Who is Jigsaw PSHE?

Jan taught for 16 years from pre-school in America to a range of contexts in the UK from Primary to sixth form, managing RE (Religious Education) and PSHE (Personal, Social, Health Education) departments and pastoral care programmes.

10 years as a Local Authority School Improvement Adviser, leading government projects from Healthy Schools to Targeted Mental Health in Schools, and working with schools across the UK and internationally, has given Jan many opportunities to develop programmes relating mental and emotional health to learning.

She is also a qualified Counsellor and Psychotherapist, and brought these areas of expertise together to create Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE (for ages 3-16) https://www.jigsawpshe.com now reaching over 2 million children worldwide.

She is passionate about doing all she can to improve the life chances of children and young people by empowering them to build and sustain their mental health and to love learning.

In 2020 her work was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, when she was awarded an MBE for Services to Education and children’s mental health.

Phil’s career in education spans 30 years and 3 continents. As a teacher, senior leader and Headteacher Phil has had the privilege of seeing the development of children in England, Scotland, China, the Middle East and Singapore in Primary, Middle and All-Through settings.

As a former pastoral lead and Head of RE as well as a Head for 16 years, Phil is passionate about improving the lives of children through an understanding of the approaches that form the core of the Jigsaw philosophy and mission. 

Phil and his wife went to Beijing with no pets and returned with the two most expensive street dogs in the world. They replaced his three, now grown-up, children. When he’s not walking the dogs in the countryside, he will be found watching rugby or cricket.

Rebecca, a former primary school teacher, is passionate about wellbeing and has enjoyed teaching Jigsaw for the last few years. Prior to teaching, she worked in a variety of roles within customer service for many years. Rebecca also spent time working abroad as a scuba diving instructor. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, keeping fit and attempting to play golf.

Jo has over 30 years business experience and has always been very much a people person.

Jo has 4 Sons and 7 Grandchildren. In her spare time, she loves to go to watch her team (Arsenal). She also loves watching live bands and to go dancing (ceroc and ballroom).

I have a degree in Sociology and PGCE in Primary Education, with over 10 years teaching experience across both KS1 and KS2. I have experienced first-hand the joys, issues and pressures in schools and am proud to be helping teachers prioritise children’s emotional literacy and well-being through Jigsaw.

Outside of work, my hobbies include trying to get my children to eat more vegetables, weekend country walks to the pub and practicing yoga.

Louise, a former primary school teacher of 25 years, has a degree in Valuation and Estate Management, various teaching qualifications including Montessori diplomas and QTS.

As an ex-Assistant Head and Child Protection Officer she has experienced first-hand the need for a robust PSHE and well-being programme in schools and for families.  She is also a strong advocate for promoting independent learning and strong mental health in children which makes working for Jigsaw an ideal job. 

In her down time, she loves reading and walking, her fur baby Frank, and travelling with her husband and sons.

Philippa graduated from St Mary’s University with a BA in Primary Education and has over 10 years’ experience as a primary school teacher. Philippa is now proud to be a part of the Jigsaw team, working with schools to champion children’s well-being and support teachers in their delivery of the PSHE curriculum. In her free time, Philippa enjoys going to the theatre, browsing antiques and long walks in nature.

Ruth graduated from the University of Sheffield with a degree in Law, before completing a PGCE in Primary Education at Bath Spa. After teaching for 5 years, Ruth decided that she wanted a new challenge, and having seen the positive impact of using Jigsaw in the classroom, was keen to join the Jigsaw team. Outside of work, Ruth enjoys spending time with her family and friends, as well as reading and going on long walks exploring her local area.

Registered General Nurse (RGN)

During a 39 year career in health, Sue has worked in Public Health for Bournemouth and Poole PCT, has been a Health Improvement Manager for Dorset Healthcare where she managed seven Sexual Health Services as well as the Stop Smoking Service. Sue also developed Sex and Relationships Education for schools across Dorset and established the Bournemouth and Poole Chlamydia Screening Service.

Sue believes passionately in informing young people about personal, social and health education and that Jigsaw PSHE delivers the information and knowledge in an informative way.

She is a very keen gardener and loves to travel having recently visited Venice, Singapore and travelled extensively in Australia.

