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Our Tutors and Staff
Hampstead Fine ArtsAboutOur Tutors & Staff

Our Tutors & Staff

Our tutors and staff are responsible for a great deal of the success Hampstead Fine Arts College enjoys. Our tutors are subject specialists, many of whom actively contribute to and engage with the disciplines they teach – whether as writers, researchers or lecturers, musicians, actors or filmmakers, or artists exhibiting their work across the world. Students are taught by a combination of experienced tutors and with more recent graduates to ensure both traditional and innovatory knowledge, ideas and techniques are fully covered.

You can see a complete list of our staff below.

Senior Staff

Principal

  • Candida Cave: MA, CFA Oxon

Head

  • Emmy Schwieters: BA Leeds

Deputy Head

  • Julie Cope: MA, BA Wales, PGCE

Assistant Head of Sixth Form

  • Christina Boyle: BA York, PGCE

Directors of Studies

  • Akhil Merchant: BA Oxon, PGCE
  • Edmund Knox: MPhil London, MA Oxon, MA, PGCE
  • Larry Bliss: MSc London, BSc Bath
  • Nir Shaki: MA, BA London, PGCE
  • Terri Murray: DPhil Oxford Brookes, BA London, PGCE

Art and Design

Fine Art

  • Bella Toghill: BA London, PGCE
  • Chris Kenny: BA London (Head of Department)
  • Gabriela Lesniewska: MA Glasgow, BA London
  • Suzanne Holtom: MA Slade, BA Cardiff, PGCE

Graphics

  • Mike Burles: BA Manchester (Head of Department)
  • Maria Kelesidi: MA London, MA London, BA Derby, PGCE

Fashion & Textiles

  • Joanna Priya Ghosh: BA London
  • Kerri Fairweather: BA Canterbury

Photography

  • Bella Hull: BA London, PGCE
  • Consuelo Giorgi: DPhil, BA Carrara, Italy, PGCE (Director of Photography Students)
  • Dominik Klimowski: MA Hertfordshire, BA Kingston (Head of Department)

Departments

Business

  • Steven Kern: PhD Nottingham, MA, BA (Hons)

Classics

  • Lekha Menon: PhD London, MA, BA (Hons), PGCE
  • Oonagh Ryan: BA Oxon (Head of Department)

Dance

  • Sophie Champion: BA London, PGCE
  • Jenna Hickman: BA Chichester, PGCE

Drama

  • Harriet Eyre: BA Bournemouth, PGCE

Economics

  • Mehdi Naqvi: BSc London

English

  • Akhil Merchant: BA Oxon, PGCE (Head of Department)
  • Daniel Jewison: MPhil Trinity College, BA Leeds, PGCE
  • Zara Kaiserimam: MA, BA London, PGCE

Geography

  • Loulou O’Leary: MA Liverpool, BA Liverpool, PGCE

History of Art

  • Daniel Greaney: MA London, MA London, BA Limerick, PGCE
  • Emmy Schwieters: BA Leeds
  • Lekha Menon: PhD London, MA, BA (Hons), PGCE (Head of Department)

History

  • Sam Brearley: MA, BA London, PGCE (Head of Department)

Mathematics

  • Hina Kamal: BSc London, PGCE
  • Luke Heaton: DPhil Oxford, MSc Oxford, BA London, BSc Edinburgh, PGCE

Modern Languages

  • French: Edmund Knox: MPhil London, MA Oxon, PGCE (Head of Department)
  • French: Karine Cooper: BA Open University
  • German: Katja Miarka: MA Germany, BA Germany
  • Italian: Luigi La Falce: BA Rome, Italy, PTETC
  • Spanish: Edmund Knox: MPhil London, MA Oxon, MA, PGCE

Media and Film Studies

  • Ben Clements: BA Canterbury, PGCE
  • Natalie Keen: BA Manchester (Head of Department)
  • Terri Murray: DPhil Oxford Brookes, BA London, PGCE

Music and Music Technology

  • Christina Boyle: BA York, PGCE (Head of Department)
  • Jonathan Healy: MA, BA Leeds, PGCE

Philosophy

  • Nir Shaki: MA, BA London, PGCE (Head of Department)

Politics

  • Steven Kern: PhD Nottingham, MA, BA (Hons)

Psychology

  • Paula Tulliver: BSc London

Religious Studies

  • Nir Shaki: MA, BA London, PGCE (Head of Department)

Science

  • Adam Rodaway: PhD London, BA Cambridge
  • Daniel Bland: MSc London, BSc London, PGCE
  • Larry Bliss: MSc London, BSc Bath

Sociology

  • Emma Jones: MSc Sussex, BA Sussex, PGCE (Head of Department)

EPQ Coordinator

  • Zara Kaiserimam: MA, BA London

School Productions

  • Bryony Reiss: MA Canada, BA Sussex

SEN Tutors

  • Bryony Reiss: MA Canada, BA Sussex
  • Matthew Peters: MA, BA Falmouth

SEN Co-Ordinator

  • Jennifer Lok: MA Exeter, BA Italy, PDip Warwick, CSML Harvard, PGCE

Year 9 Form Tutor

  • Loulou O’Leary: MA Liverpool, BA Liverpool, PGCE

Year 10 Form Tutor

  • Daniel Bland: MSc London, BSc London, PGCE

Year 11 Form Tutor

  • Karine Cooper: BA Open University

Administration, Careers and Safeguarding

Financial Controller

  • Rana Iftikhar: BSc Plymouth
  • Gabriela Ince: BSc London (Accounts Assistant)

Health and Safety and Premises Manager

  • Sarmad Ismail: BSc Bristol, IOSH

Caretaker

  • Fitzroy Hamilton

Director of Compliance

  • Leanne Slavin: BA London

Director of Admissions

  • Meena Sharma: HND, London

Director of Careers Guidance

  • Margaret Park: BA Sussex, PGCE

Director of Welfare

  • Oonagh Ryan: BA Oxon

Marketing Administrator, PA to Principal/Head and Receptionist

  • Finley Hart: Level 3 Apprenticeship

Designated Safeguarding Lead

  • Julie Cope: MA, BA Wales, PGCE

Assistant Designated Safeguarding Leads

  • Oonagh Ryan: BA Oxon
  • Sigrid Assan: DI HAS Feldkirchen, Austria
  • Matthew Peters: MA, BA Falmouth

Exams Officer

  • John Hicks: GCE London

Marketing

  • Finley Hart: Level 3 Apprenticeship
  • Maria Kelesidi: MA London, MA London, BA Derby, PGCE

Sustainability Co-ordinator

  • Loulou O’Leary: MA Liverpool, BA Liverpool, PGCE

Administrators

  • Leanne Slavin: BA London
  • Meena Sharma: HND, London (Senior Administrator)
  • Sigrid Assan: DI HAS Feldkirchen, Austria
  • Finley Hart: Level 3 Apprenticeship

IT Manager

  • James Theocharous: BA London
Open Days
Open Days
Summer Courses

Our Summer Programme runs from Monday 13th July to Friday 7th August and offers a range of inspiring two-week courses for students aged 12–19. These include Portfolio Preparation for aspiring art and design students, Preparation for Drama School for those considering actor training, and Art & Design for Aspiring Artists for younger creatives, all combining practical tuition, professional guidance and opportunities to showcase work at the end of the course. Courses are available in person and online, include all materials, and are now open for applications.