Meet the Extra Curriculum Teachers
At Learning Stars, we hire passionate, dedicated and caring teachers who are committed to making a difference in children’s lives. Take a look below to learn more about our extra-curricular team.
Antarma
Yoga, Music & Meditation
Antarma’s music spreads joy and uplifting energy. Heart opening songs on Guitar, Ecstatic Afro Brazilian Djembe Rhythms, Soul, Reggae and Hip-hop. He has been on the path of meditation for over 20 years and also shares Mantra and Meditation.
Antarma is a Level 3 qualified Youth Worker and has 16 years experience teaching Djembe, Drumming, Kids Yoga and Guitar, with a wide range of different groups, including schools, nurseries, colleges, children with special needs, refugee youth groups, as well as youth centres with young people at risk of gang crime.
Antarma plays at events, retreats and festivals across the UK. He is regulary invited to hold workshops and concerts nationally and internationally in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, around Europe and Egypt.
For more information about Antarma , please see his website:
Alex Akal
Musician
Alex Akal is an experimental multi-instrumentalist musician who has performed in the UK and internationnaly in Europe and Asia.
Alex has studied music at Cavem Music Luxembourg. Through his travels, Alex has discovered the beauty of many traditional exotic instruments, and has been experimenting with many of them to create unique music that merges different cultures. Alex has developed a special workshop for children called Musicadoo which tours around the UK and internationally.
Through his classes, Alex aims to provide children access to different musical instruments and cultures, and build on their experiences of sound, music, culture, history, natural materials in the rich and diverse world they live in.
For more information about Alex,
please see his website: www.alexakal.com
"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."
(Angela Schwindt)
Nina Szelewski
Conscious Gardening
Nina has a deep passion for the Earth and growing food within comunity settings. Keeping children connected to Nature is important for grounding, relieving stress and healing. Working with nature also empowers children's creativity and their understanding of the natural cycles around them.
Nina is Head Gardener at Learning Stars and runs Forest school workshops with the children. Nina believes relationships are key to child development and teaches the children to grow, nurture and respect plants.
She is devoted to promoting healthy eating and engages the children in cooking and eating the food they have grown, as well as making veggie boxes to take home to their families.
Reza Pazoki
Drumming Circles & Music Therapy
Reza Pazoki is a dedicated Community Music Therapist and founder of Drumunity CIC. This pioneering initiative has been instrumental in delivering transformative workshops tailored to a diverse audience, including for special needs children and adults, nursing homes, schools and nurseries.
Drumunity deeply believes in the remarkable healing potential of music, particularly when it unites individuals in the joy of collaborative music-making.
Over the past seven years, Reza and his dedicated colleagues have had the privilege of collaborating with Learning Stars Montessori. This partnership has not only been immensely fulfilling but also incredibly rewarding, offering them the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of the nursery's young learners and their families.