Lucinda joined the Jigsaw team in June 2022 with over 15 years of customer service and office management experience behind her. She thrives from working within a team, has a strong eye for detail and has a passion for well-being.
 
Outside of the office, Lucinda is a creative individual who enjoys painting, baking, ballet and in particular spending time with her French Bulldog.

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Opuene has worked in various finance functions and Customer Service.

Outside of Work, Opuene is a Sunday School Teacher, Love spending time with family and friends and is a Tennis fan.

Helen is a finance professional with over 15 years’ experience in financial services and is pleased to be working for Jigsaw and helping children to prepare for life.

Helen enjoys the outdoor life and likes to keep fit by cycling to work and going on country walks. She likes to travel, loves live music and sings with a local choir.

Carly has over 15 years experience working in sales and marketing mainly focused in the health and fitness industry, more recently delivering a children’s program to health clubs focusing around wellbeing and mental health. After seeing the positive affects this can have on children’s overall wellbeing Carly jumped at the opportunity to work for Jigsaw to continue the journey of providing support to children to help equip them better for life.

Outside of work Carly can be found going swimming with her daughter or catching the latest movie and don’t forget chasing her rabbit and cats around the house.

Michelle originally started out in sales and recruitment management. She then changed her career path and got into teaching.
She has over 20 years’ experience in teaching and supporting children, schools, and families with special educational needs. She has designed and implemented many strategies to help young people reach their desired goals/outcomes. Michelle has an honorary degree in Psychology.

Michelle is passionate about Jigsaw’s values and enjoys sharing such powerful resources with schools – helping her to continue making huge positive differences to young peoples lives through Jigsaw.
 
Michelle is a mum of two special needs teens and enjoys spending time with her family and watching movies.

Having graduated from Kingston University with a degree in Primary Education, Tom spent 3 years as a Key Stage 2 teacher and is now working with schools to help their pupils to build resilience and confidence through the use of Jigsaw.

Tom is an avid sports fan, regularly playing football and cricket for his various teams. He also loves going to the cinema and going on long walks with his puppy, Patch.

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Ryan has worked in senior leadership within the music and events industry and has spent a significant amount of his career as an international composer. Ryan is the face behind all music produced by Jigsaw and has proudly worked alongside Jigsaw since 2017. Ryan has a deep interest in connecting people through creative mediums and is delighted to work at Jigsaw, as his values align with the same ethos and mission as Jigsaw.
In his spare time, Ryan likes to visit the theatre and travel!

Iva is a recent graduate and Marketing Executive at Jigsaw. She is passionate about marketing, education, and well-being. Previously, she studied education and psychology and has done marketing internships that helped her to gain experience in the marketing field. She loves travelling and being outdoors.

NPQSL, MA, PGCE (Early Years), BA (Hons)

Alison worked in motor industry management with a large PLC but changed careers and qualified as a Primary teacher in 2000. As a senior leader at one of the first pilot schools, Alison has an in-depth knowledge and first-hand teaching familiarity with Jigsaw PSHE and is an experienced trainer and school mentor of this programme, believing that children are better equipped to deal with the pressures of the modern curriculum if their emotional health and well-being are put at the heart of their learning.

In 2014, she also achieved the National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership, one aspect of which entailed introducing independent learning strategies school-wide, building on the success of the skills the children had embedded through Jigsaw. She has also supported other schools in school leadership and raising standards. She also lectures in PSHE and Relationships and Sexual Education for many initial teacher training organisations.

Alison is fully committed to Jigsaw PSHE because children who enjoy good relationships, have good self-esteem and can see failure as an opportunity to learn as much as they enjoy success, will be rounded individuals for life. She passionately believes that these citizens of tomorrow will make the world a better place, as they utilise the skills learnt through Jigsaw’s mindful approach, in their teenage and adult lives.

Alison loves travel and speaks French and Spanish to a passable standard! She has worked with a number of our international schools and loves the idea that the ethos and mindful approach of Jigsaw might one day help children all over the world.

Carol trained as a secondary teacher specialising in History and PSHE and taught these subjects for many years. She worked in a nursery school and as a parent helper in a first school whilst on a career break when her own children were young.

