Alumni

Welcome to our Alumni page where you can read all about some of the amazing success stories of our former pupils.

Millie

Looking back, my time at Sacred Heart Primary School holds such a special place in my heart. It truly laid the foundations for the person I’ve become today – both personally and professionally.

I loved every minute of being a Prefect and House Captain for Columbus (green). Those roles taught me leadership, teamwork, and responsibility from a young age – qualities that I still carry with me today. One of my favourite memories was representing the school at the grand opening of the Trim Trail as a Prefect – a proud and memorable moment!

It was at Sacred Heart that my passion for musical theatre first began. My Year 2 teacher introduced me to performing through Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, and from that moment I never stopped! I even stepped in last-minute for the school’s production of Zoom, where I played a turtle – a moment that taught me to be adaptable, confident, and always ready to take on a challenge.

The encouragement, creativity, and kindness nurtured at Sacred Heart carried me through my education and beyond. After leaving, I attended Cardinal Allen, where I went on to win a county competition in Creative Arts. From there, I was accepted into the Performance Preparation Academy (PPA) in Guildford, where I graduated with a First-Class Bachelor’s degree in Musical Theatre. I was represented professionally by PPA Agency, performing in pantomime and other productions – a dream that all began in that Year 2 classroom!

Later, I pursued a different path and joined the Enterprise Graduate Scheme, where I spent three years working my way up to Branch Manager, managing branches across Thornton, Blackpool, Preston, Blackburn, and Morecambe.

After that, I took time to see the world – travelling through Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Laos – an experience that broadened my horizons and shaped my outlook on life.

Today, I’m proud to call Vancouver, Canada, my home. For the past three years, I’ve worked at Zen Educate, an education recruitment company originally from the UK that I’ve helped expand into the United States. As Recruiting Manager, I lead a team supporting schools in San Francisco, Sacramento, and the Inland Empire, helping to connect paraprofessionals (teacher aides) with roles supporting children with special educational needs.

I absolutely love what I do, and I know that so much of my success and joy in life can be traced back to the foundations built at Sacred Heart – the encouragement to perform, to lead, to care for others, and to dream big.

Sacred Heart didn’t just teach me – it inspired me. For that, I’ll always be grateful.

Halle

Some of my favourite memories from primary school will always stay with me: baking cakes in the last week of term, the egg and spoon race on Sports Day, and the excitement of the school disco. I absolutely LOVED being part of Miss Darville’s drama shows, especially Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and I’ll never forget winning a prize from her back in Year 1! I remember school always being a safe, warm place to be as a child.

Since leaving school, I’ve gone on to study Law, Psychology and Criminology, achieving two A-levels and a Level 3 Diploma. At 19, I opened my own salon offering a range of aesthetic and beauty treatments, which has been one of my proudest achievements.

Sacred Heart was warm, innocent, and a place where I always felt safe. I made so many friends there – friends I’m still best friends with now, almost 10 years later. Those memories will forever mean a lot to me.

Chloe

I really enjoyed my time at Sacred Heart. I first moved to Sacred Heart in Year 1 where i was met with love and comfort from both staff and pupils. Throughout my time, I gained a strong passion for children and showed an interest in becoming a teacher. I took part in the yearly productions resulting in my role of “Aladdin” in Year 6. I made some really good friends at Sacred Heart -friends i still have to this day- including the “Jasmine” to my “Aladdin”. I now attend Blackpool Sixth Form college studying Photography, Graphic Design and RE. I am a Christian and gave my life to Christ 3 September 2023. I still have the same immense passion for children and volunteer at a camp each year to teach children about Jesus. My claim to fame is still my role of “Aladdin” in my year 6 production and my role as “Wendy” in Peter Pan in Year 5. I believe through love, support and care Sacred Heart helped to mould me into the person I am today. I am forever grateful to Sacred Heart.

Leonie

At Sacred Heart, I started my journey in drama with the wizard of Oz, where I played the witch’s cat! It was my first big speaking role and, almost as expected, I forgot my lines onstage during a performance and made the promise to never do that ever again. It was an amazing experience overall but the feeling of forgetting what I’m doing onstage really stuck with me, so now I’m much better at learning and remembering lines!

Later at Sacred Heart I was the young girl in Matilda, a child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a Narrator in Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, and finally Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins. I was thrilled to have a leading role and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! My acting journey at Sacred Heart, as well as my love for English literature was nourished my Miss Darville. She was such a key figure in guiding me through these creative topics, and truly a huge reason as to why I continued to pursue both at a higher level!

Thanks to this love for performing and writing, I gained interests in Film and media, choreography, directing and many more branches of these industries. Upon joining Rossall in high school I was back at the youngest end of the school, and played a napkin in Beauty and the Beast! Going all the way back to being one of the little ones really taught me how every role is so important, and I had a wonderful time in the ensemble! I was once again in Mary Poppins in a small production in school, playing Jane, which was a lovely full circle moment for me, however it was in the following year where I played young Linda in a non-musical production of Blood Brothers where I found a joy in acting in a play rather than a musical. Following this I played the Ghost of Christmas present in A Christmas Carol, and then Juror 8 in 12 Angry men! Having such a big role with so many lines was a real challenge, as well as considering the wider context of the piece as it is such a topical and complex play, but I had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the challenges all around!

