Founder Principal – Mrs. Varuni Jayasekara
FTCL, LTCL(Sp/Dr), LTCL(Eff/Sp), LTCL(TESOL), ALCM(Sp/Dr), Gold Medal LAM (Solo Acting), FLCM(Bible Reading), Cert G.S.M.D., LGSM(Verse Speaking), ALAM(Recital), FSTSD (UK)
History / Background
Mrs. Varuni Jayasekara having taken into consideration the importance of learning the English language and the value of acquiring effective Communication Skills from a very young age, commenced her teaching career in July 1980. Having conducted classes by herself till 1999, she decided to establish an Academy in 2000.
Mrs. Jayasekara has forty-three years of experience as a teacher of Speech and Drama, Spoken English, Public Speaking and allied subjects. She is the Principal of the Varuni Jayasekara Academy of Speech, Drama and Communication, and the Varuni Jayasekara Academy of English for Specific Purposes and is also the Executive Director of the Colombo Academy of Language Skills and Dramatic Art
She is a Fellow of the Trinity College of London and holds three Licentiates from the same College in the fields of Speech and Drama, Effective Speaking and in the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages. She has had overseas training with several experts in the field including Mrs. Susan Ford (Former Vice Principal-Guildhall School London), Prof. Andrew Wilkinson (Examiner for London College), Mrs. Julia Gabriel (Principal–Julia Gabriel Drama Centre), Mrs. Nora Wilkie (former Examiner for Guildhall School), Mrs. Doreen Fisher (former Chief Examiner for Trinity College London) and Mrs. Annette Elliott (former Examiner for the London Academy). In 1995 she attended a summer workshop in the United Kingdom conducted by the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and participated in Programmes associated with – Poise, Style and Movement in addition to Drama workshops for Juniors and Acting First Principles.
She served on the Panel of Speech Examiners of the Department of Education Sri Lanka from 1984 to 1992, on the Panel of Examiners of the Institute of Western Music and Speech from 1983 – 1999 and is currently on the panel of Examiners of the Colombo Academy of Language Skills and Dramatic Art from the year 2000. She has also been a Member of the Advisory Panel of the Trinity College of London, Sri Lanka Centre – from 1989 to 2018. She is the first and only candidate in Sri Lanka who was awarded a trophy in 1992 by the Sri Lanka Centre of the Trinity College of London, for having completed the highest diplomas of the College, in Speech and Drama, Effective Speaking and the Teaching of English as a Second Language.
Mrs. Jayasekara is also the Regional Representative of the Society of Teachers of Speech and Drama (STSD) UK. She was awarded a Fellowship in June 2017, which carries with it the prestigious post nominal letters ‘FSTSD’ following a unanimous vote of the Society’s Council as announced at the STSD Annual General Meeting in London, in February 2017. The Fellowship is ‘Awarded to members who have held Full or Associate membership of the Society for a minimum of seven years in appreciation of their valued services to further the aims and objectives of the Society beyond their individual membership, through their work in theatre or the world of teaching of speech, drama and communication. She has been a member of STSD since 1995 for over a period of 25 years.
She attended the STSD London Summer Conference Development Programme, held at the National Theatre, South Bank, London on Friday the 21st August 2015 under the auspices of the STSD, working with practitioners from the National Theatre on skills in Acting and Puppetry used in performance of the War Horse stage production and on Saturday 22nd August 2015 working with Voice, Movement and Text/Language with Globe Education practitioners and a Globe lecturer.