Art & Literature
Lizzie Skeaping - Head of Arts & Literature Faculty
Lizzie Skeaping teaches History and History of Art at Harris Westminster. She studied History and Culture at the University of Warwick, specialising in Renaissance Italian art and modern Irish history. Before joining Harris Westminster, she taught at The National Archives, home to some of the UK's most iconic historical records, and completed a Masters in Museums and Galleries in Education. Her fascination with different lives and cultures prompted her to teach abroad in Vietnam and Spain. She enjoys sport and dreams of playing cricket for England.
Philip Barnes - Teacher of Art
Philip Barnes teaches Art at Harris Westminster. He is a practicing artist with a background in Painting and Installation. He attained an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design and since graduating has exhibited work in the UK and internationally. He is a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and has been awarded practice-based residencies at The School of Visual Arts New York and Joya arte + ecologia, Spain. He enjoys living and working in London, particularly for the thriving contemporary art scene and the city’s accessibility to world class galleries and museums.
Hania Stella-Sawicka - Teacher of Art & Head of Turing House
Hania Stella-Sawicka trained at the Royal College of Art and has been making work and exhibiting as a practising artist in the years since. She has always been fascinated by how we learn from visual and material culture and enjoys offering Harris Westminster students an insight into contemporary art in London. She has come to teaching bringing a range of experience in the field, working with creative studios, designers and galleries.
Rosa Goodman - Teacher of Art History
After studying Fine Art at Central St Martin’s Rosa Goodman read History of Art and Italian at University College London, followed by a Masters at Oxford University. She has worked at various museums and galleries, including the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Before teaching History of Art in schools, she taught in Italy and to undergraduates at UCL. Her academic interests include the Italian Renaissance, Gender and Female Artists, and the intersection of popular practice and ritualistic objects. She enjoys all aspects of Italian culture: film, fashion, Fine Art and, all importantly, food.
Henry Tudor-Pole - Teacher of Art History
Henry Tudor Pole completed an art foundation course at the Royal Drawing School before studying for his BA in art history at St John's College, Oxford. During his degree he spent a year at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, where he studied the Italian language and Modernist sculpture. After graduating, he found work teaching art history in Italy. Since then he has written reviews of contemporary art exhibitions for several publications, completed a master's degree in art history at UCL and started teaching with the charity Art History Link-Up. He is currently hoping to write a PhD on the artist brothers Carlo and Vittore Crivelli. In his spare time he enjoys trail running, drawing and playing music.
Freddie Baveystock - Teacher of English
Freddie Baveystock is passionate about literature, culture and learning. He took his first degree in English at Worcester College, Oxford; followed this with a MA from University College London in Anglo-American Literary Relations; and then went on to complete a DPhil at Wolfson College, Oxford on the impact of American nationalism upon its literature during the first half of the C19. As well as teaching in London, Oxford and Reading, he has worked as a journalist, consumer researcher and brand consultant. He is a Trustee of Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden, and in that capacity advises on its Writer in Residence programme.
Katherine Wasley - Teacher of English
Katherine Wasley is an English teacher at Harris Westminster. She has previously been an English teacher and Sixth Form English Coordinator at Westminster Academy for eleven years where she taught the International Baccalaureate. Ms Wasley studied English Studies and Philosophy at The University of Nottingham. After gaining her degree, she taught in Hong Kong for a year before training to become a teacher with TeachFirst. In addition to her love of reading widely, Ms Wasley is a keen member of the National Theatre and loves the distraction of a life drawing class. Ms Wasley also enjoys yoga and can usually be found pottering around in her garden at the weekend trying to create the perfect border.
Nikolina Stojanovic – Teacher of French
Nikolina Stojanović teaches French at Harris Westminster. While completing her Master's degree in Anglophone Studies at the university of the Sorbonne (Paris IV), she worked at the public library of the Centre Pompidou and nurtured her passion for culture through amateur music journalism. After teaching near her French hometown, she decided to move to London in 2014 where she taught French, German, and ICT in an independent school before she joined Harris Westminster. She dedicates her spare time to quizzes, woodworking, board games, and picking up a variety of crafty hobbies.
Michael Pirbakas – Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages & Head of Somerville House
Michael teaches French and Spanish at Westminster. He was born in France but grew up in the French Caribbean where he studied English and Spanish at the Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (Martinique). Passionate about teaching languages, Michael went on to do a Masters Degree in didactics of foreign languages at the University of Paris 8. Michael has now been teaching French and Spanish in London for 7 years and in his spare time he enjoys reading, exercising and travelling.
Frances Sleap - 2iC A&L & Teacher of Philosophy
Frances Sleap studied Philosophy and Theology and then the Study of Religions at Oxford, writing her Master’s dissertation on the idea of chosenness in modern Judaism. Before deciding to pursue a longstanding interest in education she worked at the Dialogue Society, an Islamically-inspired intercultural dialogue charity. Her work included co-authoring an introduction to ‘Dialogue Theories’ and providing training for postgraduate students. She is still fascinated by the dynamics of dialogue in different contexts and is excited to work in the natural dialogue hotspot that is the PTE classroom. Her other interests include poetry and the ethical issues surrounding energy and climate change.
Kyle Sweet - Teacher of Philosophy
Kyle Sweet teaches Philosophy at Harris Westminster. He attainted his Master's degree at the University of Birmingham, having written a dissertation on creating a new ethical theory after jesting that ‘all other theories are simply unsatisfying or impractical’. He feels that philosophy is a deeply important subject yet can seem so inaccessible to so many. This led him to decide that his dedication to the subject was best put towards inspiring young minds and creating enthusiastic dialogue about the intricacies of reality and human nature. After finishing his PGCE at King’s College London he has said he ‘feels incredibly grateful to be living out his passion at Harris Westminster’. Kyle also enjoys writing fantastical fiction and spending time with friends over a good board game.
Emma Syea - Teacher of Philosophy
Emma teaches Philosophy at Harris Westminster Sixth Form. She read Modern and Medieval Languages and Philosophy at Cambridge before going on to complete her Masters and PhD in Philosophy at King's College London. She lectures in Philosophy at various universities in London and her research interests include philosophy of mind, epistemology, and post-Kantian philosophy. She is also fascinated by the relationship between philosophy and art and is a member of King's College London's Centre for Philosophy and Visual Art. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing and painting, playing piano, and reading.
Ella Taylor - Librarian and Head of the Extended Project
Ella is a Chartered Librarian who oversees the Wigoder Library and Extended Project at Harris Westminster. She read English Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London before gaining her Masters in Library and Information Studies at University College London. Of particular interest to her are issues relating to unconscious bias and prejudice in information architecture inspired by the research and advocacy of Sanford Berman. To further investigate prejudice within literacy systems and structures, she is currently undertaking a Masters in Education (Literacy) at the Institute of Education, University College London. Ella believes that every individual should enjoy reading which inspires her approach to supporting students and caring for the Wigoder Library. In her spare time she enjoys watching films which her friends class as ‘depressing cinematography’ and spending time with her beloved cats.
