Year 9 pupils win prestigious national prize for Drama

Six of our budding Year 9 Drama pupils have just won a highly-respected award for their performance of a specially-written musical, called Next! 

The performance, which formed part of the 2026 Independent Schools Association (ISA) Drama Awards, involved our talented Year 9 group of girls beat off competition from leading acting and drama schools such as ArtsEd and LVS Ascot. The sketch was scripted by Mr. Manning and featured the song 'Six' from the musical of the same name. It was brilliantly choreographed by Jemimah Year 9 and the combination of music and drama clearly impressed the judges who commented that “The ensemble work and chorus sections were particularly strong, and movement around the space was fluid and purposeful”.

Equally impressive was the Honourable mention awarded to Spencer, Year 11, in the Individual performance category for the quality of his acting in ‘Bouncers’. In their piece, directed by Mr Smith, our three Year 11 boys acted alongside other students from Year 13. What an achievement!

Mr Burnett, Head of Drama at Thames Christian School, said: “With the support of a committed and dedicated drama department, our students have come away with this fabulous award.  We are thrilled for them and hope it will inspire them to continue deepening and developing their acting and performance skills”. He added: “Drama plays a central role in the life of our school with many students keen to develop their performance skills in plays and musicals”.