Hi Everyone, I’m, Jem! 

From the age of four, I wanted to be a teacher. There’s a video of me, looking like little Annie saying how ‘I want to make learning fun for everyone’. Looking back, it breaks my heart that I had so many years to come in an educational setting; which is why I continue to stick to the promise I made myself all those years ago. 

I began this journey at sixteen as a youth worker, I wanted to be the person I didn’t have when I was younger. This led me to create ‘Positively Sunshine’ during my undergraduate degree running sessions in various Day Centres across Merseyside. I felt so many people who would really benefit from the arts, especially to support communication and confidence skills were unable access them. So I did my best to bring as much as I could, in a way everyone could be a part of!

With a first class degree in Creative and Performing Arts, I continued my journey back to the classroom as a Teaching Assistant in SEN schools. I wanted to get as much experience as possible before my PGCE, working through from Early Years to Post 16 it took me 7 years to leave the pupils I’d built such strong relationships with.  

Completing my SEN PGCE with a First Class, I returned to the school I had left as a TA. I was able to combine all the skills and experience I’d gained over the years to support pupils in a way which was, fun, engaging and beneficial to them as an individual. I love to learn and with teaching, you learn every single day. Whether it be a new fact, more about the pupils or even things about yourself.  

It was a pupil of mine who first asked me if I’d been diagnosed because ‘I just get them’ and that’s when everything clicked and after a long wait, I finally got my ADHD and Autism diagnosis. This confirmed that I definitely needed to be the person I didn’t have when I was younger. I decided to leave the classroom and become a EOTAS teacher. I wanted to give pupils who loved to learn the chance to learn in a way they love.  

Then I discovered MindJam, the perfect hybrid of everything I needed in the past and wanted for the future. As well as an avid fan of the arts, I am an avid gamer and have over 5000 hours on The Sims 4 alone, let’s not talk about Minecraft! Games are a place I feel safe in the escapism and being able to share that with someone is a magical place to start!  

I am DBS checked and up-to-date with training in safeguarding, online education safeguarding, data protection, child mental health awareness, PDA, ASD, ADHD and ASDAN amongst other relevant training.