FRENSHAM HEIGHTS ARTS AWARDS

Amanda first came part-time to Frensham Heights whilst working as a professional Theatre Director and Drama Specialist. Having graduated from Royal Holloway University of London with a BA (Hons) in Drama and Theatre Studies, she worked extensively as a performer, director and writer for the stage, and behind the scenes as Production Designer for film and TV before becoming a teacher. She is an international award winning Face Paint and Special Effects make-up artist and was the Artistic Director for the London Borough of Hillingdon, taking their Our Town project to the Millennium Dome. As the Drama specialist for Waverley Borough Council, Amanda initiated and ran many projects within schools, youth organisations and geographical locations within the borough, including work on the Dream Party project alongside BAFTA nominated producer and director Lawrence Till. Amanda also worked as a writer and performer with the collective Words Allowed, and co-wrote a short film script for the Bristol based Jubilant Creations. As well as teaching, she has also worked extensively with young people in the Performing Arts across the South East as Director of Youth Theatre and creative project leader. Amanda believes that every student should have access to Drama and performance opportunities, and she enjoys working both within the curriculum and on extra-curricular projects across the school.

Inspired by ground-breaking and non-traditional theatre, Amanda’s extensive knowledge of performance styles and genres has opened up challenging and exciting opportunities for student performance. She has introduced students to Immersive theatre, and senior school students have worked on site-specific, immersive productions in locations across the school campus as well as within the theatre. Co-written with students from Years 7-13, “The House on Heaven’s Hill” took over the school’s original Edwardian building, Main House, and returned it to a military hospital as it would have appeared in 1915, with every item of set, props and costume creating an authentic experience for an audience to explore.  Amanda’s experimental Traverse staging of George Orwell’s 1984 was praised as a “brilliant production” by Michael Radford, the Director of the original 1984 film starring John Hurt, and her Senior School production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream saw an audience seated at picnic tables, complete with traditional 1950’s food and drink, in an auditorium transformed into a forest.

During Amanda’s time as Head of Drama at Frensham Heights she has organised residential trips for students to experience a wide variety of Performing Arts, including puppetry in Prague, Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and a week-long intensive physical theatre project with Complicite in a French Chateau! She has also created a Senior Actors’ Company and worked on biannual projects with students to write and produce new theatre to take to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2018 The Scotsman called Amanda’s production of Going Underground “cleverly written….(the characters) brought to life with maturity and compassion”. Although Covid put a temporary stop to the Edinburgh Fringe project, Amanda is planning to revisit this as soon as possible.

Amanda has enjoyed working as an Examiner for Performing Arts qualifications, and visiting schools and colleges across the south of England. While many of her students have gone on to enjoy high profile careers as performers and directors, she also believes firmly in the value of Performing Arts as a broader tool for success and self-confidence.

Ashley studied at Medway College of Art and Design, now University for the Creative Arts. He built a career combining teaching with making. In 2001 Ashley studied for his Masters at the Royal College of Art. He has published articles on technical and aesthetic subjects. Ashley has exhibited, demonstrated and lectured all over the world, spending considerable time on solo and collaborative projects in Japan and China. His achievements on the national and international stages are recognised though his membership of the International Academy for Ceramics. Ashley is represented by JJ Rawlin.  www.ashleyhoward.co.uk

Clare has been a part of the Performing Arts team at Frensham Heights since 2008, alongside teaching she has been a part of many school productions over the years which offer the opportunity to every child in the school to be a part of this thriving department. In her time here she has been part of the boarding team as Assistant House Mistress and the middle school team as Assistant Head of Middle School - as well as leading PSME contributing to the pastoral life of the school. Most recently Clare has introduced the BTEC L2 Performing Arts course to the school curriculum. Following a BA (Hons) in Performing Arts (Acting), Clare spent two years working as a professional actor and singer both nationally and internationally.

Having completed a PGCE in Secondary Drama in 2004 Clare worked both in the secondary schools and FE collages getting experience teaching on many different courses before joining Frensham.

Clare came to Frensham to continue her studies as she explored Shakespeare in education across year groups N-13. She completed her MA in Shakespearean Theatre from The Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 2010 and went on to complete her Shakespearean acting training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in 2011.

