Spotlight on: Miss Emms, Head of PE

When did you join Hallfield?

September 2018.

Where were you before you joined Hallfield?

I came to Hallfield after spending a couple of years out in Dubai teaching at the Repton Dubai school. I do miss the weather and the weekend beach/pool trips! Prior to that, I was at Winterfold House School in Chaddesley Corbett.

What made you want to become a teacher?

I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a child. I would play “school” with my younger sister where I would always be the teacher! My first experience of proper teaching was when I got my first swimming teaching qualification at 14. I continued to teach swimming throughout my school, college and university years and never looked back!

What is your favourite topic(s) to teach and why?

That’s a really difficult question as I enjoy teaching so many sports. Each time we change topic I’m always disappointed to have finished one sport, but then excited to begin the next. It’s always so interesting to see how different children excel in different areas of the sports curriculum. I truly believe there is at least one sport for everyone.

How does your subject enhance a child’s curriculum / development?

Sport is vital for so many skills in life. Not only is health and fitness essential for everyone throughout their life, but sport also focuses on a lot of “soft skills” which are key in any career. I was lucky enough to be present in a careers talk with one of our Hallfield parents who is an investment banker, and hearing the qualities they are looking for in candidates such as communication, teamwork, leadership, and motivation – which are all integral to the sports curriculum – made me realise how many essential skills we develop.

What careers would your subject be useful for?

As I mentioned, sports develop a lot of soft skills needed in any career. However, if you were to go on to study Sport specifically at a high level, it can lead to many careers such as a physiologist, sports psychologist, nutritionist, sports therapist, to name just a few.

What does an average day at Hallfield look like for you?

Very busy! My day with the children usually starts at 8am with a before school club. I then teach a mixture of PE and Games lessons throughout the day from Foundation through to the Seniors. My last lessons of the day are always a Games session for Prep which may be a fixture, home or away. Of course, there is a lot of admin and organisation behind the scenes as well to prepare for events and the upcoming term’s fixtures.

What do you love most about Hallfield?

Hallfield has a lot to offer. We have fantastic facilities and grounds for Sports which make it a joy to teach. The best part of the job is always the children. There is nothing better than seeing a child grow in confidence and skills, especially seeing them blossom over the years as they progress through the school.

What hobbies / interests do you have outside of school?

I enjoy keeping active and watching sports. I greatly enjoyed the Commonwealth Games this summer and went to as many different events as I could. I think we were all proud of Birmingham, and the legacy of the games is bringing through the next generation of sport enthusiasts, whether they be players or supporters.

What’s one of your proudest achievements at Hallfield so far?

Over the past 2 years, we’ve turned our attention to girls’ football. We run a successful club on a Tuesday morning before school on the all-weather, and on a Friday lunchtime in the Sports Hall. Any girl can come along, they just need trainers! We also do football lessons for Year 5 girls in Games time in the second half of the Autumn Term. I have been in contact with all the other Prep schools we play in hopes of fixtures, but we are the only ones that do girls’ football.

So instead, I reached out to all the local state schools and hosted a successful football tournament at Hallfield last year which I plan on repeating this year. I am proud that we are trailblazers in this area, especially off the back of the Women’s Euros win this summer. The message was loud and clear that the future of women’s football is in grassroots, and it is our responsibility to inspire the next generation and ensure we are giving them the opportunities the previous generation did not. I think that’s an important factor across all sports.