This is a true story. It was the Autumn Term. It was Harvest. It was Monday morning and the children came in and added to the table in my classroom to celebrate the event. I had started the table with fruit and vegetables knowing that the gifts from my class of pupils would substantially be crisps and … Read more
It’s a decade now since the CAMHS Review surprised us by saying that ‘mental health is everybody’s business’. Much has changed and nothing has changed! What has definitely changed is the increase in children and young people with mental well-being needs and in the nature of those needs. That 2008 document talked about the 1 child in … Read more
I was admiring a dragon-fly recently, its gossamer wings and effortless flight across the meadow. What a joy to watch! And, as my grand-daughter was with me, we began poking about in the surrounds of the pond to see what else we could discover. Oh dear…there were really gross casings that looked something you didn’t … Read more
Did anyone ever send you a New Year’s card to celebrate the beginning of your school year? I guess not! Other people are finishing off their summer holidays or laying in the garden courtesy of those few hot days that seem to always arrive as soon as the children go back to school. Early September, … Read more
So here you are at the end of term, those last few days when you are trying to get the runners and riders over the finishing line. In therapy they call it closure – that sense of all the threads being tied up, that there is nothing left to say and that everyone can move … Read more
Mmm… I do love good cup of coffee don’t you? And I especially enjoy one on a Saturday morning when it feels like the world just stops as I sit and sip. I can forget my ‘to do’ list and just breathe. Oh, and I also love a gin and tonic at the end of … Read more
Yes, it’s May already! Are you up to your eyes in SATS, Sports Days, transitions for Y6 and the next intake, end of term concerts, farewells for leaving staff and don’t really have time to read this newsletter? You are no doubt engaged in a complicated manoeuvre not unlike docking a space satellite to the mother … Read more
Question: A friend of my child has disclosed some personal information to her. She doesn’t know what to do with this info. Neither do I! But I feel I should do something. Help! You don’t say what area the information falls into so this reply will be in relation to commonly reported sensitive situations involving … Read more
Question: My child has started whining for things and about things. The sound just gets on my nerves. I know I am over-reacting. Got any ideas? Call it what you like- moaning, complaining, grumbling, bleating, belly-aching, being grumpy, griping and sounding querulous- it gets every parent’s attention and jangles your nerves. This grating voice is … Read more
Question: Should I shelter my child from talking about death, or should I discuss it head on? It is difficult to get this ‘right’ because death is one thing you cannot ‘put right’ and parents feel a real responsibility to make things right for their children. This is why we usually avoid children being caught … Read more