Dear Parents and Students

We look forward to seeing our students for an exciting and creative Term 3 from 13 July!

Read here about our latest STUDIO AWARD, history-making EISTEDDFOD RESULTS, class learning, project and casting updates, student achievements, FREE LESSON FRIDAY 17 July 6:30pm and more!

 

Student Learning and class achievements!

Across all classes, students have been working diligently toward both individual and group goals, with a continued focus on building confidence, communication skills, and performance ability.

It has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm in engaging with class activities, literature, and discussions. Students are also developing important social skills through collaboration, active listening, and effective communication with both peers and mentors.

The mentoring team and I are extremely proud of the progress each class has made including preparing items for eisteddfods and performances.

We look forward to continuing to support and extend student learning next term, with further opportunities to develop performance skills, confidence, and a love of acting and drama in a positive and encouraging environment.

Our Latest Award!

 

🎭 We are thrilled to announce that our studio has been awarded Best Youth Performing Arts School 2026– Brisbane 🎭

This recognition follows our 2025 State Award and our achievement as Queensland’s Most Empowering Performing Arts School for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024.

We are deeply honoured to receive this international recognition, reflecting nearly 20 years of dedication to youth arts education and the incredible community that has grown with us.

In addition to this incredible accolade, in 2025 we were invited to become a worldwide Showcase School for Trinity College London based on over a decade of collectively high exam results.

 

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our studio and to the Private Education Awards committee for this honour.

Read more about our award here!

Eisteddfod Results!

Congratulations to all students who participated in the 55th Wynnum Manly Speech and Drama Eisteddfod! 👏👏👏

Performers scored highly and placed extremely well across all sections with high marks and lots of places.

3 of the 4 CHAMPIONSHIPS were won by our incredible performers – What an achievement!!!

🏆 Emmeline Le, Junior Speech and Drama Champion

🏆 Hannah Wecker, Runner-up Junior Speech and Drama Champion

🏆 Lulu Thompson, Runner-up Senior Speech and Drama Champion

Many performers competed across multiple sections including character, improvisation, mime, verse and public speaking. They showed confidence, professionalism and wonderful grace on and off stage.

Well done to all solo performers and groups for your positive attitudes, kindness and dedication shown throughout the competition. Thank you to parents and friends for your encouragement and support 🙏🙌

Group and solo improvisation sections were a comedy highlight with our teams taking to the stage with topics  like “it’s final”.  Our Junior Team placed 1^st and Senior team placed 3^rd. Well done to Anthia Manolis, Hannah Wecker and Ellora Lowe (Juniors) and Hannah Cross, Fern McAnna and Lucy Poulsen (Seniors).

It’s incredible to witness such personal growth, both in the classroom and on stage – well done to all students – we are all very proud of you! Keep working hard!  Next stop – Murwillumbah, Brisbane, QUOTA, Gold Coast and Redlands!  Check out more here! 

 

Well Done Emmeline – Champion and Special Award Recipient!

In addition to being awarded Junior Speech and Drama Champion, our talented Emmeline was also honoured with a Special Achievement Award!

 

At only 7 years old, Emmeline won 7 Gold medals and one bronze and was awarded the following: highest mark set poem 12 and Under; highest mark humorous verse or prose 12 years and under; Highest mark Australian poem 12 years and under, Encouragement Award 6-7 years, eisteddfod Special Achievement Award and Junior Champion! WOW!  Congratulations to Emmeline for her dedication, hard work and enjoyment of performing.

 

Congratulations Bella!

Bella received recognition for her state-topping Trinity College London examination results at Parliament house in June. She performed a humorous selection from Roald Dahl in front of a live audience, who enjoyed a fabulous show! Well done Bella for this exceptional achievement.  We look forward to your future performances!

 

Commercial Campaign – in Postproduction

This term, our students have been involved in a range of projects including live performances, training programs, commercials, auditions and advertising campaigns.

AEROKIT Medical Commercial

Our recent campaign is post-production and is due to be screened in Australia and America later this year.  Eight students successfully auditioned and were cast, delivering outstanding work on set. We received excellent feedback from the industry team, and we are incredibly proud of our students’ professionalism.

