Hi, I’m Anna.
I I have spent over 10 years as Head of Department and Teacher of Art and Design in some of the UK’s top independent schools as well as in the state sector and British international schools abroad. I have also worked as an Art and Design PGCE mentor, helping to support the training of newly qualified Art teachers. In addition to my teaching I have worked for many years as a residential boarding Housemistress for girls aged between 11-18, and have spent considerable time studying children’s mental health. I am passionate about the role of creative and critical thinking in education both for young peoples’ wellbeing and self-esteem as well as their academic development.
Upon embarking on home-education with my own son, I was amazed to discover the quantity and quality of academic online lessons and resources available to children being educated outside of the school system. However, I was disheartened at the lack of creative and critical thinking based learning opportunities for older learners, despite these being considered the most important skills for the future. I thought it was such a shame that accredited Art & Design courses were both difficult to find and unaffordable to so many within these communities. creatED is an attempt to offer what I felt was missing within this community and share my skills as both a teacher and a practicing artist.
creatED is about far more than simply creating nice artwork for the fridge (although there is plenty of that too!). It’s about developing communication and creative and critical thinking skills. I encourage my learners to step outside of their comfort zones and experiment with courage. I want them to discover that quite often the most learning happens when one makes mistakes. I also believe that every child is an artist in their own right, and whilst I teach technical skills, help learners to develop their understanding of material use and introduce them to other artists for inspiration, I will not direct the work that they create and encourage them to have enough confidence in themselves to create their own unique and original work rather than copying something already done by others or following ‘step-by-step’ guidance.
I offer GCSE and A Level Art in partnership with Tutors & Exams, 1:1 tutoring and live online projects as well as various downloadable resources including project packs and pre-recorded workshops
“Creativity is critical thinking and without it, how are you going to open up and ask harder questions? Art opens all of those kind of passages and possibilities to think beyond what we already know” - Catherine Opie
“In a child’s education, the doors need to be open to other universes, other modes of thinking, and art is a non pre-described, dangerous world full of possibility, and I think that’s a vital space for children to have in their formative years of education” - Cate Blanchett