Clare has always had a love of theatre and performance art.  Through studying it and experiencing it all her life, her faith in drama as a subject and as a social tool has grown from strength to strength. To teach drama is to develop a critical awareness, develop an understanding of social contexts, as an expression of culture, and appreciation of acting as a craft.

Alongside teaching and raising her young family, she is still a keen actor, appearing regularly locally in various performances with a much loved local amateur dramatics company.

James studied Music at Exeter University where he developed specialisms in choral conducting and musical theatre. He held the posts of Senior Choral Scholar at the University Chapel, sang with the university’s foremost chamber choir, Cantores, and won an exceptional Festival Judges’ Commendation for his musical direction of Guys and Dolls at the National Student Drama Festival. Since then, he has played keyboards in productions including Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors and The Phantom of the Opera and won several National Operatic and Dramatic Awards for musical direction, most notably for Jekyll and Hyde and Fiddler on the Roof.  James has worked as a music educator for over twenty years and served on the Schools’ Advisory Group for the Surrey Music Hub as well as the Guildford Area Committee for the Royal School of Church Music. He continues to sing with the Cantores Early Music Chamber Choir, plays keys in a function band and is Musical Director for Yateley Choral Society.

Kat studied Musical Theatre at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester where she specialised in singing, acting and dancing. She quickly discovered her passion for directing, writing and applied theatre and after working as a performer, Kat began her teaching career with a hunger to work with young people, direct youth performances and bring drama & theatre to the wider community. Since completing her PGCE with Manchester Metropolitan University, she has worked with young people across the country in Manchester, London and Sussex and directed a vast array of productions involving full-scale musicals, plays and physical theatre installations. Kat has studied with Frantic Assembly and favours the physical and political genres that theatre has to offer. However, when in the director’s chair, likes to sink her teeth into both realism and non-naturalistic performances utilising choral work. Kat has had a broad and varied teaching career, in addition to being Head of Drama, she has also been a Careers Coordinator and worked as a consulting Careers and Fundraising Officer with ‘Future Leaders’ in association with London Mayor & Queen Mary University. 

Neil has worked at Frensham Heights since 2018 and gained his post graduate certificate in education whist working here. His main role is as the DT technician but he also teaches DT and Art. Having studied Fine Art at Byam Shaw School of Art (now part of Central St Martins) and briefly living as a full time artist in East London, Neil enjoys helping students explore the possibilities of materials and processes, using them to help the student push their creative limits.  He is also a passionate advocate for the importance of drawing in all creative areas, not only as a process leading to a final piece in another medium, but also as a means of expression in itself. As such Neil teaches life drawing to students in years 10 to 13 and also teaches extra curricular classes in drawing for design.

Outside of school Neil is a fierce competitor in the sport of wheelchair rugby, is teaching himself computer aided design and manufacturing, enjoys making things out of wood, and battles with two teenage daughters and two energetic dogs.

Amy has taught Art and Ceramics at Frensham Heights for two years and runs four very popular lunchtime creative ECAs each week. As our Ceramic Technician, she also ensures the smooth running of the ceramics room and loves nothing more than seeing students faces as they collect their beautiful, fired work from the kiln room. Amy's technical knowledge and expertise also helps higher level students with their Fine Art projects. 

Amy is passionate about passing on her love of clay and art in general and feels lucky to work alongside children who are able to immerse themselves in the process of designing and making.

In addition to working at Frensham, Amy teaches throwing at 318 Ceramics, a local ceramics community.

Amy holds a Masters Degree in 3D Design, Ceramics from Cardiff University and a BSC (econ) Joint Honours in Psychology and Anthropology.

Ben has vast experience as a Musical Director, Theatre Director and Musician, having worked on over 75 different commercial and musical theatre productions in theatres and cruise ships across the world. This has included some high-profile venues, such as Viking Cruises, Shaftesbury Theatre (West End), His Majesty’s Theatre (West End), Riverside Studios (Hammersmith), Dome Theatre (Brighton) and Théâtre National de Nice. He has directed voice-over work for Netflix and worked with many high-profile musical artists such as the Ibiza Orchestra, Heather Small (M-People), Kerry Ellis (West End) and Patrick Allen (The Drifters).

