Ella Jones

TIME TO CELEBRATE!

TIME TO CELEBRATE! I’ve realised that this year marks 20 years of my teaching career (And I feel old!) so please accept my apologies for the soppy, slightly self-indulgent post. From starting out as a young(er!) teacher to now, “Ella Jones Drama” has grown and grown, and I couldn’t be happier with it. Over the past two decades I’ve taught hundreds of students, from age 6 to 26, and helped them achieve their goals – whether that meant forging successful performing careers, honing their craft, or simply becoming more confident, eloquent, articulate and creative human beings. I still keep in touch with many of them today: actors, medics, lawyers, teachers, presenters, marketing executives, colleagues and more. I always love hearing their news and celebrating their successes, knowing I played a very small part in their big journey.

Over the years I’ve taught in different schools and privately from home. I became a LAMDA Examiner 16 years ago next month (which I love!) and have since worked as a Team Leader, Examiner Monitor and Examiner Trainer (still do!) alongside my standard examining duties. I was also instrumental in setting up the Stoke-on-Trent Public Examination Centre for LAMDA, which I still run, and it has gone from strength to strength for over 10 years, welcoming lots of students from all over Staffordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire and beyond to take their LAMDA exams.

I’ve produced and directed many productions, taught GCSE Drama (with a 100% pass rate and 80% of all students receiving As and A*s…in the days before numerical grading) and have guided hundreds of students through their own LAMDA exams in Acting, Public Speaking, Speaking Verse & Prose, Devising Drama and Musical Theatre, with them all consistently achieving exceptional results. I’m incredibly proud of each and every one of them.

I currently have nearly 200 students on my books, aged 6 to 18, and my business has expanded so much that I now have a fantastic team of three teachers as well. The past 20 years have also seen me marry my fabulous husband, become a mum to two amazing children (the best job in the world), gain a postgraduate qualification from the Shakespeare Institute (University of Birmingham) to add to my other professional qualifications, and battle some tough health challenges, receiving some slightly challenging diagnoses – but I keep battling on, despite life definitely not always being easy! I’ve paused my own acting and voiceover work (there simply aren’t enough hours in the day!) but who knows…I may return to it one day.

Would I change anything? Possibly I’d tell myself not to be such a workaholic, to spend some more time on myself, and to breathe every now and again – but realistically, I’m not sure that’s changing any time soon, ‘cos that’s just me!

The walls of my classroom are covered in positive quotes because I don’t see my role as just teacher or director, but also as mentor and supporter of every young person who enters the room. Quotes like “Dream, Believe, Achieve,” “To thine own self be true” (thank you to the wonderful Mr Shakespeare!), “Everyone deserves a chance to fly!” (Wicked) and “Always remember your voice is important and has more value than you could possibly imagine” (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse) are there to give my students a boost – and to give me one too.

Here’s to the next 20 years of “Ella Jones Drama”! By then I may even consider retiring and relocating with the family to Tuscany…!

P.S. If you’ve got to the end of this rather self-indulgent post then thanks for reading. I wanted to celebrate but don’t have time to do it properly (surprise surprise!!) so this post will have to do.

2025 LAMDA RESULTS

Truly phenomenal results from our NULS LAMDA pupils again this year. Absolutely outstanding. They’ve all worked so hard and they’ve absolutely smashed it. Every year they just get better and better – Record-breaking!! I am incredibly proud of them all. Thank you also to my excellent #LAMDAatNULS team, Mrs West and Miss Lovatt-Jones, for their awesome work aswell. It’s been a busy year of hard work but it was definitely worth it! 

𝟏𝟖𝟏 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 & 𝟓 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐒

𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 2 𝑢𝑝 𝑡𝑜 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒 8 𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 & 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 2 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 1 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑔𝑒.

𝐀𝐍𝐃 10 students were awarded 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒! (3 at Entry Level, 1 at Grade 1, 2 at Grade 2, 3 at Grade 4 and 1 at Grade 8!)

A SUMMARY OF THE 2025-2025 ACADEMIC YEAR

🎭 A Phenomenal Year for NULS LAMDA! 🎭

Reflecting on an incredible year of talent, progress and achievement.