Carol then joined a middle school and became the PSHE and Citizenship co-ordinator for KS2 and 3. During this time, Carol led the Healthy Schools and Healthy Schools Plus programme. She co-ordinated the Rights Respecting Schools programme, helping her school to achieve level 2, alongside supporting other local schools.

Having had first-hand experience of leading a department in teaching Jigsaw PSHE, with staff who loved the structure and philosophy behind it and also teaching the lessons herself, Carol has witnessed the positive effects on pupils. These were well beyond any other scheme of work she had previously used. In her school surveys, PSHE topped the pupils’ list of the subject that they felt was of the most value to them.

When these pupils were interviewed about the reasons for their positive views about Jigsaw PSHE they said they appreciated:

• The relevant, up-to-date, age-appropriate information;
• The fun activities;
• The importance of being able to discuss sensitive issues in a safe environment;
• That ‘Calm Me’ time was vital for now and for their future.

It is, therefore, not surprising that Carol is passionate about Jigsaw PSHE both for pupils and for the staff who teach it.

Carol is a trustee for DEED (Development Education in Dorset and Hampshire) and thinking about names, some consider the names of her pets to be a little odd:

Plumly (dog), Jasmine, Ukemi and Ogoshi (cats), Cee and Saw (rabbits), Badger Boy and Master Sprout (guinea pigs).  Carol says they make any visit to the vet amusing!

Sarah started her career as a primary school teacher in schools in London and Oxfordshire working across Key Stage 2 in schools with vastly different approaches to PSHE. She joined the PSHE advisory team in Oxfordshire, before moving to the PSHE team in Wiltshire. Her specialism within the teams was in Primary Drug Education, but as part of small and effective teams, Sarah also developed and delivered training and support across the whole of the PSHE curriculum and Healthy Schools, working with many schools to help them to establish PSHE in the heart of the school curriculum. She was also an assessor for the national Certification of PSHE programme and was able to support Wiltshire teachers to achieve this standard.

Whilst she was out of a full-time educational role with her own young children, Sarah ran a sling consultancy business and shop, liaising with local professionals and supporting many new parents, and won the 2018 South Wilts Business of the Year Sole Trader Award.

After her youngest started full-time school, Sarah went back into school to teach PSHE and support pupils across the whole of Key Stage 2. She rekindled her love and understanding of the subject and is delighted to be part of the Jigsaw team at such an exciting time for PSHE.
Sarah lives in south Wiltshire and spends most of her spare time chasing around after her children and her dog and enjoying listening to terrible pop music whilst blaming it on her girls.

Bethan has a vast array of teaching experiences in the Secondary, Primary, state and independent sector. She started her career as a Secondary PE teacher and it was here that she took on the opportunity to become the PSHE lead, designing schemes of work and materials for KS2, KS3 and KS5. She thrived in providing hands on experiences for students via PSHE lessons and inviting external speakers that provided real life connections to the curriculum.
 
Bethan later became the Head of PE and Games teacher at an Independent Primary School and continued to support the development and delivery of PSHE in her role as the Deputy Designated Safeguard Lead. This experience allowed her to compare the needs of children and young adults when delivering a PSHE curriculum and identify that common needs run throughout the Key Stages.
   
With her passions also being in trainee teacher development, Bethan has experience as a visiting lecturer at a local University on a PGCE course. Bethan strongly recognises the huge importance of a quality PSHE curriculum and the pressures that teachers face when trying to meet the needs of pupils and remaining up to date with the ever changing pressures children and young people face. Bethan is excited to work with Jigsaw as she shares the belief that children and young people need to be central to PSHE.
 
In her own time, Bethan currently teaches Ballet where she encourages pupils to develop their imagination and creativity. She also plays netball and enjoys family time with her husband and two young boys.

BA (Hons) PGCE (RE) AST (RE)

David became a secondary PSHE Co-ordinator due to his belief in its value in helping students understand their own feelings and experiences. As he started to plan and deliver PSHE lessons he found first-hand how essential PSHE was and how awful some of the previous planning had been! David was shocked to find really dull lessons and an over-reliance on very dated videos and realised that the subject needed to be given more status. Therefore in his secondary school he invited visitors in to give presentations on a range of topics, including sexual health, to which the students responded positively, learned so much and were treated as adults in the process.

