Wealden Times | WT225 | Jan & Feb 2021| Education supplement inside

Education Supplement sponsored by
Meet the P.E. Pros
We get to know two P.E. teachers that were once professional sports people – Mark Howell, Director of Sport
and Head of Rugby at Sutton Valence School and Emily Starr, Assistant Director of Sport at Mayfield School
Why did you become a sports teacher?
I am a former Police Sergeant and played rugby
professionally prior to that. I have always had
a passion for education and sport and as I
crept towards 30, I decided the time was right
to make the change of career. I am glad to
say I have loved every minute of working in
education. To do something you love every day
makes my job the best in the world in my eyes!
I took up cricket when I was nine, when the
girls from my football team were short of a
player for their cricket team. The rest, as they
say, is history. I went on to represent England
at the U19 Indoor Cricket World Cup as well
as Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. I
wouldn’t have played sport to the level I did if
it wasn’t for my PE teachers and I wanted to
be that role model, the reason someone takes
up a sport or raises their performance level.
We were right
to entrust The
New Beacon
with these
How do you keep your
important years
pupils motivated?
in our child’s
It is highly important, even on the darkest,
education.
wettest of mornings, to be positive. I am lucky
in that I am a positive person and I try and
PARENT relay that 2018 to my pupils. Some do need more
motivation than others and once you identify
this, it is about giving them the opportunities to
participate, succeed and – most importantly –
have fun. If pupils can enjoy sport and physical
activity, then self-motivation will follow.
The last year has been more challenging, as I
find a lot of the girls thrive on competition.
As a school we have focused on ensuring
core skills are developed. The girls
have seen the benefit of this when
we played competitive games
internally last year. In PE I try to
make the lessons as enjoyable
as possible. It is about
developing a positive
mindset – once they are
enjoying PE, you can then
start to focus on core skills.
svs.org.uk
“
Who are your two biggest
sporting heroes?
They aren’t household names, but nobody
comes close when I think of those who have
influenced me. The first is my father, for
being an amazing role model, introducing
me to sport and following me all around the
country when I played rugby. He’s my biggest
supporter and someone I go to for advice.
The second is a gentleman called Keith Day
who was my rugby coach when I played for
Swansea Under 15s. He led us to winning
the Welsh National Dewar Shield and taught
me the power of sport to change lives for the
better. I made some of the most incredible
memories working under Mr Day and learnt
from him a great deal about how to get the
best out of the pupils I work with now.
Andrew Flintoff and Charlotte Edwards. After
watching the 2005 Ashes series I wanted to
bowl and bat like Freddie – I even copied his
celebration when I got a wicket. His intent,
attitude and passion were incredible. Charlotte
Edwards was England Women’s Captain at
the time I started taking cricket seriously.
Her resilience at the crease when batting
and the way she led the England Women’s
Team to two World Cup wins and an Ashes
win was unbelievable. I strive to inspire
these qualities in the girls at Mayfield and
encourage them to work hard and aim high.
What’s the most unusual and
adventurous sport
you’ve ever tried?
Kabaddi – it’s a contact sport played between
two teams of seven. The objective is for a
single player on offense (the ‘raider’) to run
into the opposing team’s half of the court,
tag out as many of defenders as possible,
and return to their own half of the court,
all without being tackled by the defenders,
and in a single breath. I urge you to watch
it on YouTube – it’s tremendous fun!
​Tchoukball – it’s the fastest hand ball sport
in the world! It was invented in the late
1960s by Swiss biologist Dr Hermann
Brandt, who wanted to create a sport that
reduced injuries, wasn’t aggressive, and
enabled people of all shapes, sizes, genders,
cultures, and backgrounds to play together.
What’s been your proudest moment
whilst teaching at your school?
In March 2020 our 1st XV Rugby team
reached the final of the National Schools Vase
Under 18 final. The final was to be played
at Twickenham but, due to Covid-19, it was
cancelled. It was immensely disappointing
not to play and take the entire school to the
home of rugby, but to see the cup run catch
the imagination of the school was quite
incredible. We had never reached such a
national rugby final before, and I will never
forget the 500+ people watching the hardfought
semi-final win. That match and the
days that followed were extremely humbling
and made me unbelievably proud to have
built something so powerful and positive.
Cricket was only introduced as
a sport at Mayfield in 2017, so
I was delighted when seven
girls were selected for the
Sussex CCC programme
last year. I’m also incredibly
proud that the school has
just been named as one
of the UK’s top 20 all-girls
schools for cricket by The
Cricketer Schools Guide 2021.
mayfieldgirls.org
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