Medway students do it again in national franchise awards
Students and their Principal came out on top for the second year running by winning the coveted Franchise of the Year Award at the recent Conference for the Dragons’ Den backed theatre school franchise.
The dedicated students, staff and Principal beat off stiff competition from almost 50 schools in the Razzamataz network, much to the delight of their Principal Hayley Limpkin, who has been running the school since September 2010.
“I’m totally blown away and exceptionally proud to be bringing this Award back to our school for the second year in a row,” says Hayley. “I have an incredible team of teachers, staff and supportive parents and it is their hard work and commitment that has allowed our students to thrive and achieve so much both nationally and locally.”
The Franchise of the Year Award is the much sought after award of the evening and the judges were looking for someone who shows above and beyond commitment. “The winner of this Award never fails to surprise us and the visions, values and beliefs that our winning school represents has created an environment where every one of their students and team flourish,” says Denise Hutton-Gosney, MD and Founder of Razzamataz. “Hayley and her team have an impeccable eye for detail and has the gift of sharing their experiences with our entire network in such an easy and approachable manner. No one can be in any doubt how passionate they are in creating the next generation of performers; you only need to see a snippet of one of their shows and you would think you were watching a Broadway blockbuster rather than a part time theatre school in Kent.”
The students at Razzamataz Medway have had an incredible year and the popularity of the part-time theatre school has grown so much that they now accommodate more than 400 children and young people across 20 classes.
“We are so proud of what our students are achieving, both from a confidence and new skills point of view and we are sure those that want to will go on to make their mark in the performing arts industry,” says Hayley. “We have had 100% success rate of students securing places at professional performing arts colleges and we know that this will grow now that we have introduced Razz Project Intense, exclusively for our students, to help prepare them in the right way for professional colleges and auditions. But even if the performing arts industry is not for them, they are learning crucial transferrable skills to take into any walk of life”
2016 was a year for wonderful performing opportunities for Razzamataz Medway students including on stage at Her Majesty’s Theatre in the West End, the Senior students were crowned Glee Club Champions at the Jack Petchey Glee Club Challenge at the Indigo02, students secured roles in professional pantos and they smashed the Kent Dance and Vocal Challenge taking 1st place in the Musical Theatre and Open Vocal categories.
As well as the achievements of the students, the judges looked in to what impact the school has made and were delighted to discover that Razzamataz Medway raised more than £1,706 for the Stroke Association and Razzamataz’s registered charity Future Fund through participating in many events including Tough Mudder where Hayley and her team crawled in mud, swam through icy waters and took on the electric shock obstacle.
