Pupils at St Ives School in Haslemere are celebrating some outstanding London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) results in speech and drama and musical theatre.

LAMDA speech and drama exams start at basic level and culminate at Grade 8.

St Ives is celebrating a 100 per cent pass rate in speech and drama, of which 91 per cent of pupils were awarded distinction. In musical theatre, 100 per cent of pupils gained distinction.

At St Ives, 88 per cent of pupils study speech and drama or musical theatre, and some pupils study both.

Pupils perform throughout the year at St Ives in concerts and assemblies, and in the summer term every pupil from Year 3 to Year 6 performs in a whole-school production which runs over several nights. Last year’s was Bugsy.

St Ives School’s strength in the arts was recognised in The Week magazine’s guide to the UK’s leading prep schools as a contender for the ‘Best for Art and Creativity’ award.

Kay Goldsworthy, the headteacher at St Ives, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with these phenomenal results which are a clear reflection of the talent of our fabulous teacher, Katie Nicholls, and the hard work of our children.

“One of our school mottos is ‘happy children make the best learners’ and this is certainly clear from these results.

“Our children love performing and the benefits of these lessons reach far beyond the classroom, giving them self-confidence, excellent communication skills and a brilliant imagination.”