Testimonials
Through twilights and a series of team teaching opportunities tailored to our staff development needs, Emma has been a great support in developing the PE skills and knowledge of staff. Emma’s enthusiasm really inspires staff to give things a go with their classes. She presents ideas in a accessible way contributing to staff’s engagement.The focus on gymnastics and dance progression was particularly useful, reflected in the feedback from staff. It is an excellent use of the PE premium as it has developed staff confidence in delivering high-quality PE throughout our school.Bryn Gibson, Headteacher Harwell Primary School
Emma has worked with classes across the school, focusing mainly on dance where we really valued her support. She planned interesting and engaging activities linked to class topics, including a lovely unit of work on historical dances from the 1940s which Year Six enjoyed alongside their World War Two topic. Planning was thorough and clearly communicated to the class teachers, with opportunities for input throughout. Emma quickly established positive relationships with the children, particularly in encouraging pupils who were reluctant to have a go at something new. We are looking forward to working with Emma next term on a wider range of PE now that she has got our school dancing!
I am currently in my NQT year in a year 3 class and our school has been working closely with Emma to receive support on the teaching of PE. Coming into my NQT year, PE was probably the subject I felt the least confident in. However, working with Emma has changed that. She has provided so many fantastic ideas for all sorts of different lessons and has adapted them all to suit the topic we are studying and the specific needs of my pupils. She has given me the confidence to teach a variety of PE lessons and taught me the knowledge to ensure my children have a great experience of different PE lessons, as well as enjoying it. She is incredibly helpful and is able to answer any questions I have had and provided me with some really great resources to support my lessons. I feel that since working with Emma, my teaching of PE has greatly improved and the children in my class are getting so much out of it and throughly enjoying every lesson we do! Thank you Emma!
Jasmine Longworth, NQT, Harwell Primary School
Emma has taken my Year 1 class for P.E. many times now and she never fails to impress me. She gets to know the children very quickly and adapts her lessons to suit their differing needs and abilities. Sometimes I observe the lesson, which allows me a rare opportunity to really watch my class, and at other times, we team teach. Although I have been a teacher for many years, Emma has given me fresh ideas and approaches, which I am very excited to try out by myself. The class has benefited hugely from Emma’s input and she has also contributed to my professional development and teaching confidence.
“I really like the music and the wriggly moves.”
Just to say that all of the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves, myself very much included!In particular the session where children were in girl/boy partners allowed them to be pushed out of their comfort zone ever so slightly and still achieve a wonderful end result.Not only this but in the session that involved using movements from different Olympic sports, those children that were previously disengaged with the dance sessions were able to come to the forefront and really feel comfortable in joining in – without even knowing they were dancing!
“We like to do the dances at play-time.”
Emma worked with Year 5 last term choreographing two dances: Space and Revolting Rhyme. The children were asked to think about words relating the topic and how they could be used in dance. Individual, partner and group work was done and brought together to create a wonderfully imaginative dance.Quotes from the children“Fun because you made up bits yourself and added them to some choreographed pieces.”“We were still learning about Revolting Rhymes when we did our dance so this helped us understand it more.”“For our Space dance we could incorporate what we had learnt in the classroom. It was so much fun.”Words class described the dance sessions as:Exciting, Enthusiastic teacher, Freestyle, ‘Revolting’ as used in the rhymes! Fabulous, Breathtaking, Awesome, Spectacular, Calming, Fascinating, Imaginative, Creative, Exercising, ‘OK’ cause I don’t really like danceJanet Arkell TA Kidmore End Year 5
Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed their series of dance lessons. The sequence fitted perfectly with our topic work and drew on familiar images and vocabulary that linked with the children’s prior learning. They were able to express themselves as individuals, and through collaborative group and paired work. All the children thoroughly enjoyed it and were proud of their final performance.
Jo Salt, Year 3, Kidmore End Primary School
“We have been very lucky to have Emma teach us dance over the last 6 weeks. Her lessons are well-planned, suitably differentiated and most importantly really good fun. Emma takes great care in meeting the desired brief and she is punctual and professional at all times. The children have enjoyed learning dance with Emma and I too have picked up a few new moves.”
“Mrs Seymour worked closely with teachers, developing and extending their knowledge and confidence in the teaching of dance. The teaching staff all stated that they had made progress in the teaching of dance. Mrs Seymour was very professional and thorough in her planning and communication with teachers. The children responded well to the sessions. I would recommend Mrs Seymour as a dance teacher.”