On my evening scroll through social media, I am often captivated by the testimonies of parents on a particular Facebook page, established for the parents of teens who have gone to university. Their tales are normally penned anonymously and showcase the full range of emotions that are experienced when children fly the nest. Many pine, grieve and mourn the departure of beloved offspring and describe a veritable midlife identity crisis.

English has a dominant position in the UK curriculum. Most children have an English lesson almost every day, from the start of Reception to the end of Year 11. In this week’s Wednesday Wisdom, English teacher and examiner Patrick Cragg offers an insight into all the different strands that make up English, the unique benefits and challenges of the subject, and how parents can support their children.

I got up at 2am last week to drive my son to catch the night bus for a school trip to Italy. He was extremely excited and kept gleefully reminding me that this was the first time he would be in a foreign country without a parent! He had prepared for the trip by learning how to ask for ‘due gelati’ and purchased some sunglasses. As he boarded the bus with a brisk wave, I felt full of gratitude; for the sheer normalcy of his experience and for his singular thinking; about ice-cream, which friend he would be sharing a dorm with and which teacher would be the most fun.

This week’s Wednesday Wisdom is authored by English teacher and GCSE examiner, Patrick Cragg who shares some honest reflections on the importance of reading for pleasure and his own memories of a childhood where books and bedtime stories featured highly.

Over the past two weeks, I have been out and about giving talks in Northern Ireland and England to teachers and school staff as part of INSET days; days where staff come together to prepare themselves for the arrival of pupils into the new school year.

I joined a very important club this month, a club that all parents will belong to at some point and, once a member, I promise you’ll see the world slightly differently. Things aren’t quite the same when you have been through the emotional rollercoaster of waiting for high stakes exam results.

Over the summer, my teens have enjoyed excursions to various events, camps, breaks and social occasions. As the weeks ticked by, I began to become concerned about any creeping ‘entitlement’ on their part, so I decided to fulfil my parental duty by insisting they get jobs. The objective was to teach them the ‘value of money’ (as my dad used to call it) and introduce them to the world of work.

This time of year is generally marked by school celebrations of all kinds and, in particular, one that is centuries-old; school prize-giving. These events can feel oddly nerve-wracking for everyone. Will our beloved offspring win a prize? If they don’t, how might we mop up any tears, manage frustration and cries of unfairness or deal with the dent of disappointment?

After the mayhem of summer exams, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions to the Peak District and countless hours spent with teen friends on the Xbox, my 16 year old had the opportunity to do something completely different last weekend: care for an infant.

The arrival of summer often entails saying goodbye to our children multiple times as they venture far afield on school trips, expeditions, residentials or holidays with friends. As Shakespeare wrote for Juliet, “parting is such sweet sorrow” and, even for the most fatigued of parents, the tug of attachment is often acutely felt at the point of departure.