Introducing Amii Oldham, our latest addition to the Digital Schoolhouse team

Amii Oldham is our new Programme and Communications Manager! Amii has come from a fellowship at Year Here. She's joining the DSH team part time at first, but you'll soon be hearing much more from her...

I’ve joined Digital Schoolhouse as the Programme and Communications Manager. I will be supporting the continued growth of the Digital Schoolhouse programme, developing our operations and expanding our business opportunities.

Over the past decade, I have worked directly with young people as a teaching assistant, mentor and au pair, experiences that led me to my last job at leading national education charity. There, I led an events team in the delivery of thousands of seminars, conferences and residentials for educators across the country who are committed to improve outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

During the pandemic, I witnessed how both students and teachers alike adapted to online learning and the issues that it has exacerbated in relation to digital poverty and tech skills. To help tackle these problems, I have spent the past few months exploring ways to promote a more equitable future for young people as part of a social impact and entrepreneurship programme, Year Here, through which I (inadvertently) worked with one of our Schoolhouses on the development of their Digital Transformation Strategy.

On top of this, I have always loved creative subjects and believe the arts are vital to our happiness and wellbeing. I am a huge fan of film and enjoy working as a programme coordinator for an independent short film festival, as well as volunteering for other organisations such as the BFI.

Similarly, video games have been a constant source of entertainment and joy for me, from Pokémon Blue to Divinity 2! After studying film and Japanese at university, (giving me a legitimate reason to visit the Studio Ghibli Museum several times during my year in Tokyo), I combined my interests to study an MA in Digital Media, Culture and Education. This introduced me to game studies and the essential role of play-based learning, something that I am now excited to explore more as part of my new role at Digital Schoolhouse.

First up, the 2023 Esports tournament – I can’t wait to get going!