So said Mamma Mia! star Ashley Lilley in a speech to pupils at Rothesay Academy's annual prize giving on Friday.

Ashley, whose "lucky break", in her own words, came when she landed the part of friend and bridesmaid Ali in the smash hit film version of the West End musical, was invited back to her old school to present certificates and trophies to the school's best performers and biggest contributors from the 2008-09 session.

And despite a set of Standard Grade results which Ashley herself described only as "okay", she had plenty of useful advice for the Academy's current crop of students and for what they might choose to do once they leave the school.

"Someone said to me once that I got to this stage because I didn't play it safe," she said.

"I thought about it – about what safe would have been. Safe would have been agreeing with other people that me auditioning for drama school in London was a ridiculous idea, because I'd never get in.

"Safe would have been agreeing with other people that moving to London, alone, at the age of 15 was an utterly ridiculous idea because I was too young and wouldn't manage.

"Safe would have been agreeing with other people that being an actor as an actual job was an utterly ridiculous idea because getting anywhere in that type of job doesn't happen to people like me.

"Safe would have been listening to the voice in my head that told me to quit sometimes.

"I've sort of decided that being safe? It's nice, it's not scary – but it's not exciting.

"If you're willing to step out of playing it safe, you can do and achieve anything you want. You can be anything you want to be."

And Ashley wasn't the only actor to attend – and to speak – at Friday's ceremony. Also present was David Hayman, best known for his role as Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Walker in the ITV drama Trial and Retribution, but attending as one of the founders of Spirit Aid, the chosen charity of Rothesay Joint Campus.

David, who was presented with a cheque for £4,477 – the total amount raised for Spirit Aid at the campus during the 2008-09 session – by outgoing Academy captains Jennifer Lyon and Stewart Bicker, told the pupils they should consider themselves "heroes" for the amount of work they had done for the charity and its attempts to improve the lives of children affected by poverty in the UK and Malawi.

"I'm extremely excited about our relationship with Rothesay Joint Campus," he said.

"Through your endeavours you are feeding eight hundred children a day in the town of Milonde; you have enabled us to set up a youth centre, we have opened a training workshop for women, and we have a team going out to Malawi this summer.

"You have transformed the lives of this small community. I don't believe there is any other school in Scotland that has achieved so much in so short a time.

"The world needs heroes, and this school is full of them."

The school's principal prize winners for 2008-09 were as follows.

The Thomson Exhibition Award and Gilmour Trophy, and the Bute Charitable Trust Prize for information systems – Alasdair Johnston.

The Thomson Gold Medal and Rothesay Academy Prize for mathematics, the John McKinnon Prize for art and design (sponsored by Bute Blacksmiths), the Rothesay Academy Prize for History (sponsored by Print Point) – Rachel Maitland.

The Thomson Gold Medal and Rothesay Academy Memorial Prize for French – Stewart Hogarth.

The Thomson Gold Medal and Rothesay Academy Memorial Prize for English – Callum McCartney.

The Colin Stirling Memorial Trophy for the best all-round sportsperson (sponsored by Caledonian MacBrayne) – Alastair Storrie.

The Golden Jubilee Cup and Prize for home economics (sponsored by the Bute Federation SWRI) – Sarah Murdoch.

The Duncan Wilson Memorial Trophy and Prize for best artwork of the year (sponsored by Caledonian MacBrayne) – Michelle O'Donnell.

The Citizenship Prize (sponsored by Lloyds TSB Scotland) – Alex Stokes.

The Leadership Prize (sponsored by the Rotary Club of Rothesay) – Jennifer Lyon and Stewart Bicker.

The Rothesay Academy Prize for administration – Jennifer Lyon.

The James Bicker Prize for physical education – Stewart Bicker.

The Telecom Service Centres Prize for business management – Jilly Thomson.

The Rothesay Academy Prize for practical craft skills (sponsored by W. & J. Duncan) – Jamie Steele.

The Rothesay Academy Prize for graphics (sponsored by The Bike Shed) – Lachlan Lewis-Smith.

The James S. Miller Memorial Prize for biology (sponsored by Mrs McKirdy) – Michaella Howard.

The Bute Charitable Trust Prize for music – Aaron Cameron.

The Rothesay Academy Prize for physics – Eilidh McArthur.

The Bute Charitable Trust Prize for chemistry (joint) – Rachael McKellar and Erin McMillan.