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1270 Educators providing Teaching courses in Oxted

Woodworks - Hugh Ridsdill-Smith

woodworks - hugh ridsdill-smith

London

Woodwork and design have been lifelong interests of mine. My introduction to woodwork was with my father in his workshop at home. I studied woodwork, together with metalwork with Ted Mills in Maidstone and had regular lessons from Chris Hoad our local village carpenter in Marden, Kent. Woodwork runs in the family, I inherited my great grandfather’s tools and the workbench – a number of which which I use. I draw inspiration from many sources: the Design Museum is a particular favourite, but skilled work is all around. Recently I took part in a ‘Build a Tiny House’ course at the Centre for Alternative Technology. Their commitment to sustainable living is particularly important for me.I attend courses, exhibitions and trade shows regularly to keep up with the latest trends and developments. I established WoodWorks in September 2016. Our approach is practical, and we put our clients’ priorities first – be they design, practicalilty, affordability, aesthetic or sustainability. Wood is a wonderful material, flexible, strong and incredibly versatile. Most things are possible. If you’ve got a project in mind and want to find out whether and how it will work, I’d be happy to talk it over with you. In September 2020 I established Woodworks Learn, the teaching arm of the business. This was long an ambition of mine, using my background in teaching, coaching and informal community learning. I find immense pleasure helping people to develop their skills and to complete projects.

The Phoenix Collective

the phoenix collective

South Croydon

I started life as a primary class teacher with a scraped Grade VII piano and ‘O’ Level music as my only musical background. I was soon given the task of teaching music throughout a school of 4-8 year olds and realised I did not have the skills or knowledge to be able to do this effectively. My wise headteacher sent me on a Kodály course and my world started to change… Now, after many years of learning from amazing teachers, I am passionate about this wonderful, structured, joyful way to teach and to learn musical skills, knowledge and understanding – it is my raison d’être! I grew up with the unshakeable belief that I was ‘not musical’ – because I was never a good pianist, I couldn’t do aural tests, or sight-sing, or write a dictation; theory never made much sense to me. I perceived that ‘performance’, ‘aural’ and ‘theory’ were three separate entities. It was only Kodály study that made me realise that they are all interconnected and also part of this whole wonderful thing called ‘music’. It also unlocked all the music that was inside me and which I never knew was there. My passion is bringing musical skills, knowledge and understanding to a huge variety of people – to children; to adults who are both professional or amateur musicians; to both specialist and generalist teachers. I have realised that Kodály musicianship has so much to offer a vast range of people, including choral singers, class teachers and professional players. A particular interest in recent years has been discovering the benefits of Kodály musicianship to those working in different styles and genres, including pop, electronic music and modern a cappella singing.