As this academic year draws to a close we couldn’t be prouder of our remarkable LAMDA Speech & Drama students at NULS. The talent, dedication and passion they’ve shown has made this a wonderful year for all. Read below for a summary of some of their fabulous achievements.

🌟 We started the year with a bang! 🌟

The 2024 Autumn term began with certificates and medals being handed out for an astounding 94 Distinctions (some extremely high!) and 13 very high Merits in the 2024 LAMDA exams across Acting, Verse & Prose, and Public Speaking, from Entry Grade all the way up to the post-Grade 8 PCert. LAM. Diploma, with most taking at least 1 or 2 grades higher than their age and lots taking 2 exams in one day. 

👩🏻‍🏫 Miss Lovatt-Jones 👩🏻‍🏫

In November a new fantastic teacher joined my NULS LAMDA team.  Miss Lovatt-Jones came highly recommended after teaching LAMDA in 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 and has much performing experience as well. Miss Lovatt-Jones has settled in perfectly at NULS and has been a valuable addition to the team. I’m also pleased to announce that, due to the popularity of LAMDA Speech & Drama lessons at NULS the teaching team is growing even bigger and another fabulous teacher will be joining me after the Summer holidays.

🎭 National Youth Theatre 🎭

In March 2 students, Maia and Wilson, were offered places with the National Youth Theatre after a tough audition process – a prestigious and highly competitive honour.

🏆 Festival Success 🏆

All students who took part in the Newcastle-under-Lyme Festival for Music, Speech & Drama in March performed amazingly, with a fabulous 16 first place trophies in Acting, Verse Speaking and Prose Reading.

🌟 March LAMDA Success 🌟

Our spring session brought in another 35 Distinctions, again across multiple disciplines and grades.

🗣 Public Speaking Competition 🗣️

Huge congratulations to Sarisha who reached the Regional Finals of a top-tier national Public Speaking competition.

🎭 Taking to the Stage 🎭

Many NULS students stepped into the spotlight, playing lead roles in local productions, including Six, DNA, Spring Awakening & the upcoming High School Musical with Stoke Youth, Matilda at the Stoke Rep Theatre with Stage Productions, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe with The Young Rep and Anne of Green Gables with Scarlet Theatre.

Additionally, countless students dazzled in the marvellous school productions throughout the year.

🎬 First Paid Acting Role 🎬 

Smith landed his first paid acting role in a powerful and important campaign by the Violence Reduction Alliance, tackling youth violence and emotional awareness. A meaningful and mature performance that made a real impact and was even mentioned in the Chair of Governor’s Speech on Speech Day!

✨ A Fabulous June Showcase ✨

At the beginning of June, we held a truly fabulous LAMDA Showcase in the Prep School, giving students a chance to share their work in the Margaret Powell Theatre in front of a live audience. With poems, prose extracts, acting monologues and duologues, it was a joyful celebration of the hard work put in this year!

🏫 June LAMDA Exams 🏫

Over the last weekend of June we hosted the LAMDA Public Exam Centre at NULS — welcoming over 500 young people and their parents from across Staffordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire and beyond. It was a buzzing weekend of talent and community.

A highlight of the weekend was welcoming back some fabulous past students to help steward the event, alongside current NULS pupils. A huge thank you to: Deleila (NULS Class of 2021, now studying English at Birmingham University), Phoebe (Class of 2020, currently training at the Guildford School of Acting), Lizzie (Class of 2023, who went to LAMDA), Alex (now teaching in Prep — but taught LAMDA by Mrs Jones from age 8 to 18!), and current students Maia, Noah, Harry, Sophia and Poppy, for their warm welcome, support and enthusiasm throughout the weekend.

Over the weekend, NULS students took nearly 160 exams across Verse & Prose, Acting and Public Speaking — with many working at least one grade above others their age, and a number of students impressively taking two exams in a single day. We now await the results and I’m sure they’ll be spectacular.

🌟  Kiru 🌟

A special mention this year must go to Kiru, who by the end of Year 12 will have completed Grade 8 in both Acting and Verse & Prose (both Level 3 A-Level equivalent qualifications), all with Distinctions. She’ll begin her PCert. LAM. Diploma in Year 13 — a rare opportunity. Bravo, Kiru!

