FRENSHAM HEIGHTS ARTS AWARDS

Amy has taught Art and Ceramics at Frensham Heights for five years and also runs four popular lunchtime creative ECAs each week.

Passionate about sharing her love of clay and art in all its forms, Amy feels fortunate to work with students who are eager to immerse themselves in the process of designing and making.

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Alongside teaching dedicated ceramics lessons, Amy’s technical knowledge and expertise support GCSE and A-level students in developing their Fine Art projects. As our Ceramic Technician, she ensures the smooth running of the ceramics room and finds great joy in seeing students’ faces light up as they collect their beautifully fired pieces from the kiln room.

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Beyond Frensham, Amy teaches wheel-throwing at 318 Ceramics, a local ceramics community.

Amy holds a Master’s degree in 3D Design (Ceramics) from Cardiff University and a BSc (Econ) Joint Honours in Psychology and Anthropology.

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.

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.

Katherine is a practising painter and printmaker, focusing her work on both architecture and landscape. Many of her work explores processes which are both analogue and digital and she is passionate to keep exploring traditional ways with new technology in the digital era. Working with etching, aquatint and silk screenprinting, she is a member of Ochre Print Studio in Guildford and very much enjoys continuing her personal print development learning new techniques. 

Katherine joined the Frensham Heights creative team in 2025 having worked in both state boarding schools and the independent sector over the last decade.  Having obtained a BA(Hons) degree in Fine Art from Loughborough, she then went on to get her PGCE at Downing College, Cambridge.  After establishing an ‘outstanding’ (Ofsted) art department in a newly opened school, Katherine did a part time Master of Educational Research at Cambridge in order to further her understanding of the creative arts in education.  

Katherine believes that exposure to the arts helps to formulate empathy, critical thinking and ultimately helps students discover who they are - using art as outlet for their expression and experience.  

In her earlier life she trained as a dancer in a variety of techniques from: ballet, modern and contemporary dance with Jayne Coleman Academy of Dance from the age of 4-18,   competed in All England Dance Finals in the Peacock Theatre, London. At Loughborough she continued to teach advanced contemporary and produced choreography for an inter-university competition.

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 17 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.  

Gemma has been teaching for 15 years and leads Design and Technology at Frensham. Before moving into education, she worked across film, theatre and branding — creating the weird and wonderful, with projects including The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

She’s passionate about sustainable design, creative problem solving and developing a future-ready curriculum that embraces new technologies such as Virtual Reality.

Gemma’s teaching centres on building confidence, curiosity and resilience, inspiring students to take creative risks, make meaningful connections and design with purpose for a more sustainable future.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.