From then on David has been committed to raising the profile of PSHE wherever possible. He believes that PSHE needs to be embedded in the curriculum from an early age as issues such as body image, self-confidence and self-esteem, celebrating differences and safeguarding are essential to learning. An unhappy child will not learn well or develop into a well-rounded adult.

David is passionate about Jigsaw PSHE as it encourages mindfulness, allowing students to take time to calm themselves and connect with others around them in their increasingly hectic lives. Jigsaw PSHE also celebrates difference and encourages students to be the best person they can be whilst looking out for those around them. Jigsaw PSHE is a life-enriching programme.

David is one of 14 people globally (this figure may not be accurate) who adore progressive rock music. He can often be found playing air guitar to an admiring audience of his pet dachsund and rabbits.

Amy is a passionate Reception teacher, with first-hand experience teaching Jigsaw PSHE in the Early Years. Amy started her career as an Apprentice Teaching Assistant, supporting pupils with SEND. She was nominated for and won an award as the ‘Bristol’s Outstanding Apprentice of the Year’ in 2013, in recognition of her determination and enthusiasm for teaching and learning. She was then inspired to train as a Primary School Teacher and obtained a First Class Undergraduate Degree in Education before venturing onto a PGCE at Bath Spa University, qualifying as a teacher with a specialism in EYFS.

Amy fully supports the Jigsaw philosophy and loves everything about it. She believes in the importance of the regular and consistent teaching of PSHE for the benefit of supporting children’s emotional literacy, mental health and well-being.

Being outdoors and connecting children and young people with nature is a passion of Amy’s. There is significant, evidence-based research showing that being outside positively impacts mental health and well-being. She is a champion for using the outdoors as a tool to teach, helping children to learn both in and about nature. Amy feels extremely passionate about Jigsaw Outdoors and is proud to have been a part of the development of the programme.

In her spare time, Amy loves gardening and admits to having a slight flower obsession! 

Joanna’s career began in adolescent mental health services and moved on to teaching A-Level Psychology, which formed the basis of her objective to work with and for young people who face health and well-being challenges during their lives. An MSc in Health Education/Health Promotion led to a career change to the Department of Health, running national initiatives to improve children’s health and well-being. Joanna then worked as part of the Healthy Schools Programme teams in Surrey and Reading. Since self-employment in 2011, Joanna has concentrated on promoting PSHE, well-being and health in schools and other organisations, focusing on training, consultancy and writing resources. She runs her own fitness business and is a qualified GP Referral Specialist.

Joanna loves everything about Jigsaw PSHE: it challenges thinking (for children and staff) in a safe way, and encourages playfulness and independence in learning. She hopes that, in a few years’ time, there will be so many children having been part of Jigsaw PSHE that it becomes the ‘way’ of the world – where people are more able to enjoy their lives because of what and how they learnt through Jigsaw PSHE.

Joanna is an enthusiastic follower of the Alexander Technique, and in another life would have been either a dancer or backing singer with a side-line in professional cake-eating.

Bill entered teaching, having sworn as a pupil never to become a teacher, after doing voluntary work with young offenders. It was this that made him realise first what a difference education can make in the lives of young people and second that he was able to connect with them. As a new teacher he became very interested in and a keen practitioner of what was then know as ‘Active Tutorial Work’. From then on he actively promoted and taught PSHE in each school in which he worked, eventually leading the transformation of PSHE in a challenging school in Cumbria.

Bill was the RE and PSHE Adviser, and Healthy Schools lead for the Buckinghamshire School Improvement service, providing training and support to schools of all types and phases. He developed a reputation for engaging and thought-provoking CPD that focused on learning in the classroom and uses P4C, stilling and ‘Conceptual Creativity’ to good effect in his teaching and training. Bill sees education as relational and thus sees PSHE as central to learning. When asked why PSHE is important, he usually refers people to ‘The Survivor’s Plea’.

Having supported schools in his role as PSHE adviser, Bill became acutely aware of the challenges of co-ordinating and leading such a broad and amorphous curriculum area. This is why he sees the importance and value of Jigsaw PSHE in making the learning more meaningful for the pupils and the teaching more manageable for the teachers.

