From Chalkboards to Curtain Calls

Andrew
22 hours ago
3 min read

The Story of Our School, Then and Now

This year marks 40 years of our business, and as we celebrate that milestone, we found ourselves reflecting on something just as meaningful — the building that has been our home for over 25 years.

Long before it echoed with music, laughter, applause and the nervous excitement before a show, this building began life as a formal village school.

Photo Credit: Newton Flotman Parish Council - taken around 1895 and shows Inez Trollope at the front door with one of the pupils in the porch, the other lady is Inez’s sister Edith. You can just make out the heads of some pupils at the windows in the extension on the right. Inez was head teacher and lived at the school between 1894-1904 occupying three rooms, maybe the room on the left and the one in the eves, which have curtains up, were two of the three rooms she occupied.

Built in 1865, it stood proudly as the National School of Newton Flotman — a place of discipline, routine and traditional learning. Children once sat at wooden desks, teachers lived within its walls, and education followed the strict rhythms of another era.

When we first walked through the doors in 1997/98, the building was tired. Time had taken its toll. The walls were worn, the rooms quiet, the energy dormant. But what we felt immediately was potential. History. A heartbeat still very much alive.

We didn’t just buy a building — we inherited a story.

Where pupils once learned their letters, young performers now find their voices. Where headteachers once lived and worked, children now rehearse, dream, create and belong. The same walls that once shaped traditional education now nurture confidence, creativity and courage.

Over the years, this place has transformed — not overnight, but lovingly, passionately, and with purpose. Every renovation, every coat of paint, every repaired floorboard was done with care.

We thought you'd like to see a few of the original renovation photos, because they tell an important part of the story too — how something rundown became something alive again.

Today, this isn’t just a theatre school.

Before you scroll through the renovation photos, there’s something we want you to know — ARTS has always been built on family.

The vision began with Janet, Vickie’s mum, whose belief in young people and the power of the arts planted the very first seed. When the opportunity came to give this old school a new future, it was Nigel, Vickie’s dad, who quite literally rolled up his sleeves — restoring, repairing and rebuilding a boarded-up, neglected building into a space where creativity could live again. And today, that same building is owned, run and lived in by Andrew and Vickie, alongside their three children Meredith, Harrison and Finley, who have grown up within these walls, surrounded by music, movement, stories and community.

That’s three generations, one vision, and a shared belief that young people flourish best in a place where they feel safe, supported and truly at home.

The photos that follow show more than bricks and plaster — they show the beginning of a transformation powered by love, dedication and family values.

Do you recognise any of the studios, doorways or windows? Looking back, it’s hard to imagine that the journey we’re on today started in these moments — empty rooms, big dreams, and a belief in what this place could become.

It’s a community.It’s a second home.It’s a place where young people are trusted, encouraged and celebrated.

We are proud to be Trusted by Families for 40 Years — and just as proud to say we are Not Just a Theatre School – A Community for 40 Years.

In the galleries and videos to follow, you’ll see the contrast for yourself: the past and the present sitting side by side. From historic photographs of pupils and teachers who walked these corridors more than a century ago, to the joy, talent and togetherness of the children who fill the space today.