All about us

About: Mrs Clazey has taught art since 1996 and  has worked in a wide range of schools and educational community settings across the UK and USA. She currently teaches art to all year groups, in addition to GCSE and A Level photography. She is passionate about art history and is a strong believer in embracing serendipity and encouraging 'creative mischief'.

Education: 9 GCSEs; 4 A Levels in English Literature, History, Art with Art History, and Classical Civilisation; Foundation Course in Art and Design, Cumbria College of Art and Design; BA(hons) in Fine Art(with History of Art) University of Leeds; PGCE Bretton Hall College(University of Leeds)

Likes: Googly eyes, the film 'Jaws', colour-coded bookshelves, spicy chillies, 80s films, growing and eating her own vegetables(especially beetroot), The Mighty Boosh, doodling on her iPad and staying up really, really late watching the stars.

Dislikes: Bland, pale coloured food, Mrs Brown's Boys, teaching one-point perspective, when people unnecessarily abbreviate words like 'uni' or 'veggie', drippy eye paintings, selfish people and early mornings...

Favourite Artists: Paula Rego, Joseph Cornell, Giorgio Morandi . Noel Fielding, Jim Moir and most Dutch 17th Century artists, especially Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Favourite Colours: Prussian Blue and Cobalt Blue

About: Miss Corken has taught Art since 2011 and prior to being a teacher she worked in Arts & Mental Health and part time in a Gallery as a supervisor. She is very passionate about Art and loves to spend her holidays hunting out Expressionist or Outsider Art in Europe. She is a fan of the weird and wonderful and is amassing a rather impressive collection of curiosities in her classroom. She is the keeper of brown paint and paper towels for the department. If you need something, Miss Corken generally has it.

Education: 9 GCSE's, GNVQ3 Advanced Art & Design, City & Guilds Photography, A level History of Art, BTEC Foundation in Art & Design,Newcastle College, BA (Hons) in Fine Art ,Sunderland University, PGCE Durham SCITT.

Likes: Coffee, taxidermy, quirky drawings and paintings that are comical for their incorrectness, people who have a sense of humour, listening to Ed Sheeran, dodgy 'lift music' jazz, Phil Collins after a hard day, reading Science fiction books, watching movies in general (especially in the cinema).

Dislikes: Early mornings, cheese, students saying 'Miss, Miss, Miss, Miss, Miss' like those seagulls saying 'Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine' in Finding Nemo. Also untidy sinks.

Favourite Artists: Kees Van Dongen, Egon Schiele, Gabriele Munter, Gustav Klimt Landscapes..

Favourite colours: Raw Umber, Crimson Alizarin, Phthalo Blue and Permanent Rose.

About: Miss Batchelor has taught Art since 2009. She began her career teaching in Bristol, where she worked for five years before travelling to South Asia and moving to New Zealand for two years. On return she decided to return to the North East and now teaches Art to all year groups and Photography GCSE.  She is a passionate advocate for Art, Craft and Design and enjoys following numerous creative endeavours including ceramics, printmaking and painting.  

Education: 11 GCSE's; 4 A Levels in Art, English Literature, Biology, Textiles; Diploma in Foundation Studies Art and Design at Newcastle College; BA (hons) in Fine Art at Leeds Metropolitan University; PGCE in Art and Design at Manchester Metropolitan University. 

Likes: Glittery clothes, wild swimming, hiking, travel, adventure, Saturday ceramic sessions, dancing to disco and reggae, gardening, reading, cooking. 

Dislikes: traffic jams, litter dropping, pollution. 

Favourite Artists: Peter Doig, Paula Rego, Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo (as well as dressing up as her) 

Favourite colours: any shade of green. 

About: Mr Hodgson has taught Art since 2014. He teaches Art to all year groups in addition to GCSE Photography. He is passionate about promoting art’s role in education and believes all students deserve the opportunity to be creative and find their style. He loves to spend his holidays out and about drawing and painting. He enjoys visiting exhibitions both in the UK and abroad and struggles to leave a gift shop without a book!  

Education: 9 GCSE’s - GNVQ Art & Design; A-Levels in Fine Art, Graphics and Film Studies; BA (Hons) in Art & Design Interdisciplinary - Leeds College of Art; PGCE in Art, Craft and Design - Northumbria University. He is currently a student himself and is studying for his A level History of Art having been awarded a bursary by 'Arts History in Schools’.

Likes: Early mornings! Yorkshire Tea, hiking, a good quiz, people who have a sense of humour, going to gigs, playing the guitar, learning the banjo, going to the cinema and listening to podcasts.

Dislikes: Reality TV and people who don’t clean up after themselves.

Favourite Artists: Norman Ackroyd, Andy Wyeth, Edwin Dickinson & Kyffin Williams.

Favourite colours: Payne's Grey and Olive Green.

About: Mrs Young has been teaching Art at CLV for over 12 years and prior to that worked as a merchandiser in a department store. She has taught across all year groups and Art subjects in that time. Over the last few years since the arrival of her two boys, Mrs Young teaches part time Key Stage 3 Art.  She has immense passion for all aspects of Art, Craft and Design and thrives in seeing young people be creative and exploring the beauty of Art.

Education: 9 GCSEs; 3 A Levels in Art, English Language and Business Studies; Art Foundation Diploma at Newcastle College; BA (Hons) Printed Textiles and Surface Pattern Design at Leeds College of Art; PGCE in Secondary Art, Craft and Design at Northumbria University.

Likes: Exploring the outdoors with her two boys, eating chocolate, looking for patterns in anything and everything but especially envelopes! Sewing and watching Kirstie’s handmade crafts and Inside the factory.

Dislikes: coffee, tissue paper balls and tidying up after people!

Favourite Artists: Hennie Haworth, Robert Rauschenberg, Kaffe Fassett, Timorous Beasties, Ben Nicholson and anything with pattern and mixed media!

Colour: True Purple (the hardest of the secondary colours to make!)