Jemma Gurden

I am the Occupational Therapist at Discovery Academy.

I qualified from Coventry University in 2014 and have experience working within the NHS, private and charity sectors. I particularly enjoy working with children and young people of all abilities to reach their full potential and overcome barriers in their daily life.

Occupational Therapy (OT) helps people to do what they want to, within their activities of daily living; these range from self-care, productive (work/education) and leisure activities. These are the things we all need to do to get by and to feel like us!

For many children and young people, they are unable to carry out various tasks throughout the day. This can relate to their sensory integration, motor skills, visual perceptual skills or social/environmental factors (and more!).

I work with the children and young people at Discovery to develop the underlying skills needed to access education, engage in social activities and maintain their health and well-being. Much of this is based on what is important to the young people and I often use motivational activities (e.g. special interests, crafts) and the medium of play to develop the targeted areas.

I also work closely with the class teams, family footings, compassionate school coaches and Speech and Language Therapy in order to holistically support the children and young people.

If you would like to contact Jemma, please call her on 07376 301824