Jennifer graduated from Leeds University with an honours degree in 1973. She enjoyed a successful career in business for nearly 20 years and then qualified to teach with a PGCE at Southbank University in 1990 and went on to gain two Masters degrees, one in Language and Literacy from Goldsmiths, London University (1991) and another in Literacy Learning and Literacy Difficulties from the Institute of Education, UCL (2007). Jennifer qualified as an Ofsted Inspector in 2005 having completed her NPQH in the previous year.

In 2005, she was selected by KCC to lead on a central government initiative Every Child a Reader (ECaR) that was to be piloted nationally (2005-2008). She trained for one year full time at The Institute of Education qualifying as a Reading Recovery Teacher Leader in 2006, initially working for KCC.

In 2012 Jennifer formed her own company, ReadingWorks Ltd. As Director of ReadingWorks she is able to work flexibly, responding to both the needs of individual schools and working on larger scale projects commissioned by networks of schools, and Education Authorities. In 2013 Jennifer was commissioned by the Institute of Education to provide initial Reading Recovery training for a group of London teachers and since then has continued to support a group of Reading Recovery teachers working in South East London schools.

Jennifer is passionately committed to improving the quality of literacy teaching for all pupils and measures her success by how effectively she supports school leaders to utilise the ECaR initiative as a tool for school improvement and raise standards of literacy for all children