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Catchment - is there really a choice?
Choosing a secondary school for your child is a big decision and my heart went out to the parents in The Big School Lottery programme (Tues 7th September 2010), who all clearly wanted the best for...
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Do girls and boys really need to be taught separately?
Whilst I did find watching the second episode of Gareth Malone’s Extraordinary School for Boys really interesting and some of his ideas inspirational, I have to also say that I was a little...
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Boarding school at eight years old?
Is eight years old too young to be sent to boarding school? Having a child who is nearly eight myself made me really empathise with the parents and children in Britain’s Youngest Boarders. It really...
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Are grammar schools fair?
This is a tricky subject for me, as I went to a grammar school and certainly benefited from the education I received. I was the first person on my mother’s side of the family to go to university, so my...
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Bullying: The solution is to help the bully too
I think bullying is a concern for most parents and it is clear from recent research, that most bullying situations occur in a school setting. Worryingly, it is not just at school but on the way to and...
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Are our children sleeping enough?
Having young children and suffering from sleepless nights has made me quite obsessed with sleep, but parents are not the only ones who suffer; lack of sleep affects children too. A survey by Newsround,...
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Exams - are they better suited to girls or boys?
For the last two decades, girls have beaten the boys to the top grades at GCSE and out-performed them at A Level, achieving 8.3% of their A Levels at A* grade (compared to 7.9% for boys). This, you...
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Forget New Year resolutions - concentrate on what is really important...
Happy New Year ! As we welcome in a new decade, we get time to reflect on what is really important to us, and plan for the coming year. I have come up with my own three point F plan (don’t worry...
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"It's not fair..."
I am sure most parents have heard this refrain more than once, in the last 24 hours. If you have more than one child, it is likely that they will suffer from some kind of rivalry with their siblings,...
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Speech problems in children
The highly acclaimed film ‘The King’s Speech’ has put stammerers in the media spotlight and it is a remarkable, true story. I was gripped by Colin Firth’s performance of King George VI, who overcame...
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Storytelling - a magic part of childhood
My children will not go to bed at night without having a bedtime story, it doesn’t matter how late it is and what we have done in the day, they still insist on being told a story. Storytelling was an...
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Boundaries - kids will always test them
Setting boundaries is really important and I know that children test them to see where they fit in the world. Whatever the latest parenting fashion is, most experts will tell you that children feel...
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Too Young for School?
I’m still waiting to hear what school my three and a half year-old twin girls are going to in September. By then they will only be four and three months and I am concerned that they just won’t be ready...
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Does Class Size Matter?
The obvious response to this question is that smaller classes would be better for our children. They would get more attention from the teacher and hopefully better results in all aspects of their...
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Geography really does matter
Whilst I am proud to have achieved a GCSE and an A-level in geography, nothing beats the experience of travelling first hand. My favourite memories as a child were going to France on holiday, living in...
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