Business success for Peterborough Assistant Headteacher and her educational resource venture

An Assistant Headteacher from Peterborough has achieved business success after setting up her own educational resource venture.
Emma Anderson, Director of Teacher Play Ltd.Emma Anderson, Director of Teacher Play Ltd.
Emma Anderson, Director of Teacher Play Ltd.

Emma Anderson, who is assistant head and Key Stage 1 Literacy Lead at All Saints’ C of E Primary School, set up Teacher Play Ltd in October 2019; drawing on her more than ten years experience in the classroom.

The online retailer specialises in creating and selling resources to help children learn and fulfils Emma’s dream of running her own small business.

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Sales have risen over 5000 percent in the last six months and because of this growth, her husband Jonny, who is a PE teacher at All Saints’, has taken a step back from teaching to focus more time on the business and its marketing.

Decodeable phonics books by Teacher Play Ltd.Decodeable phonics books by Teacher Play Ltd.
Decodeable phonics books by Teacher Play Ltd.

Emma started out with her first product, wipeable flashcards and has since grown to include resources such as cards to help children learn numbers, precursive letters, capital cities, wipeable learning mats and many more. Her most recent addition to the product range is her decodable phonic books, brought to life by illustrator Sarah Graham.

Emma said: “I’ve been teaching for ten years so when I come up with a product, I know there is a gap in the market for it.

“I started off with the wipeable flashcards because children learn so much more from actually taking part and that’s not what they get from an ordinary flashcard; writing on it themselves helps them and their handwriting a lot and is an aid for teachers as well.

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“I have a passion for teaching and I love watching children learn and grow their knowledge and that is why I design the products the way I do.

Examples of learning resources from Teacher Play Ltd.Examples of learning resources from Teacher Play Ltd.
Examples of learning resources from Teacher Play Ltd.

“I feli it was really important to bring out the range of decodable phonic books. Two years ago, Ofsted expressed the importance of them in teaching children phonics and I support that. They help teachers and parents pitch the level of learning correctly to each child, which isn’t always the case and it’s not their fault, and help children learn in a way that makes sense to them.

“Phonics are really important to children as learning the sound cat, is a lot more useful to them in developing their vocabulary than just learning the letters c, a and t.

“The business really took off during the first lockdown as parents were thrown into this unique situation. That was around the time we released our number cards and we also ran lessons on Instagram. I think most of the parents were glad to have someone to ask for advice as they were stressed out. Some of them even told me that they thought homeschooling was damaging their relationship with their child.

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“As a teacher, I have always found the biggest reward to be watching a child progress and enjoy their learning. The aim with the business has always been to create products that support that and I am so proud to know we are achieving that.”

To find out more about Emma’s products. visit www.teacher-play.co.uk or search for @teacherplayltd on Instagram.