Staff Profile: Emma Lewis, Year 2 Teaching Assistant

Hi, I am Emma Lewis and I am a Teaching Assistant in Year 2. I am happily married and have 2 amazing children who both attend BIS Abu Dhabi in Year 6 (my son, leuan) and Year 4 (my daughter, Ffion). Both Ieuan and Ffion (I call them Ieu and Ffi, for short) are very fit and play a lot of different sports, so I spend a lot of my time being a taxi for them, which I do not mind because they are healthy and happy.

I come from a town in England called Burton-Upon-Trent, named because it is located on the river Trent that runs through the middle of the country. Burton is right in the centre of England, surrounded by beautiful countryside that the family love to walk in, when we visit during the school holidays. Burton is where I grew up and called home for 37 years, before moving to the Middle East in 2015.

When I left school at 16, I went to college and trained to be a sports therapist. At 19 years old I opened a business with my friend called ‘Hall of Peace’ after securing funding from a special charity scheme set up by Prince Charles, called the Prince’s Trust. I loved being a sports therapist but I had a strong desire to share knowledge and help people through education, so I went back to college to attain teaching qualifications.  

My first teaching job was at Burton College teaching sports therapy. After a few years I was asked if I wanted to join a different department teaching first aid. First aid has always been a passion of mine since I was a lifeguard in college. I loved this new teaching position, so educating both adults and children in first aid became my world for the next 20 years, allowing me to travel all over the UK.  In 2010 I set up my own company teaching first aid which is still running to date. Through the business I have been fortunate enough to create a first aid syllabus specifically for children as young as 4 years old that I rolled out in local schools in the UK and Kuwait. I also designed and delivered a programme for the maids and nannies of children at a number of schools which was well received.

Up until 2015 I had never lived anywhere other than my home town of Burton until an opportunity came up for my husband to move to Kuwait. So even though this was the scariest thing we have ever done, we took the leap as a family and spent three happy years there. It was in Kuwait I decided to try something new and work at the school as a teaching assistant. I absolutely fell in love with the job and the children with whom I had the privilege to work with. More recently in 2018, another opportunity crossed our path and we were delighted to take an opportunity to move to Abu Dhabi and we have had a very happy 18 months so far.  

Since moving to the Middle East, we have enjoyed travelling to see different places all around the region and further afield like America. One of our favourite places is the Maldives. We love to try new things as a family and because of the lovely weather out here we have found a love for stand-up paddle boarding. I also really enjoy reading and exercising.

I joined the BIS Abu Dhabi family in September 2019 and love that it encapsulates a family community feel, developing the whole child rather than pure academia. I am very proud to be part of the team.

Emma Lewis