For this week's Teacher Feature, we bring you a delightful interview with Mr Samuel Hayes, our beloved PE teacher.

Mr Hayes has always had a strong passion for sport, representing his native Wales at cricket and tennis as a junior. He studied Physical Education & Sports Development at the University of Worcester before working as a tennis coach in Greece and Turkey. In recent years, a desire to travel and work abroad saw him continue his work as a PE Teacher in the UK, China and Italy, joining us from an international school in Milan that is part of a global group of schools.

Briefly describe your journey as a teacher.

Having been passionate about and heavily involved in sport from a young age, I decided to study Physical Education at the University of Worcester in the UK. Moving away from playing sports, to teaching and developing others was something I hugely enjoyed and upon graduating, I began working in schools in North Wales. Travel has always been another of my great passions and I first had the opportunity to combine travelling and teaching in China, before subsequently teaching in Italy and now Slovenia.

Why did you decide to specialise in physical education?

Throughout my childhood, I was a sports obsessive. When other students at school were chatting about cartoons or movies, I would also be far more interested in cricket scores and golf leaderboards! I was fortunate enough to represent my native Wales at both tennis and cricket as a junior and my love of all sports encouraged me to pursue a career in Physical Education.

What makes BISL such a unique place to work?

The positive and supportive atmosphere at BISL makes it a great place to work and all of the students have a fantastic attitude to learning. Being able to deliver a varied PE curriculum, ranging from Early Years through to Year 11 makes every day stimulating and unique.

How would you describe a typical day at BISL?

After arriving at school, I always do the check before heading to 10A for form time, where we get stuck into the activities for the day. Then our commute to Ludus begins - alongside Ms Fairchild and/or Mr Černi - where we brave the weather conditions to commence the morning PE lessons. Throughout the day, we see a range of year groups, always looking to make lessons as entertaining and energetic as possible, allowing students to immerse themselves into PE. Although the weekly timetable broadly remains similar, no two days at BISL are the same, which makes it such an engaging place to work.

Why is the experience of an international education important for a student?

Having an international education enables students to broaden their horizons and to embrace other cultures from a young age. Living and learning in an international environment presents students with the opportunity to build relationships with people from all over the world and these experiences can help shape students’ lives moving forward.

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