About

Siobhan Fogarty

BA, PGCE · Curious TC Founder. Teaches GCSE & A Level Drama / Film & LAMDA

Teacher · Director · Former RSC Actor · Professional Chaos Coordinator

Hi, I’m Siobhan. Originally from Manchester. I trained as an actor at East 15 Drama School and then went on to spend two seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company, performed opposite a young Jude Law at the Royal Court (in our scenes nobody noticed me, just gorgeous Jude) and was in the very first season at Shakespeare’s Globe. On screen, I played Rotten Rose in the BAFTA-winning Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, appeared in numerous TV dramas, and was heavily pregnant in a very disturbing scene alongside Michael Caine in the film, Shiner (see video below) 

After spending eight years in Spain raising my family, running drama workshops (and building a straw-bale house), I returned to England and retrained as a teacher. Within a few years I was Head of Creative Arts at a secondary school in Kent, teaching Drama, Film (and LAMDA exams) from GCSE through to A Level. I’m now training as an A Level Drama examiner. My writing credits include CBBC’s Boo! and The Chuckle Brothers, and my feature screenplay Monica Ol’e won the Women in Film & TV/Avalon Award. I have also written over a dozen educational schemes of work which have been published nationally.

SEND, Neurodiversity & Why I’m Qualified to Teach Students with Additional Needs
Working with neurodiverse and anxious learners isn’t something I fell into, it’s something I’ve trained extensively for and genuinely specialised in. Alongside years teaching students with high levels of SEND and EHCP students, I hold a long list of relevant CPD training, including:

• Child Protection & Safeguarding (multiple courses)
• Child-on-Child Abuse
• The Prevent Duty
• ADHD Awareness
• Dyslexia Awareness
• Mental Wellbeing in Children & Young People
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
• GDPR & Data Protection (Education)
• First Aid Essentials
• Health & Safety in Education

(Yes, that is a lot of training. I also have my cycling proficiency award and my BAGA gymnastics awards 1-3)

The biggest shift for me came from real experience: I was a short-break foster carer, supporting children with complex needs. One non-verbal autistic boy stayed with me for regular weekends and that changed everything. It taught me more about patience, sensory regulation, trust-building and the power of creative play than any course ever could. That experience now underpins everything I do. It’s why my teaching is structured but soft, creative but calm, and always built around the child in front of me. I’m currently collaborating with the University of Sussex on an app supporting children with additional needs, blending creativity, empathy and a love of tech I never expected to have.

How I Teach:  Playful, humorous, energetic, visual. Structured but fun, not dull and boring. I’m not judgemental. I’m encouraging. I like to build positive, warm relationships with students so we are on the same wavelength. I include all students: the shy ones, the outgoing ones, the imaginative ones, the beautifully chaotic ones, the perfectionists, the quiet thinkers and the absolute whirlwinds. I work especially well with neurodiverse learners, anxious performers, and students who need a smaller, gentler space to be brave.

Richard Attlee

BA Hons · Actor · Voice Artist · LAMDA tutor  

Richard is not from Moss Side or anywhere near it. While I was fighting in the playground at Cardinal Vaughn School in Old Trafford, Richard was getting a classical education at a Hogwarts type school in the home counties – but without the wizardry.

He studied Drama and Russian at Birmingham University before becoming an actor.

Like myself, he too has worked at Shakespeare’s Globe, and in the West End, as well as touring tirelessly with many companies in both the UK and abroad.

His screen credits include: This Country, A Very English Game, The Trial of Christine Keeler, Silent Witness, My Mad Fat Diary, Longford, Dunkirk, My Week with Marilyn, Party Animals, Midsomer Murders, Greed and Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy. He was also in The Bill… three times, playing much the same character each time. Since 2000 he has played Kenton in the world’s longest running soap opera. No, not Corrie… The Archers, on BBC Radio 4.

How He Teaches: With humour and patience. He is warm and encouraging, pushing students to achieve their potential. He brings calm, clarity and some serious experience to the work.

Rachel Kerry

BA, PGCE, QTS · Teacher · LAMDA Specialist in Acting and Musical Theatre · Dance & Movement Expert. SEND trained

Rachel has a Psychology degree and a deep understanding of young people with additional needs – her own daughter is on the autism spectrum – and is our brilliantly organised LAMDA centre manager. She trained at the B.R.I.T School, then completed ISTD training in Tap, Ballet and Jazz.

She has worked with Frantic Assembly (Terminus) and delivered Drama Therapy to both adults and children in Sri Lanka. 

How She Teaches: Rarely in Lycra. A hugely experienced LAMDA and dance teacher, Rachel is great at building confidence and finding the perfect pieces for students. A reliable, patient, fun and skilled teacher, she gets the best out of her students, working with children of varying abilities and seeing those who initially struggle go on to achieve what they thought impossible.

Jenny Ridley

BA (Hons), MA (Hons), PGCE · Head of Music · Composer · Songwriting Coach 

Currently, Head of Music, Jenny teaches GCSE, A Level and BTEC with excellent results. She holds a First-Class BA (Hons) in Music and an MA in Performance & Composition from the University of Chichester, plus QTS from the University of Sussex.

How She Teaches: Jenny is a music powerhouse – knowledgeable, encouraging and wonderfully creative. She breaks down the ‘scary’ bits – harmony, analysis, exam structure – into simple, doable steps. A more sympathetic, supportive, kind, teacher you couldn’t hope to find. Jenny doesn’t need to shout or sing about how good she is. Her experience and musical excellence do the job for her.