We look forward to sharing more details once the project is released. Here are some photos of the cast on set at a ‘school excursion’, filmed on location in the picturesque ranges of Tamborine. More exciting opportunities are on the way!

Well done to Andrew, Clara, Hannah, Lily, Lucy, Lulu, Meena and Will!

 

State and Federal Police Professional Projects

This year we have been working with local and federal police on community initiatives, police training and child protection and safety on both live and filmed campaigns. Our most recent project wrapped shooting this week and centred on youth cyber safety and social media.

Our current campaigns and philanthropic endeavours demonstrate our ongoing commitment to child protection, and advocacy of child safety in all settings.  We are looking forward to furthering our work in this area and hope that more students will participate when the project brief criteria is met.

More to come!

Current Projects and Casting

I’m pleased to share that many students have been cast in industry projects this year, including both live and filmed performances, commercials, campaigns and more.

Our studio has also secured several exclusive industry projects this term, creating valuable opportunities for our students.

Students will continue to be invited to audition for professional projects as casting opportunities arise. I will be in touch when students meet specific casting briefs and have the required training and experience for consideration.

Advanced Acting Workshop

Well done to all students who participated in our Advanced Acting Workshop on 14 June. Everyone is now industry ready with a collection of professional headshots and lifestyle photography.  Meisner dramatic acting techniques, comedic physical theatre (Shakespeare), text deconstruction (visual and written) and critical thinking took centre stage as our diligent participants engaged in a series of activated designed to extend skills and spark conversation and metacognition.

Open Classroom Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our Theatre Sports and Comedy open classroom.

We had some AMAZING audience contributions to our evening including topic suggestions and parent performances. Thank you to Marina van der Graaf and Danae Younger for volunteering to perform with your children!  look forward to even more audience participation at the next one! 

Thanks to our Lead Mentor, Will and Team Captain, Charlee for your constant support of our pupils.

Eisteddfods 2026

This year our students will participate in the Wynnum, Murwillumbah, QUOTA, Brisbane, Gold Coast Eisteddfods. Entries for these have now closed. Redlands Eisteddfod Entries close 15 July. For those interested in participating, please contact me for recommendations and further information regarding entries, performance requirements and closing dates (if you have not already done so).

Students Absences

Please notify me via email for student absences. Unwell children must stay home until recovered. We thank you for your ongoing understanding and support. Although we are not obligated to provide make-up lessons due to student absences, I make every effort to accommodate student learning and offer alternative arrangements and classes where possible, especially if notified in advance of the absence. 

We also offer FREE classes, lesson extensions and one-off workshops occasionally to enrolled students so lookout for my email invitations. 

FREE CLASS 17 July

Our first FREE CLASS for Term 3 is Friday evening, 17 July 6:30-7:30pm at the studio!  All ages welcome. More info to come!

Enrolment is Ongoing for 2026

Enrolment is ongoing for the year unless I’m notified in writing, with two-weeks term-time notice required to cancel enrolment.  Thank you to those parents who contacted me prior to the end of term with class amendments and additions.  

Parental Consent

Please be reminded that our conditions of enrolment are readily available via our enrolment form and are attached with each invoice you receive. We have updated the front page of our enrolment form to make our filming and consent clause more prominent. Many lessons involve documenting student learning and progress through filming and photography for submissions, publication, advertising and social media use.  Should you have any queries, I invite you to contact me.

Term Dates

Our studio will be closed for the Winter holiday break from Monday 29 June to Monday 13 July, when Term 3 commences. Emails received during the break will be responded to when Term 3 commences.  There is no workshop scheduled over this holiday break.

 

Term 3 Monday 13 July – Saturday 19 September (10 Weeks)

Term 4 Tuesday 6 October – Saturday 5 December (9 Weeks)

Student Feedback and Progress

I and the team am more than happy to provide student feedback at any time.  I encourage you to check in with me during the term regarding your child’s progress and with any queries you may have.  Email is my best method of contact. Often our studio schedule can be hectic with classes, rehearsals and industry work and, when possible, I enjoy the opportunity to speak face-to-face before or after classes. 

I and the team look forward to a productive and fun Term 3 from 13 July full of supportive teamwork, performances and achievements! We hope your children continue to enjoy their training, classes and friendships!

Kind regards,

Marianna and the Studio Team