About Us

Background

Jumpstart began as a collaboration between the Mustique Charitable Trust and a secondary school on St Vincent who asked for support for their pupils who were still struggling with reading.

After speaking to the Ministry of Education, the Trust invited Alix Anson and Clara Hodge from the Rassmuss Foundation to work with the school to devise the Jumpstart literacy programme.

Meeting the Principal and Deputy at for literacy at North Union

Secondary school English Teacher

The decision was also taken to support the feeder primary schools, with the aim of improving literacy at a far earlier age. The Jumpstart programme therefore currently focuses on the early literacy skills required for reading for Kindergarten, Grade 1 and for older pupils who are still struggling to master the initial steps required to become fluent readers.

Central to the development and success of the implementation is the provision of coaching for the teachers who are using Jumpstart.

This professional development enables them to provide effective and motivational lessons and to embed enduring and sustainable classroom best practices.

Programme Development

Jumpstart was developed over the course of an academic year with the continuous collaboration of Literacy Officers from the Curriculum Development Unit, four primary schools and one secondary school in St Vincent.

Draft resources were reviewed by a Working Party made up of Literacy Officers, Teachers and Principals and this effective feedback process ensured that the final products were both relevant to St Vincent and suitable for the schools.

With Jumpstart, coaching and professional development sessions are provided weekly 1 -1 for teachers and also once a term for whole school literacy training sessions, alongside support resources and short training videos. These training videos are available both for schools and for families.

Meet the Team

The Jumpstart team is delighted to welcome Mrs Gaylene Wickham who will be joining as a senior literacy consultant from August 2025.

Gaylene Wickham

Senior Literacy Consultant and Programme Co-ordinator

Mrs. Gaylene Anesta Wickham is an energetic and passionate educator from St. Vincent and the Grenadines with over 25 years of experience in primary education. She holds a Certificate in Teacher Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Literacy from the University of the West Indies, Mona.

Gaylene has dedicated most of her career to literacy education and served as a Literacy Coordinator with the OECS Early Learners Programme (ELP), a USAID-sponsored initiative aimed at improving reading outcomes for students in Grades K to 3.

Following her work with the ELP, she served as an Education Officer in the Language, Literacy, and Communication Department at the Curriculum Development Unit. In this role, she led professional development sessions, mentoring, and coaching for teachers to enhance instructional effectiveness and students’ achievement. She recently participated in the development of the OECS Early Reading Assessment, further contributing to regional literacy initiatives.

Alix Anson

Jumpstart Author and Academic Lead

Alix studied at Cambridge University and is an educational literacy specialist, with more than 35 years of experience in teaching early reading skills and of providing professional development training. She specialises in writing innovative, multisensory teaching programmes which draw on the latest lessons from neuroscience and aim to make learning to read effective, enjoyable and as inclusive as possible. Alix is an experienced speaker at universities, schools and online workshops and she enjoys providing engaging, practical support to other teachers and trainers. She is currently working with Summa and the University of the West Indies, to deliver the Capacity Building Literacy training sessions to the teacher educators in the OECS, for the newly revised ADE teacher training curriculum, being launched in September 2025.

Alix is the author of three phonic programmes the first of which, WordBlaze, is an English phonics programme published by Rising Stars in 2014, for children aged 7-12. Between 2018-2021 she wrote Alfadeca, a multisensory phonics programme in Spanish for the Rassmuss Foundation in Chile. It offers a new combination of multisensory techniques thanks to its unique visual alphabet and a clear cumulative structure, designed to provide a motivating pathway to success for teachers and their pupils. Alfadeca was then turned into two animated television series called, Alfadeca TV in 2020 and is shown on national TV in Chile. Alfadeca is accompanied by a thorough professional development programme called ‘Super Profe’ which aims to embed good teaching practices which can be transferred to all other areas of teaching. The third programme, Jumpstart, is a multisensory literacy support programme in English and is currently under development in the St Vincent and the Grenadines. Jumpstart is both for children aged 5-8 who are learning to read and write and also for older children who have faced specific difficulties with literacy.

Clara Hodge

Jumpstart Training Lead

Clara studied at Durham University and is an educational consultant specialising in early reading development and phonics instruction. She recently completed a Master’s in Education at Canterbury Christ Church University with distinction, and she brings a practical and collaborative approach to her consultancy work, grounded in action research and data analysis. She brings over seven years of experience in classroom teaching and of being the regional phonics lead supporting schools to deliver and monitor their programmes. She has a proven track record of driving improvements in literacy outcomes through evidence-informed strategies and inclusive practice. Clara is passionate about increasing equity in education and is skilled at building strong, supportive relationships with staff, families and school leaders. She collaborates with senior leaders to design bespoke development plans, monitor pupil outcomes, and support staff at all levels to deliver effective instruction.

Clara is currently the school-based consultant for the Jumpstart Programme – a literacy support initiative working in Kindergarten and Grade 1 in primary schools, and with pupils requiring further reading support in Grade 7 in secondary schools, in St Vincent and the Grenadines. In this role, she collaborates with both class teachers and school principals. Teachers benefit from targeted coaching and guidance on next steps in literacy instruction, while principals are supported to monitor the implementation of the programme and drive sustainable change. Clara is also currently part of the team led by Alix Anson, working with Summa and the University of the West Indies, to deliver the Capacity Building Literacy training sessions to the teacher educators in the OECS, for the newly revised ADE teacher training curriculum, being launched in September 2025.

Partnerships

Ministry of Education and National Reconciliation