Live portrait painting demo with Anastasia Pollard

Posted: 24th October 2017

On Tuesday 17th October 2017 Anastasia Pollard came to St Augustine’s Priory to give staff and students a live 4-hour portrait painting demonstration. Anastasia studied at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Florence Academy of Art. Her work has been seen in the annual exhibitions of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and was previously included in the BP Portrait Award in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012. Our Head of Art, Miss Eng, tells us about her visit:

“Having been to the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, I was delighted to come across events at Cass Art Islington where artists from the competition were demonstrating their painting. I went to one of Anastasia’s live demonstrations over the summer and had said to myself that I would check in on her painting every hour to see how it progressed. I ended up sitting motionless for four hours watching each brush stroke!

I wanted to share this experience with our GCSE and A Level girls who are at various stages in learning to use oil paints, and I could see that they too were mesmerised by Anastasia’s process. She was so informative, and taught us about her colour mixing process, her materials, and lots of tips about painting ‘alla prima’ (wet-on-wet paint in one sitting), which the girls noted down and took photos of.  I know that they will find this useful within their artistic careers.

Thank you to Anastasia, and our model Peter Hall for this wonderful experience. We were also so grateful to receive the painting as a present at the end, so that future students can be inspired!”

Categories: Senior Sixth Form Whole School
Strengthening Our Community: The Return of Boys to our Preps and Pre-Preps

We are excited to share that, from September 2026, boys will begin moving up from our Nursery into Reception, marking the gradual reintroduction of boys into our Prep and Pre-Prep School.

This step reflects growing interest from families who value our strong holistic ethos and unique grounds and setting and would like their sons and daughters to share their educational journey together.

At St Augustine’s, our strong sense of community, academic excellence, and deep care for each individual child remain at the heart of everything we do. This is a natural evolution of our school rather than a change to who we are, building on our strengths and allowing us to offer the same joyful, inspiring education to even more children.

Interested in learning more about our school?
Join us for one of our upcoming Open Days! You can book your visit via the Admissions section of our website.

  • Prep & Pre-Preps Open Day – School in Action (Nursery to Year 6)
    Tuesday, 23rd September
    10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

  • Senior School Open Day (Year 7 and above)
    Saturday, 20th September
    10:00 AM – 12:00 PM