Be the Difference

Jayneen Sanders (aka Jay Dale) is an experienced Australian early years educator, children’s book author, and publisher.

She began her teaching career in the 1980s as a primary school teacher in rural Queensland, Australia, before moving to Melbourne, Victoria, where she taught at several inner-city schools. In 1985, Jayneen transitioned her career to become an educational editor and publisher.

In the early 90s, Jayneen and her partner moved to Japan to work as English teachers, living there for over three and a half years, during which time her first daughter was born.

Upon returning to Australia, Jayneen began working as an educational author/packager, subsequently authoring and producing numerous award-winning titles for the educational publishing industry. She is also an accomplished children’s book author, contributing to literacy series like ZigZags, Totally Kidz, Deadly and Incredible, and a children’s picture book series for Penguin.

Jayneen is currently the lead author of the ‘Engage Literacy’ series, published by Capstone, for which she has written over 150 titles.

A mother of three daughters and a former school councillor of over seven years, Jayneen’s experiences as both an educator and a parent inspired her to question the measures in place to protect children from inappropriate touch in schools. Recognizing a gap in preventative education, she utilized her authoring and publishing skills to write ‘Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept’, aiming to equip parents, carers, and teachers with a tool to discuss this sensitive subject and encourage children to speak out.

Following the positive reception of ‘Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept’, Jayneen identified a continued need for preventative education. She pursued professional development in Protective Behaviours and attended numerous conferences to deepen her understanding of child safety, age-appropriate body safety, and consent education.

Subsequently, Jayneen developed and published a comprehensive Body Safety and Respectful Relationship Teacher’s Resource Kit and authored additional children’s books focusing on body safety, consent, respect, gender equality, social and emotional intelligence, and diversity and inclusion.

Currently, Jayneen collaborates with her partner, Mark Sanders, to run Educate2Empower Publishing. Her dedication to child safety and empowerment remains a driving force, with new manuscripts and free downloadable resources continually in development.