Blog posts in June 2012 
-
The road to resilience...
Friday 22 June 2012
Categories: Education, Growing up, Self-esteem
I recently met an old friend whose son Tom had breezed through his school career, amassing sporting and academic glories but at the end of his first year at University was devastated by failure in one exam. Tom had no strategies to deal with his first real set back; his instinct was to give up.
It made me think about the grounding we give our girls to develop the resilience they need to succeed in an increasingly challenging world. Resilience has been a key concept in child development...
-
The importance of having a supportive partner
Monday 18 June 2012
Categories: Careers, Education, Family Relationships, Growing up
Helen Fraser, the Chief Executive of the Girls’ Day School Trust, caused some controversy last week in her speech at the organisation’s annual conference. She said that, as part of girls’ education, we should encourage them to give careful consideration to their choice of life partner, as “if you want children and a career, a partner who shares the load at home really, really matters”.
I couldn’t agree more. As GSA President in 2009 I also caused some debate following an...
-
Happy Fathers' Day - You're doing a great job!
Thursday 14 June 2012
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Parenting
Do fathers take an equal interest in their daughter’s education and are they becoming more protective? Yes – according to a recent straw poll of head teachers featured in today’s Telegraph.
When asked who pays more attention to their daughter’s academic progress, over 51% of head teachers in the Girls’ Schools Association survey said that fathers and mothers were equally interested. Just under 42% said that mothers paid more attention. And when it comes to attending parents’...
-
Keeping the entrepreneurial spirit alive
In times of economic downturn governments encourage entrepreneurship. It’s a great way to get people out of unemployment and into the list headed ‘self-employment’. But the truth is, making a success of working for yourself can be exceptionally difficult. Unfortunately, for many, the only difference between self-employment and unemployment is a whole lot of work rather than a whole lot of money.
That’s why it’s vital that schools begin to expose children to the concept of...