Sylvia Young (born 1939 in Hackney, London, England) is the founder and principal of

Sylvia Young Theatre School Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent school in Marble Arch, London, England. It is a specialist performing arts school named after its founder and principal, Sylvia Young OBE. Outline The Sylvia Young Theatre School was founded in 19 ...

in London, England.

Sylvia Young Theatre School

Young founded her theatre school in 1981 in

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

, London, before moving to its current

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

premises in 1983. The school is co-educational and provides a combination of academic and vocational classes for children aged 10 to 16 years. The academic curriculum encompasses

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

, while the vocational curriculum teaches acting, dance and music. Many SYTS students have gone on to become successful in the performing arts world, including

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; Denise Van Outen;

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; former Spice Girl

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;

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star

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;

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;

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;

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;

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member

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; Busted bassist

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;

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member Vanessa White; and

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member

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. The film ''

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'' features an SYTS pupil, Jemma McKenzie-Brown.

Family

Young married Norman Ruffell in Hackney, London, in 1961 and has two children, actresses

Frances Ruffelle Frances Ruffelle (born 29 August 1965) is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She won a Tony Award in 1987, and represented the United Kingdom in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)", ...

and Alison Ruffelle. Young's granddaughter is pop singer

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Styles and honours

She was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in December 1998 when she was surprised by

Michael Aspel Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television presenter and newsreader. He hosted programmes such as '' Crackerjack!'', '' Ask Aspel'', ''Aspel & Company'', '' Give Us a Clue'', '' This Is Your Life'', '' Strange ...

at the Sylvia Young Theatre School. Young was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

) in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

List of 2005 for her services to the arts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Sylvia 1939 births Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Sylvia Young Theatre School People from Hackney, London