Our presenters

Thorn Richards is a jeweller and tutor experienced in a number of techniques including fabrication, lost wax methods and sand-casting, working in copper, brass, bronzes and silver.

They hold a Masters in Fine Arts and Post-Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts from Massey University Wellington, and a Bachelors in Visual Arts from Dunedin School of Art.

Thorn loves teaching and mentoring jewellers along their making journey and has tutored hundreds of jewellers in a variety of classes in Te Whanganui-A-Tara Wellington over the past 4 years.

Thorn’s own jewellery work combines casting and fabrication techniques to transform organic forms into wearable treasures.
Examples of Thorn’s creations can be found here 

Tony graduated from Auckland University with a masters degree with 1^st Class Honours in Spanish and Italian. 

At school and at University, he received awards for his accomplishments in Spanish.  In the era of School Certificate, Tony’s adult students were among the best performing students in NZ.

He has travelled throughout the Spanish speaking world and has taught English in Madrid.  

Tony is passionate about teaching Spanish and has been involved with a number of students for whom learning Spanish has been a life-changing experience.   The purpose of all the classes is to build within the student a confidence and an ability to convey meaning in Spanish and to be able to understand, in broad terms, what local people are saying in reply.  The learning journey is about not worrying about making a mistake, but simply enjoying the thrill of successfully being able to convey what you want and who you are in a language that is beautiful to the ear, and relatively speaking, less difficult than others to master. 

Be able to order a wine, chat about NZ and who you are, book a bus and chat to the person you are sitting next to on it, all from the comfort of your Wellington High School classroom.

Tony Yuile is a certified life coach, clinical hypnotherapist and Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Master Practitioner.

Following a 30 year career as a chartered accountant and risk management specialist, Tony began his coaching career in 2013. He helps individuals to harness the power of their mind to achieve success and well-being in life, work and business.

Tony's particular area of expertise lies in mind management - helping people to 'change their minds' so they gain freedom from worry, anxiety and stress, overcome limiting beliefs and unhelpful habits.

Tony’s solution focused approach uses a range of techniques drawn from the fields of solution focused coaching, neuroscience, positive psychology, mindfulness and clinical hypnosis. His website is www.tycoaching.nz

Tzvetelina (“Lina”) is a professional cake artist with over 20 years’ experience in hospitality and custom cake design. Through her business, Flowerlina’s Cakes & Crafts, she offers fun, hands-on cake decorating classes.

Join her class at Wellington High School Community Education Centre and learn how to build a cake as you develop techniques such as wielding a palette knife, buttercream piping, fondant sculpting, and sugar flowers — no experience needed! 

See Lina’s work on Instagram at  https://www.instagram.com/flowerlinas_cakes_and_crafts/

Vanitha Loganathan moved from Malaysia to Wellington 2 years ago to live with her husband. She is a trained teacher who holds a degree in Teaching English as a Second Language with Distinction.  She also completed CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) in Wellington.  

When she was in Malaysia, she was teaching English in schools for 18 years. She also gave private English lessons to adults who wanted to improve their communication skills. Her participation in the Native Speakers Programme for 5 years, conducted by mentors from Canada, helped her get a better insight of how lessons overseas are conducted. She has since been incorporating the ideas to make her lessons fun and meaningful.

As a passionate teacher, she is always keen in developing students' English language skills. She believes in creating a conducive environment and carrying out interesting activities to encourage her students to participate actively and learn at their own pace through practice and self-discovery, thus developing their self-confidence.

Vanitha also loves to write. She has written a few stories on how she rescued street dogs in Malaysia and the stories were published in a leading local English daily there.

I am a registered psychologist with the goal of supporting young people to thrive and live with vitality and joy. 

My aim is to support parents to navigate their challenges and truly “tune into their teens”

Veronika Poddubska is a passionate baker with a deep expertise in dough preparation, baking theory, and regional bread traditions. Originally from Odessa, Ukraine, Veronika’s culinary roots stem from a multicultural background rich in diverse bread styles. Her hands-on dedication to the craft led her to win the 2022 Le Cordon Bleu New Zealand Boulangerie Competition, relying on traditional techniques, instincts, and patience over stand mixers.

After completing her Advanced Diploma in Boulangerie in 2023, Veronika went on to work in some of Wellington’s well-known bakeries and hospitality establishments, gaining valuable experience across artisan bread production, recipe development, and professional kitchen environments. Alongside her work as a production baker and recipe developer, she enjoys sharing the art and tactile therapy of working with yeast-based doughs.

Veronika creates a supportive, encouraging learning environment where students build confidence in their baking skills. Her classes emphasize tactile intuition, problem-solving in the kitchen, and understanding the “why” behind each step in the baking process.

You can follow Veronika online to keep up-to-date with her latest baking adventures on her Instagram account 

Warwick has recently returned from living in Australia, where he taught English to migrants and refugees at TAFE (equivalent to the New Zealand Polytechnic). He also worked as a teacher trainer, training Australians in Australia, Turkey, and Vietnam. Prior to that, in New Zealand, Warwick taught English to migrants and refugees at the Auckland University of Technology. This included teaching General English, English for Starting a Small Business in New Zealand, English for Computing, and English for the Workplace.

How did his career start? While travelling overseas, he found himself teaching English in Cairo, Egypt. Warwick's thirst for adventure has led him to jump out of planes all over the world, take up white collar boxing and set up a language school in Bulgaria. More recently he undertook a 15,000 km road trip around Australia with his 12 year old son, on a Russian Ural motorbike with a sidecar.

Warwick is also a writer of fiction (thriller romance), and is exploring audio book recording.

Warwick said, “My students will learn and have fun doing so, even if it is in the evening after a hard day's work.”

His qualifications include : RSA CELTA, DipAdultTertEd, MA TESOL, MACommSt (Hons) 

Will Allardice started playing guitar at school, learning classical and pop tunes and after university, completed Trinity classical grades and began teaching Saturday morning classes.

He has now taught guitar, electric bass, ukulele, and mandolin at schools and privately in the Wellington region for over 25 years.    His interest in music/guitar ranges from early classical to the present day so Will has an extensive collection of teaching material and expertise.