ALLANIAN dancer and passionate teacher Kayleigh Oborka-Letman has joined the Schools as a full time Graduate Sports Assistant to support pupils of all ages during PE lessons and co-curricular activities.

Miss Oborka-Letman, who attended Dame Allan’s between 2011 and 2018, already played a key role in the Schools’ dance department having taught contemporary dance to students on a part-time basis for more than a year.

Her new role will see her assist pupils during games and sport activities – from dance and yoga through to hockey, netball, and multisports – and help increase pupil engagement and enjoyment of sport. She will support lessons, coaching sessions, co-curricular clubs and fixtures, as well as taking on administrative tasks and promoting professional standards of punctuality, discipline and sportsmanship among all pupils.

“The sports and dance departments have designed a fantastic schedule that allows me to be engaged with both simultaneously – so I can be an approachable assistant during PE  lessons, helping pupils explore their own sporting interests, and a dance teacher in the studio,” she said.

After taking her A Levels in 2018, Miss Oborka-Letman achieved a diploma with distinction in contemporary dance from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, in London. She then completed a BA (Hons) in Professional Dance at Dance City, in Newcastle.

During her studies, the 22-year-old performed with choreographer Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures dance-theatre company at the premiere of Romeo and Juliet, at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal.

She began dancing at a young age and, when at Dame Allan’s, performed in both the Jeune and Vizaviz dance companies. As a teenager, she took part in Dance City’s Foundation Training Programme and Centre for Advanced Training, and trained with the Gateway Youth Group’s dance company, in Gateshead.

“It’s largely thanks to Dame Allan’s Schools that I’ve had the opportunity to engage with some of the top choreographers in the industry,” she said. “The school has been a huge support to me during my early professional career and I feel so fortunate to now be working here.

“Teaching has always been a passion of mine, so to come back to my own school, where I was incredibly happy, has been the most exciting experience. Seeing the children’s energy and enthusiasm toward learning has been very rewarding.”