Theatre’s “capacity to unlock the very best in a child” - Horsham group

And for Horsham Stagecoach at Castlewood Primary School, Southwater, it’s also time for a new principal with Catherine Tracey who took over last autumn following many years working as a performer, teacher in arts education and as an agent in the industry.

Catherine began her theatrical education as a child in Eastbourne where she was heavily involved in theatre and community arts. Having spent a stint as a student at Stagecoach Eastbourne, she is entirely at home in the Stagecoach family, she says. It was here that her love for the performing arts caught fire and set her on a career path.

Catherine went on to train at the Guildford School of Acting, graduating after three years with a first-class honours degree in musical theatre. She then went on to work as a performer in many genres, including the Edinburgh Festival, UK tours, appearing in BBC drama Our Girl and pantomime playing the lead in panto down the road at The Hawth Theatre, Crawley a few years back, where she played Cinderella opposite Stephen Mulhern’s Buttons. Her journey then took a different turn, working as a theatrical agent for a top West End agency, representing actors in theatre, film, television, radio and commercials.

Throughout her career so far, the one constant, she says, has been working with children and young people in arts education. Catherine has been a Stagecoach teacher since the age of 19, teaching at schools all over London and the south-east, notably spending five very happy years as the singing and early stages teacher at Stagecoach New Malden. All of which has led her to her new home, Stagecoach Horsham.

Catherine says she is “hugely passionate about using performing arts, not just to develop students’ technical skills, but also to nurture their confidence and social skills. I have seen first-hand the transformative effects of theatre and performing in young people and its capacity to unlock the very best in a child. Not all students who come along to our classes will end up as the next West End stars, although no doubt we have a fair few budding performers amongst us! But all children will grow up needing confidence and self-worth. Here we are teaching children not only to sing, act and dance, but also to be their best unfiltered selves, encouraging them to truly flourish! As the Stagecoach maxim declares, it’s creative courage for life. Stagecoach has been established now for 31 years – as old as me! And it really is the gold standard formula. Excellent classes run by experienced and engaging professionals, with a huge dollop of fun thrown in! Students between the ages of 6 and 18 get to split three hours between singing, drama and dance, and our younger students in our Early Stages classes get to combine all three disciplines in a 90-minute class - the perfect introduction to a theatrical life! We will work towards an all-singing, all-dancing end of term show with both age groups. It promises to be a really exciting term.”

Visit www.stagecoach.co.uk/horsham or call 07774891553.