Tough lessons

Jessica Plummer plays a teacher who has the day from hell in one-off drama Special Measures

- WORDS: JO BERRY

Former EastEnders star Jessica Plummer knew just who to talk to when researching her role as Amy, a teacher at a failing state school in the one-off Play For Today drama Special Measures.

“I can relate to the story because I went to a state school, I have my own child at school and my mum is a teacher,” she says. “I did my own research for this role, but of course I also got my mum involved from the second that I got the script, right down to asking her what teachers would be likely to wear to work. She was my point of reference throughout the whole job. She told me to cover my lanyard in loads of stickers the moment I got it! She's excited for the episode to come out.”

Growing up, Jessica, 33, watched her mum deal with the pressures of the job.

“I witnessed it every day,” she says. “She would come home after school and go straight into the living room to mark books, and she would wake up early to do lesson prep.