About myself and my Ambition

My name is Emily Walton and I am currently a third year ‘Drama: Education and Community’ student at York St John. I have accepted a place on the Ebor Hope Alliance’s, Schools direct PGCE Drama programme starting in September. As I consider being a secondary school teacher as my future profession, this PGCE programme will enable me to grow, as well as learn the skills, tools and fundamental steps to becoming a successful and inspiring teacher. Through this professional portfolio, I aim to denote my values and experiences within and outside of university practices in relation to Drama and teaching.

Outside of Uni related work

Outside of set university hours, I have begun to facilitate a weekly two-hour session in cheer-leading. I have always had a passion for this sport and wish to inspire the next generation of cheerleaders. This takes place at All Stars Performing Arts academy with pupils between the ages of 6 and 12. Although this involves me facilitating a sport rather than the national curriculum, I believe it is still massively beneficial to my experiences of facilitating. This is through working with younger, different pupils as every child is different so I am challenged to know how to cater to everyone’s needs. This opportunity also allows me to reach my teaching goal which is to watch pupils grow and develop through my own teachings. Similar to a school’s curriculum from September – July there is constant targets that need to be met, cheer-leading follows the same pattern. We start with learning the basics of stunts, jumps and tumbles then gradually you build up to a final routine. Therefore, by having this experience before going into teaching full time in September, I am expanding my practice of a taking pupils on a journey starting from little knowledge and understanding to a finished product.