Ben gained a first class BA Honours degree at the Academy of Contemporary Music and has been a proficient multi-instrumentalist for over 30 years. He specialises in drums & percussion (including Latin, tuned and orchestral), piano, keyboards and guitar. He has recorded with John Gallen (Queen, Simply Red, Boy George) and Chrissy Tignor (Bastille, Berklee College of Music).

Ben has over 10 years teaching experience, which includes conducting choirs and orchestras across the world and leading music and drama in four independent schools in the UK. Ben is an accomplished composer, having written and produced 3 original musicals. He has also had many musical arrangements published by Amazon and Hal Leonard.

Before undertaking his teacher training, Giles worked for one of the world leading civil engineering organisations, creating and developing computer aided design drawings, working alongside structural engineers and architects. He has been teaching Design & Technology for 16 years and is passionate about students believing in their abilities, and achieving excellent design outcomes. He has a particular interest in computer aided design and manufacture and thoroughly enjoys getting into the workshops and experimenting with a range of tools and machinery. Giles is also on the Senior Leadership Team at Frensham Heights and oversees whole school student progress and data, reporting and parents evenings, baseline data analysis and exams to name a few things. Giles oversees the very successful Greenpower Formula 24 electric car project at Frensham Heights. The team finished 2nd (in class) at the International Final at Goodwood last season and they’re always developing the car to try to find more ways of making it more efficient. His personal interests include downhill mountain biking, playing and watching football, taking his dog out for long walks and spending time with his friends and family. 

Josh studied academic Music at King’s College, London, and singing at The Royal Academy of Music. Josh’s professional career has taken him around the world, performing as soloist and consort member with some of the best Early Music ensembles such as La Nouva Musica, Stile Antico, and Siglo d’Oro. He features on several well-known albums and movie soundtracks, and has performed at the Royal Variety Performance, Brit Awards, and numerous BBC TV and radio broadcasts.

Josh is Director of Music and regularly puts on successful high-profile concerts and events with the incredible students of Frensham Heights.

Lynn has worked at Frensham Heights since 2002. She holds a Diploma, Dance and Teaching London College of Dance, Bedford and a B.Phil (Hons), Ballet and Contextual Studies from the Royal Academy of Dance (Durham University) along with qualifications in Tap, Modern, Ballet and National from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing .   

During her time at Frensham, Lynn has taught a range of dance styles across all year groups in the school  from Nursery up to and including A-Level. Lynn works tirelessly to create opportunities which maintain constant development for students who show potential and talent in dance. She is also a Drama teacher as required and supports all performances throughout the year.  

Lynn plans and organises various events across the academic year such as performances, theatre trips and visiting professional companies and workshops.

Rebecca began her dancing life at the age of 5 starting with tap and modern and progressing to Jazz dance.  Throughout her schooling she achieved many awards in ISTD tap, modern and jazz eventually completing all grades in both Jazz and Tap.  At college she studied both A Level Dance and A Level Performance Studies in which she began developing her technique within Contemporary and Ballet.  She then went on to study Dance and Culture at Surrey University specialising in Contemporary Dance, African and Caribbean Dance and Choreography and then completed her PGCE in Dance Education at Exeter University.  Rebecca has been an arts educator for 14 years and has choreographed many productions including Beauty and the Beast, Guys and Dolls, Oliver, We will Rock you and Rock of Ages.  Rebecca continues to have a passion for contemporary dance and enjoys regularly watching professional dance works in London’s Sadlers Wells.

Anna joined the creative arts team at Frensham Heights in 2021. She believes that the creative subjects in any school are a vital area and a key one to help students develop fully within themselves, educating the whole person, mind, body and spirit. Creative art subjects help to give students a sense of identity, self-expression, and self-assurance. Creativity is really another form of play, and play is universally important to each individual’s sense of joy and well-being. Anna completed her PGCE at Goldsmiths and has been teaching art and design for over twenty years including fine art, textiles, 3D design and photography.  

In her degree, she specialised in textiles, with a focus on textile printmaking creating highly structured repeat prints using the medium of photographic silkscreens. Post degree she worked for a time as a freelance fabric designer.  She enjoys the creative journey through ideas and mediums both as a teacher and in her own personal practice. Anna has a passion for creative photography, noticing the mundane and capturing it within a frame. When out walking in nature her focus is on the effects of light on its surroundings. She creates mixed media artworks producing expressive / emotive responses to the environment.  

