confidence and improving their communication skills. Mrs Jones has been a LAMDA Examiner (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) since 2009. She is a Team Leader on the Examiner Panel and an Examiner Trainer and is also the LAMDA Centre Representative for Stoke on Trent/Staffordshire. You can find out more by clicking here.
Since 2017, Speech and Drama (LAMDA) in the school has gone from strength to strength. From just a handful of pupils in the beginning, there are now over 170 pupils who take part. Mrs Jones expanded her teaching team in September 2023, taking on Mrs Caroline West to meet the ever-growing demand for lessons at the school. Mrs West has over 35 years experience of expertly guiding students on their Performing Arts journeys whilst building their self-confidence and communication skills. The significantly high calibre of her teaching and performance experience and the fantastic results her pupils always achieve made her a perfect addition to the Speech and Drama (LAMDA) team at NuLS. In 2024, Miss Sian Lovatt-Jones also joined Mrs Jones’s teaching team. Miss Lovatt-Jones also has many years of high-quality teaching experience at various schools, both in the UK and Dubai with the exam results of her students being consistently high. She also directs for local Youth Theatres, runs the Stoke Youth Musical Theatre Academy and has much performing experience as well, and has proved to be a very valuable addition to the team. In September 2025 another teacher joined Mrs Jones’s team at NuLS, Miss Phebe Smith. Miss Smith comes highly recommended, having taught LAMDA Speech & Drama at various schools in the area over the past 5 years. Additionally, she previously worked in the Creative Learning department of the Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall, and for the past 2 years she has managed their Speak Up programme, a nationwide project for young people in collaboration with the National Theatre. She is also a ballet teacher, teaching dance and BTEC Performing Arts at another school in Staffordshire and running her own ballet school for adults.
Lessons at the school are therefore either taken by Mrs Jones or by one of her teaching team.
For more information on Speech and Drama (LAMDA) at Newcastle under Lyme School please email ellajonesdrama@hotmail.co.uk or ejones@nuls.org.uk
Ella Jones 