BSc (Hons), PGCE

Judy taught Biology and PSHE in Secondary schools in Swindon and Bath for 15 years. She was school lead for drugs and sex and relationship education, enabling the school to achieve ‘Schools for Health’ status in Bath and North East Somerset.

Judy was one of the first cohort of teachers to achieve the PSHE CPD qualification and delivered training to over 200 participants over 12 years in B&NES and became the local programme coordinator of the National Healthy Schools Programme in 2007 (later to become the B&NES Director of Public Health Award) in the School Improvement and Achievement Service where she remained until 2018. Always keen to develop her knowledge, she completed her UK Public Health Practitioner registration in 2014.

Judy sees the development of teachers to deliver high-quality PSHE as fundamental to supporting the health, well-being and life chances of children and young people and is delighted to be supporting schools to implement Jigsaw. She is particularly enthusiastic about the way in which Jigsaw incorporates support for emotional health and well-being and is looking forward to working with schools as they begin their Jigsaw journey.

Having recently left B&NES, Judy moved to Cornwall with her husband and dog to enjoy the beaches and countryside on a daily basis. She is a passionate supporter of Bath Rugby, though, and will be making the journey back up to watch all home matches throughout the season!

After working in international IT recruitment as a Quality Assurance Manager for a number of years, Rachel embarked on a teaching career. She qualified in 2004 and began as a Computing lead in an East London primary school which is a role she has maintained throughout. Rachel’s decision to change careers was due to her passion to the life of others through educating and inspiring the next generation. In particular, those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Rachel has taught in a number of schools across London and held various roles including KS2 lead. For the latter part of her career, Rachel held part-time positions whilst raising her young family. More recent roles include teaching KS3 and KS4 pupils unable to access mainstream schools education and some work in Pupil Referral Units.

Rachel has an in-depth knowledge and first-hand teaching experience with Jigsaw PSHE. She has been privileged to observe the positive impact it has on students. Pupils develop resilience, confidence, thinking skills and better relationships with their peers. Rachel has always supported and encouraged staff with their planning and delivery of their Jigsaw PSHE lessons in school. Why is she so passionate about PSHE? Rachel strongly believes that PSHE furnishes pupils with the tools to develop key life skills enabling them to face living in the wider world and become effective citizens.

Since leaving the classroom, Rachel works for an education charity supporting schools with Christian collective worship, RE lessons and SMSC provision. She is also a qualified freelance Financial Education Coach.

If Rachel can find any spare time, you’ll find her running around the local common or spending time with her husband and two sons. Rachel is also a caring cat lover and enjoys reading and musical theatre.

Mary has 17 years teaching experience in primary schools, which includes 4 years in her current school as Assistant Head. Since completing her degree in Psychology, Mary has been passionate about health and well-being.

Mary leads PSHE, amongst other areas in her current school. She has implemented and led the Jigsaw PSHE curriculum from Nursery to Year 6. Mary has seen an incredible impact of increased well-being and happiness throughout the school. Other local schools and even international visitors have been to the school to see Jigsaw in action. The school choir also won a competition to become the voice of Jigsaw, which Mary also led.

Mary plays in a netball team and coaches the school team, does her local weekly parkrun, goes to an outdoor fitness club and adores good food and films. She also loves travelling and dancing!

Simon has recently taken early retirement from Primary Headship.  His career spanned over 30 years, in schools over 3 local authorities.  

He spent 23 years as a Primary Head in 5 differing schools and is therefore very aware of the joys and stresses of the role.
He is a firm believer that great relationships are at the heart of every good school and that personal, moral and spiritual development of every member of the community should be at the heart of the curriculum.  Jigsaw was a totally natural fit for this philosophy in his schools.
Simon is passionate about the difference that coaching and mentoring can bring to those in leadership positions, enabling them to better support their staff and therefore the children in their care.  He is also a strong advocate of practical and pragmatic solutions to school leadership and to the planning of the curriculum.

These passions led him to volunteer his time when a Head to areas such as being a School Improvement Partner, Headteacher Mentor and sitting on and ultimately Charing his local Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education.

He lives in Frome in Somerset and enjoys travelling at home and abroad with his wife in their campervan.  Epic adventures are planned in retirement!