Brendan has led the Creative Arts at Frensham since 2008. He has been a resident member of boarding staff since joining the school and part of the Sixth Form Tutor Team for the last twelve years. 

Following a B.A. (Hons) in Fine Art (Sculpture), Brendan spent several years running a small business making welded steel sculpture for exhibition and commission, alongside a variety of commissioned pieces for TV, film and theatre. 

Having completed a teaching post-grad qualification at Goldsmiths, London, he taught in the Sixth Form and FE sector and was ‘Head of Expressive Arts and English’ at John Ruskin College for several years before joining Frensham. 

As a teacher, he believes the challenge of personalising the experience of learning at A Level involves facilitating the expression and articulation of an individual’s unique creative voice. The development of this voice alongside a consciousness of intention and purpose, lies at the heart of this challenge and privilege. 

His ambition is that A level Art & Design students regard themselves, and each other, as members of a community of artists within the school, where all have a role to play in the creation of a positive, challenging, yet supportive, group dynamic and everyone is valued and accepted as an individual. 

His current personal practice involves the primary use of digital media utilising digital montage processes to explore varied subject matter of an aesthetic, philosophical or political nature. 

He is a keen drummer and percussionist of the ‘rock & roll’ variety and enjoys playing a with a group of greying rock and rollers in the sticky pubs of London. 

Hannah enjoys instilling an excitement for Art in all children, exploring the creative challenges that lie at the heart of making, for both students and teacher. Her experience of education and teaching is broad and with great depth; following a degree in History of Art (with textiles and painting) she undertook a Masters in Photography, working at The Royal College of Art, London, and acquired a PCGE in Education from The Institute of Education, London.  She then went onto work in Secondary Education in London and Southampton, progressing to Head of Art. After eighteen years of working at Secondary level, she followed her passion into Prep school education in Surrey. Central to her own work and teaching is a love of colour; she creates vibrant mix media work exploring the emotional response that colour elicits.

Kahli is an internationally-renowned choreographer and dance teacher, having worked in the performing arts industry for over 25 years. She is fully qualified as a Licentiate in ISTD Ballet, Tap, Contemporary and Modern dance.

Kahli has taught at many top dance and performing arts colleges, such as Bird College, Central School of Ballet, The Urdang Academy, Guildford School of Acting, Elmhurst School of Ballet and Arts Ed Tring Park. Kahli is a visiting choreographer for La Sylphide Academic Ballet School in Romania and Beauville Arts in France and has worked in the dance division of The Juilliard School in New York. 

She is an experienced dance adjudicator and represents the UK as a Judge for the Dance World Cup, World Dance Challenge and Young Stars Ballet Competition.

As a choreographer, Kahli has won many awards, such as the Dance Star Choreographic award. She also trains international students and choreographs soloists for Youth America Grand Prix. 

A Fine Art alumni of Central St Martins (2000) Michele has been teaching at Frensham for 15 Years.  Well versed in teaching all disciplines and age groups, she encourages students to question and open dialogues around materials and making, their bravery and exploration supported with expert understanding of processes, particularly in drawing, painting, and print making.  Michele has extensive knowledge of Art history and world galleries which brings a freshness and relevance to her teaching. Having also worked in the media (BBC), performance (The Royal Court Theatre), and galleries (The Whitechapel) she is an advocate for Creative Arts and Culture.

Sarah is the Curriculum Lead in Photography, having been at the school for the last ten years.  

After having children, Sarah decided to expand and explore her interest of photography as a mature student under the University of Surrey, where subsequently after graduating, she launched herself into a career of freelance photography; working independently on several projects, including the local press. 

An opportunity arose to venture into teaching, where the chance to explore and challenge the minds of a younger generation. This captured Sarah's yearning for a career where over time, our students can discover a creative flair in the many aspects that Photography can offer, either to lead them to a future career or purely as a life-time interest.  

Sarah does her utmost to capture images without the thought of post-production, while keeping abreast of all the technological advancements available to us today.