Meet the Team
Find out more about our expert team of Shakespearians
Andy Reeves, Head of Learning Development
Andy joined SBT in July 2022. His previous roles include Head of Learning for Curve Theatre Leicester and Children and Young People Programme lead for Coventry City of Culture, building on 30 years of creative education specialism with schools, universities, libraries and communities. He has particular interest in developing participatory practice in Arts and Heritage education.
Contact Andy for general queries about the work of the learning team: [email protected].
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
Nicola Hawley, Primary Education Manager
Nicola is an experienced primary school teacher, having taught extensively in a range of settings. She joined SBT in 2012, since when she has been instrumental in developing the award-winning Key Stages 1 and 2 schools’ programme. During this time, Nicola has facilitated the delivery and expansion of a full suite of engaging and inspiring educational experiences which explore Shakespeare’s works, life and times, complementing the National Curriculum. Nicola also leads the Trust’s Museums & Schools and Shakespeare Hubs programmes and can often be found delivering CPD to teachers across the country. In 2021, Nicola led a successful accreditation for the prestigious Sandford Award and has played a key role in the development and delivery of Shakespeare Week, the Trust’s flagship programme to give primary school children a great first encounter with Shakespeare.
Contact Nicola for general queries about our Primary learning offer, Museums and Schools, and Shakespeare Hubs: [email protected].
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
Dr Nick Walton, Shakespeare Courses Development Manager
Nick devises and delivers programmes of study for school and university students, as well as for members of the general public. Nick has published widely on Shakespeare and performed in his plays on stage and screen. He has organized Shakespeare conferences in Brisbane, Prague, London and Singapore and has been a regular guest speaker for the RSC and the National Theatre. He is the co-creator of the Trivial Pursuit edition on Shakespeare, the Executive Secretary to the International Shakespeare Association and is a recipient of the 'Inspirational Educator Award in Teaching Shakespeare’.
Contact Nick for general queries about secondary schools, universities and lifelong learning: [email protected]
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
Sally Gray, Shakespeare Week Project Manager
Sally studied English Language and Linguistics at Durham University before taking a Primary PGCE at UCL’s Institute of Education in London. Sally has held various primary school teaching roles across the entire primary school age range and she has a particular passion for children’s literature. Sally has also worked for Scholastic as an editor of many of their Primary School book series’ as well as being Deputy Editor of Nursery Education and Junior Focus magazines. She is the author of ten books for Primary School and Early Years teachers published by Folens and Scholastic, covering a broad range of topics from cookery to phonics! Sally enjoys bringing her passion for primary education to devising and delivering exciting ways to explore Shakespeare’s works, life and times through the Trust’s wonderful Shakespeare Week programme to give young children positive and memorable first experiences of Shakespeare.
Contact Sally for general queries about the Shakespeare Week programme: [email protected].
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
Bryony Males, Early Years and Families Practitioner
Bryony is a Qualified Teacher who has specialised in working with children within their early stages of development and those with special educational needs and disabilities. A qualified Makaton Tutor, she also has vast experience supporting families with childcare and home education. Bryony is excited to support young children, families and people with special educational needs to discover and explore Shakespeare in a fun, sensory and meaningful way.
Contact Bryony for general queries about Early Years or Families sessions: [email protected]
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
Dr Darren Freebury-Jones, Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies (Domestic and International)
Darren's role involves building and developing relationships with organisations in key international target areas, principally the USA and Europe; conducting in-person and online international teaching; and working on the Trust’s online educational resources, including the project management of Self-led Macbeth. He is the author of Reading Robert Greene: Recovering Shakespeare’s Rival (Routledge); Shakespeare’s Tutor: The Influence of Thomas Kyd (Manchester University Press); General Editor for The Collected Plays of Robert Greene (Edinburgh University Press) and Associate Editor for The Collected Works of Thomas Kyd (Boydell and Brewer); journal Editor for Early Modern Digital Review; and a member of the Education Committee for British Shakespeare Association. His findings on the works of Shakespeare and his fellow dramatists have been discussed in national newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Observer, The Independent, and on Radio 4. In 2023 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in recognition of his contributions to historical scholarship.
Contact Darren for general queries about international university partnerships : [email protected]
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
Dr Jennifer Waghorn, Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies (Digital Education)
Jennifer's role involves sharing knowledge of Shakespeare’s life, works and times with school, university and leisure learners, and developing the Learning team’s digital presence. Jennifer has produced a number of online Shakespeare resources, including three Shakespeare-focused online learning courses (MOOCs) and a digital exhibition on Shakespeare and music. Her doctoral thesis examined the original surviving music of Shakespeare’s theatre company from 1609-25. She has advised on music history for the Royal Shakespeare Company since 2018, and has worked with the Historical Dance Society on reconstructing Jacobean court masques. She has published and written forthcoming research on: commemorating Shakespeare as “corpse and corpus”, performing Shakespeare in lockdown, seventeenth-century theatrical revivals, Shakespearean actor-musicians, and tracing the lives of early modern women connected to Shakespeare’s theatre company. She has provided edited music and commentaries for critical editions of John Fletcher’s Love’s Cure, Fletcher and Philip Massinger’s The False One, and Ben Jonson’s Volpone. She is also a theatre composer, musician and musical director; she has written and performed music for around thirty productions (mostly Shakespeare) with various theatre companies, including a musical reimagining of Twelfth Night for the Arcola Theatre.
Contact Jennifer for general queries about digital programme for schools and universities: [email protected]
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
Naomi Lawrence, Lead Secondary Practitioner
Naomi has a History of Art degree and a Masters in Theatre. Before joining the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, she spent seven years working in learning and participation for AFTEC, a theatre and arts outreach charity in Hong Kong, returning to the UK in 2021 to work as a theatre education practitioner with secondary students and youth groups across the country. Naomi is really interested in democratising Shakespeare, making it accessible and exciting to all, and has a lot of experience in settings where English is not a first language.
Contact Naomi for general queries about Key Stage 3 and 4 sessions including outreach: [email protected]
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
Claire Fenlon, School Partnership Development Officer
Claire has an English Literature degree and holds a Masters in Educational Leadership. Before joining the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Claire taught English Language and Literature to students across Years 7 - 13 in a range of schools in Birmingham, UK, and spent the last 5 years teaching at Academia Britanica Cuscatleca (the British School of El Salvador.) Claire has experience teaching Shakespeare to both native speakers and to students whose first language is not English. Claire has a particular interest in designing and delivering Continuing Professional Development for teachers and was employed as a Specialist Leader of Education by Birmingham City Council. Claire's role is to foster and develop existing links between the Trust and its Primary Hub schools as well as to widen the Trust’s outreach to secondary pupils and beyond. Claire is particularly looking forward to developing SBT's CPD offer to teachers.
Contact Claire for general queries about CPD or the school partnership work of the learning team: [email protected]
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
Katie Ledwidge, Learning Team Administrator
Katie has worked for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for the last 18 years, booking, organising and administering the residential courses and school educational visits we deliver.
Contact Katie for school booking and residential course enquiries: [email protected].
Joanna Aulton, Learning Administrator - Shakespeare Week and Hubs
Before joining SBT, Joanna worked as a primary school teacher in a wide range of settings and has seen first-hand the inspirational impact that learning about Shakespeare can have on children from all backgrounds. She is excited about working on the wonderful Shakespeare Week and with Hub schools to bring his work to an even wider audience and ensure all children experience the magic of Shakespeare from an early age.
Contact Joanna for general queries about Shakespeare Week and Hubs: [email protected]
For booking enquiries contact [email protected].
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