Wednesday Wisdom
Tooled Up tips for loving parents around the world
16/04/2025
Costly Thrills
When the head of pastoral care at a large senior school told me that some students in her sixth form were arriving with bruise marks on their necks after ‘consensual’ sexual encounters, I knew this was a topic that required further exploration.
02/04/2025
Active Lives
Last week’s Wednesday Wisdom focused on contemporary boyhood, masculinity and the power that certain toxic influencers can have in shaping young minds. It feels as though much of the current conversation surrounding masculinity is dominated by harmful stereotypes, but we would do well to remember that there are numerous men offering a refreshing antidote to these ‘ideals’.
26/03/2025
We Need to Talk about Jamie
The recently launched Netflix series Adolescence has sparked a much-needed, global discussion about contemporary boyhood, masculinity, violence against women and girls, the rise of online misogyny and how certain toxic influencers are shaping young minds today.
19/03/2025
Celebrating Different Minds
Imagine a classroom filled with children who think, learn and experience the world in diverse and unique ways. One child might fidget constantly. Another might ask a hundred questions before lunch. Some may process information best through movement, others might focus intensely on certain tasks. Some might struggle with traditional learning methods but excel in areas like creative thinking or problem-solving. For neurodivergent children, these differences are often misinterpreted as challenges to be fixed, but variation in how we think and learn is a natural part of human diversity and the human race needs difference!
12/03/2025
Well-Beeing
When scrolling through my daily newsfeed, I was asking myself: how are such things happening? How could someone be so cruel? What are we doing about violence against women and girls? Why are diplomats not better at being diplomatic? Why do people commit terrible atrocities? How can smacking children STILL be legal in the UK? Why aren’t girls allowed to learn in Afghanistan? ARGH!
05/03/2025
Read Your Way
For parents of primary-aged children, it is likely to come as no surprise that it is World Book Day this week. My kids are now both at secondary school, where World Book Day celebrations are more low key, but I remember that the pressure to sort a costume is real!
26/02/2025
Food as Enemy
It is Eating Disorder Awareness Week in the UK. Most of us will know someone who is currently battling or has previously battled an eating disorder, though we may not realise it. This is a timely week to think about prevalence, prevention and proactive approaches to supporting children and young people.
12/02/2025
Digital Detectives
Yesterday was 'Safer Internet Day', an annual event which describes itself as ‘the UK’s biggest celebration of online safety’. This year’s theme is Too Good to Be True? Protecting Yourself and Others from Scams Online’.