LIFE WIRRAL APPOINTS SARAH QUILTY
Last year , as many of the more attractive aspects of life were all but paralysed by the Covid-19 pandemic , Sarah Quilty landed what she now happily describes as her " dream job ." Following completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern European Languages , Sarah travelled the world for a couple of years as a flight attendant for Virgin Atlantic Airways . Just over 20 years later , with a wealth of experience within the education sector under her belt , Sarah has arrived at LIFE Wirral Sports School - not so much a flight away from her family home in Wallasey but more of a stone ' s throw .
Sarah is the Headteacher at LIFE , one of the country ' s newest independent Sports Schools which is based in New Brighton .
After months of preparatory work the hugely ambitious project recently underwent - and passed with flying colours - a thorough Ofsted examination and has now been given the green light by the Department for Education to open its doors to pupils between the ages of 11 and 18 who wish to combine specialist teaching with world-class sports coaching . " This is really wonderful news " said Sarah . " The team we have assembled has been working tirelessly over the past few months in readiness for this day ."
LIFE - Learning Individualised For Everyone - is a small independent school where children with sporting talent and potential will be offered high-quality education running parallel with elite human performance coaching .
" I am very excited about my future at LIFE because I can see there is real potential to make a huge and lasting impact on the lives of our students . I have already seen the difference this programme can make to the lives of young people and I truly believe in its aims and aspirations ," she said . " We really have come a long way in a very short space of time and I simply cannot wait to see LIFE grow and flourish . I have an incredible team of talented professionals around me and I have no doubts at all that this is something special in the making ," she added .
Sarah ’ s career in education has seen her work with all age groups from age 6 months old to adulthood . Sarah began working as a primary school teacher after completing her PGCE and was quickly appointed in a SENCo position . She was working on a senior leadership team early on in her career and then qualified to teach children with specific learning difficulties , an area she is truly passionate about . Having opted to take time out to have her three children , Sarah wasted no time in taking on a drama franchise . Her reasons being to broaden her knowledge and understanding of language development in babies and infants , working solely with toddlers to seven year olds . Sarah became a permanent fixture in Wirral nursery schools , Sure Start Centres and primary schools . Simultaneously , she took on a position at the opposite end of the spectrum with a teaching role within adult and family learning , working with families , devising programmes to enable parents to support their children and providing parents with basic literacy and numeracy skills . In 2014 , Sarah returned to primary school teaching but this time in a special school working as a literacy specialist within an outreach team . During this time , she completed a Master of Arts degree in Advanced
Educational Practice and a National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership ( NPQSL ). She was employed by Wirral ’ s Special Educational Needs Advice and Assessment Team ( SENAAT ), working in both primary and secondary schools and dividing her working week between her two roles - teaching and assessing .
With her wealth of experience , Sarah has no doubts about the viability and sustainability of a school which in many ways bucks the national trend by combining traditional education with sports coaching .
" I first met LIFE ' s CEO Alastair Saverimutto at the start of the lockdown last year when I was asked to work with a student in his care ," said Sarah . " I was delivering four hours of dyslexia teaching a week and , to be honest , I did wonder how the academic would sit alongside a predominantly sport based curriculum .
" However , I was blown away by the student ’ s response . From the outset he was engaged , focussed and motivated to be the very best version of himself . A few weeks in and I knew that the skills he was learning in his sport were transferring across in a positive way into his academic studies .
" I have worked with many secondary age students over the years , but I had not seen this sort of response before . Sport was enabling the student to be both physically and mentally healthy . He was ready to learn - keen to learn - and that coupled with the focus , drive and resolve he had gained from his sport coaching really did provide a winning formula . Our extensive Sport Package provides our students with the best possible chance to achieve their sporting goals . Each day they are encouraged to do their very best - to aim for the stars if you like . They will all have access to the very best in training facilities and will be mentored by highly-skilled coaches who specialise in a number of popular sports . We aim to inspire our students to lead a healthy , happy and productive life and for sport to be a big part of this . We intend to use the vehicle of sport in its varying forms to help them understand the importance of hard work ," she added .
Despite an unapologetic emphasis on the physical wellbeing of LIFE ' s pupils Sarah is keen to stress that they will receive the very highest calibre of academic teaching .
" Our curriculum will offer accreditation of learning programmes from KS3 through to GCSEs and BTECs in KS4 and KS5 . In addition , we promote the mastery of the core subjects such as English , Maths and Science . We aim to provide the complete package for both body and mind .
" In addition to the core subjects students will also be able to access a wide range of learning opportunities which support the curriculum including extensive sports training , sport psychology , yoga and even cooking .
" Our ambition for all our pupils is for them to learn and develop their social skills so that they can embed and apply their learning to create
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