SACRED HEART’S RSC YOUNG AMBASSADORS TAKE PART IN ANNUAL TRAINING
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Young Ambassadors here in Newcastle, have had another busy and successful year. Launched in October 2024, the programme brought together 16 creative and talented Year 9 students, each of whom had previously taken part in RSC-related projects and were keen to deepen their involvement.
Now in Year 10, our Ambassadors play a vital role in promoting a love of Shakespeare’s work across our school. They have become well known advocates for the continuing relevance and enjoyment of Shakespeare’s plays. As part of their journey, this month our ambassadors took part in bespoke training delivered through the RSC Associate Schools Programme. On Monday 27th April, we welcomed Ian Wainwright into school to deliver a day of training focused on what it means to be a leader and the key qualities needed to represent the RSC. The Ambassadors also worked hard on the Playmaking Festival’s chosen Shakespearian play for this year, The Tempest. This will be performed at Northern Stage on the 3rd of July 2026, by all the Associate Schools in the region.
It was a truly inspiring experience, and all students returned to school with renewed purpose, wearing their Ambassador badges with great pride. This training helped them build essential skills in leadership, communication, teamwork, and creative thinking skills that are not only vital for their work as Ambassadors but will also benefit them across all areas of school life and future opportunities. They all came up with some great ideas, like an RSC Magazine or Blog, and a Shakespeare flash mob.
This year we also had the privilege to develop and expand our Northeast Ambassadors programme by inviting 12 students from Kenton School to our annual training at Sacred Heart. Students from both schools worked well together and developed cross-team collaboration and co-operation skills, developing the ability to work with new people, while supporting each other. We hope with this positive step, the Ambassador Programme continues to grow and develop.
As we look ahead to the summer term, rehearsals for the Playmaker Festival are now in full swing.
The Ambassadors, alongside other students, are preparing for what promises to be a fantastic celebration of Shakespeare’s work at our theatre partner, Northern Stage. With the success of the Ambassadors’ opening address last year, they will be back again bigger than before to make sure the audience are fully informed about the play and that all students involved in the festival are having fun.
Back at school, our English Department have just recently put an event on for Shakespeare’s birthday on the 23rd of April and are preparing for its annual Shakespeare Day. We know our ambassadors will be eager to take part and support younger students once again.
We are incredibly proud of everything our RSC Young Ambassadors have achieved this year and last. Their energy, dedication, and leadership have had a real impact on our school community, we can’t wait to see how this programme develops in the coming years.