Lesley has a BA hons degree in Education with Nursery specialism, a PG Diploma in special educational needs in the classroom and undertook action research with Cambridge University in Nurture Group work whilst leading an EYFS base.   In more recent years Lesley has worked as a local authority early years adviser and subsequently managed this team of early years experts.    Lesley has also worked as a leader of the EYFS profile moderation process (National Strategies), early years adviser to schools and as strategic lead for early years multi-agency partnerships, improving outcomes for the youngest children in the local area.

Lesley has extensive teaching experience in pre-school, nursery and reception and was one of Dorset’s first ‘Early Years Professional’ status practitioners; later becoming an assessor for this award with Winchester University.

Lesley has recently retired from her early years management role with the local council and is excited to be working in the early years field at Jan Lever Group.

Adam was a Healthy Schools Practitioner before moving to Jigsaw, where he focussed on developing a whole school approach to supporting heath and wellbeing. Firmly believing that positive health and wellbeing is a key factor to learning for all pupils. The role required policy writing, delivering training that supports current health issues, as well as providing guidance and support to schools on specific health interventions. 
Additionally, Adam was Project Coordinator for the Inspire 2 Achieve service, where the aim was to support secondary pupils who were disengaging with education. Providing additional wellbeing support to hopefully improve a pupils' attainment, attendance or behaviour.  

Adam has also previously worked as a tutor for alternative education. Supporting pupils back into mainstream school as well as providing them with key life skills to transition onto Further Education or employment.  

Outside of work Adam is a huge football fan, supporting Arsenal, as well as playing for his local team. Also, enjoys participating in a range of activities; swimming, cycling, running and golf. Enjoys spending time with family and friends, as well as travel and explore new locations. 

I have been a teacher for over 35 years and have always taught in south London. In all my school settings I have loved bringing R.E. and PSHE to life in my classes. I have been part of school management for 30 years and for the last 7 years I was an Executive Headteacher.

Throughout my career I have been passionate about young people and enabling them to flourish not only in education, but also within their family and communities, enabling young people to take an active and positive place in all aspects of their future. I have always strived to break down barriers to learning to enable all young people placed in our care, to maximise their potential.
My personal philosophy and clear principles has remained the same, and have put meaning to my daily practise.

I have understood the unique nature of the individual school and educational establishments to develop initiatives that ensure all its students can learn and achieve both academically and socially, but I have also recognised the value of community organisations in preparing them to make useful contributions to their world.
 
I live in South West London, and endure the pain of being an AFC Wimbledon season ticket holder. I love travel, visiting new places and experiencing the shopping each place has to offer. I take every opportunity to go to concerts and the theatre, and I love my big family gatherings. I have recently learnt to give myself the space to re-discover and enjoy painting at a local Art Class.

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IT Consultant, Analyst/Programmer, Web & Multimedia Specialist

Neil’s computing career spans over 35 years and took off when he became Sales Director in his first computer company when he was 21. Experienced in many aspects of IT, Neil was a programmer for many years, a Hewlett-Packard systems builder and provided accounting solutions for several prestigious international companies, the Ministry of Defence and a plethora of SMBs. He also enjoyed 10 years working within an Accountancy practice.

Neil works on our Jigsaw Education Group websites and his role expands into audio and video work. He provides backline support for our team and customers, building a solid technological infrastructure, which includes research into future technologies, testing, deployment and staff training.

Joining Jigsaw in 2015, Neil believes in global community, diversity, a shared wider-world mission, and believes that Jigsaw PSHE is a substantial catalyst for transforming our world, making it a better place for us and our children, where all people can live co-operatively, each person offering their unique positive contribution.

BA (Hons) Graphic Design, MA Sequential/Editorial Design

Andrea designs educational and promotional material for Jigsaw PSHE including character design and illustration.

Andrea’s passion for design has meant she has been able to be creative for her whole career. She has always enjoyed designing and communicating messages that make a real difference. When she was given the opportunity to work with the Jigsaw Team it helped Andrea realise that good design has the power to get those messages across effectively, and what fun it can be!

Andrea plays the cello in several orchestras and groups and recently performed the Queen Rock Symphony with the Questa Voce choir.

She once came second to a magician in a talent contest!