Jo Justice

Mrs Justice’s most vivid memory of her primary school days is of being read to by her teacher

and being transported to the many magical and enchanting places captured within the pages of

a book. She is a lifelong advocate of reading for pleasure (her favourites ranging from Dickens’

“Bleak House” to Antoine de Saint Exupery's “The Little Prince”) and is thrilled to be able to

promote reading and literacy at Phoenix House in the role of Librarian. Her philosophy is to

place reading at the heart of her teaching practice - to encourage children to be curious about

the world and to discover the wonderful world that is held within the four walls of a library (the

beating heart of the school!) and beyond. Mrs Justice is also committed to developing

collaborative links between school, home and the wider school community through a common

love of reading and being read to.

Since graduating from Bristol University with an honours degree in History, she worked in a

variety of business fields - from book publishing to curriculum consultancy before training as a

primary teacher. She has over 8 years of primary teaching and tutoring experience in a variety

of settings and year groups. In the UK she was involved in the post-Covid national scheme to

support learners adversely affected by lockdown and headed up a school “catch-up” initiative to

address gaps in learning in both literacy and mathematics.

Mrs Justice (as well as having her nose in a book) enjoys creating mixed media art and visiting

art galleries and museums. She is thrilled to be back living in Tokyo again (she first came to

Japan as an English Teacher 20 years ago and feels extremely fortunate to have another

chance to live in and explore this fascinating country with her family.