👏Well Done All!👏

To every student who has walked into a LAMDA lesson this year — whether you performed in lessons, on stage, on camera, in an exam room or in front of your peers — you have grown, inspired, and made me, Mrs West and Miss Lovatt-Jones beyond proud. We can’t wait to see what next year holds.

Here’s to another unforgettable year of performance, passion and possibility – see you in September!

🎉 Well done, team LAMDA at NULS! 🎉

Mrs Jones 😊

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August, 2024

The Summer results have arrived and my students have really excelled themselves over this year. 94 Distinctions (some very high!) and 13 very high Merits with most taking at least 1 or 2 grades higher than their age and some taking 2 exams in one day, with exams from Entry Level up to Grade 8 & PCert.LAM. (Post-Grade 8 Diploma) Astounding! They really are a remarkable bunch of young people!! Congratulations all – I am a VERY proud teacher!

July, 2024

I’m still very proud of this review by the publishers of one of the 4 school musicals I directed and produced whilst at Edenhurst Prep School, “Pirates of the Curry Bean,” exactly 9 years ago in 2015 (whilst heavily pregnant!) which has just popped up on my Facebook memories. So much fun and many happy memories!

May, 2024

• A mark of 100% for Grade 3 at the age of only 9!!! A truly remarkable achievement. The Examiner reported that she is “a consummate interpreter and performer of literature” – superb! Massive congratulations to Ashni – I’m a very proud teacher!

April 2024

I am so incredibly proud of my pupil Avni who has *𝘄𝗼𝗻* LAMDA’s international poetry writing competition! This means that her poem has now been published in LAMDA’s newest anthology as part of the 2024-2029 Verse & Prose syllabus and will potentially be read and performed by over 100,000 learners per year all over the world as part of their LAMDA exam preparations…which is amazing! She’s an extremely talented performer who is an absolute joy to teach…and now she’s a published poet too! Congratulations Avni!

March 2024:

Many congratulations to former student Caitlin who is a lead member of the cast of “A Kind of Spark” (on the right in the picture below) which has been awarded the Royal Tevision Award for “Chilren’s Programme.” Congratulations Caitlin!

February 2024:

January 2024:

December 2023:

November 2023:

• Congratulations to Lizzie!

October 2023:

• Past pupil Caitlin Hamilton is currently filming series 2 of BBC’s “A Kind of Spark” as Nina (series lead). You can catch Series 1 of this ground-breaking drama for young people on BBC iPlayer. Congratulations Caitlin!

• Very proud of these superstars who will be treading the boards of the Regent Theatre stage later this month as The Artful Dodger and Charley Bates:

September 2023:

• Wishing all the best to my pupils heading off to University and Drama School this month! Read more about some of their destinations here: PAST PUPILS.

August 2023:

July 2023:

• It’s not every day you can say you have a pupil who is currently appearing in a record-breaking blockbuster movie! (Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie”.) Yes, it may be as a background role but it’s very, very cool – 80s Barbie is now definitely my favourite Barbie! Congratulations Emilia!

• Congratulations to Izzi who has secured a very well-deserved place at Guilford School of Acting, starting in September.

June 2023:

• Well done to all of my superstar performers in the NuLS Prep School Speech & Drama Showcase.

May 2023:

• Wishing the best of luck to two of my superstar students, Lavinia and Maia, who are performing in “Matilda the Musical” this week at the Stoke Repertory Theatre as Matilda and The Escapologist. I am very proud of them both and know they will both be amazing! Good luck girls!

April 2023:

• All top band DISTINCTIONS from the latest LAMDA Exam results in Acting, Verse Speaking and Public Speaking. Congratulations all!

March 2023:

• Just look at all these shiny 1st Place trophies my pupils were awarded at the Newcastle-under-Lyme Festival for Speech & Drama! 43 of my pupils took part and between them they secured an outstanding 16 3rd place awards,18 2nd places and 17 1st places in their categories. Well done to everybody who took part, you were all amazing!