Following this, the school went back to putting on large musicals, and I was lucky enough to play Maria in West Side Story, Velma Kelly in Chicago and Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes! These roles really challenged me vocally and physically, and I developed so much as a performer through rehearsing them, and learning different styles of performance through each one!

In Sixth form, I took English Literature and a BTEC in Performing Arts: Musical Theatre, where I thrived! I gained an A* in English Literature and found a love for Dystopian fiction in the process, looking at authors such as George Orwell and Margaret Atwood, and Playwrites such as Henrik Ibsen! I achieved a Distinction*, Distinction in my BTEC, over a variety of modules and assessments, such as; a 3 essay paper where I discussed West Side Story and Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet; our acting through song module where I performed Heaven on their minds from Jesus Christ Superstar, She used to be mine from Waitress, Cabaret from Cabaret, and I get a kick from Anything Goes; and our final performance module where I played Jamie in The Last Five Years! Getting to advance my knowledge of theatre practice through the study of Stanislavski and music theory really helped me become a far better artisan, and developing my craft to ready myself for the next step was so useful once I reached university level!

I also delivered a TEDX talk on “Fantastic Mr Fox and what it means to be a human being”, which is available to view on the official TEDX channel, as well as being chosen to perform in a staged reading of a new play titled Stars by Abbie White as part of the 32 Plays project by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Outside of School I performed in West Side Story again as Maria with Lytham Acadeny of Theatre Arts, and Carrie as Margaret with Fylde Coast Youth Theatre!

I am now studying American Theatre Arts at Rose Bruford College in London, where I get to indulge in both my love of English literature and performing! We look at American History and Psychology, putting the plays we study into their historical and social contexts. We did a module on directing, where I performed in 3 scenes from classic American Plays by classic American playwrights such as Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, in roles such as Rodolfo from A View From The Bridge, Bobby from Small Craft Warnings and the Stage Manager in Our Town. I was also selected to join the third year final production of “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”, as a member of the company, which is my first professional credit!

I have also now performed in my first Camden Fringe show as Spark in The Bitter Pill, a new jukebox musical by Adrien Rosza! Getting to go to drama school in London, and being a part of so much amazing theatre has been a dream come true, and I can’t wait to start second year, and get ready for my semester in America as part of my third year! I do hope this isn’t the last you see of my name.

Lydia

When I was at primary school, I loved being involved in sport. I was on lots of teams, including football, cricket, rounders, netball, athletics, tennis and rugby. Being given the chance to try so many different sports helped me find out what I enjoyed and what I was good at.

Now I am at Cardinal Allen High School, and I am proud to be on the A teams for football, netball, rounders, cricket, basketball, rugby and athletics. Our football team has been especially successful, as in Year 7 and Year 8 we reached the regional finals. I am also a member of Thornton-Cleveleys Football Club, where I have won many trophies during my time there.

I believe that my success in sport today is because of the encouragement and support I received at Sacred Heart. All of the staff believed in me and always encouraged me to join clubs and try my best. This is how I started to enjoy sport so much and gained confidence.

I will always be thankful to Sacred Heart for helping me grow and believe in myself.

Paul

I have some truly wonderful memories of my time at Sacred Heart, back when the school was still located in the old building on Crabtree Road. School life back then certainly kept us on our toes! I distinctly remember our teachers having us run from Crabtree Road all the way around the school perimeter as our regular exercise.

One of my favourite memories involves the school football team. Our coach at the time happened to be the Mayor of Thornton. On one particular occasion, we were scheduled to play an away match against Stanah. Due to a lack of available transport, all twelve of us piled into his single car to get to the game!

Beyond the adventures, Sacred Heart gave me friendships that have lasted a lifetime. I met my best friend on our very first day in Reception class. We grew up together, and we even had the absolute honour of serving as the Best Man at each other’s weddings.

Sacred Heart has always remained close to my family. Not only did my son, Bailey, attend the school, but I was also privileged to serve as a Church Governor from 2012 to 2015.

During my time on the governing body, I was immensely proud to help bring the additional outdoor classroom in the grounds to life. I also assisted in installing the gold signage that proudly welcomes pupils, staff, and visitors to the school to this day.

Where Life Has Taken Me

Today, I serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance 4 Children. My work is dedicated to making the lives of children, young people, and families better across the UK. We campaign for better public health, social justice, and digital safety for the next generation, working alongside politicians and policymakers at the highest levels to drive systemic change.

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Bailey

One of my favourite memories from Sacred Heart was being involved in a range of sports, in particular the Tag Rugby Tournament I attended in Year 3. It was one of my favourite experiences at primary school and rugby in general.

My passion for rugby has lived with me ever since then. At 16-18 I was a part of Sale Sharks Rugby Academy and now, at 20, I have just signed a semi-professional contract with Sheffield Tigers for the upcoming season alongside my studies at the University of Nottingham.

I’ve also been lucky enough to travel the world playing rugby I have now played in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand & Cook Islands as well as at home in the UK.

I will always be grateful to all at Sacred Heart for my time there which shaped me as a person and look back on my memories with a smile!