Blog posts for ‘Family Relationships’ 
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Sex education: what children really want to know
Tuesday 26 February 2013
Categories: Family Relationships, Growing up, Health, Sexual Relationships
The Guardian recently reported that, in terms of sex education, ten year olds really want to know about puberty and their changing bodies, rather than about the mechanics of sexual reproduction. Year 6 pupils in a west London primary school were asked to post, anonymously, questions to which they wanted to know the answers. Both boys and girls were far more concerned about what physical changes they could expect, and within what time frame.
This comes as no surprise to me, and I feel...
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Why I'm a pushy parent too
Tuesday 19 February 2013
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Parenting
It’s been a tough month to be a parent if recent articles in the press are to be believed. And it’s even harder being a headteacher, I am told. First of all we had Peter Stanford’s report in the Telegraph which declared that ‘pushy parents are the bane of private schools’. Then we began the examination and vilification of the Clegg family for looking at independent education.
Personally, I think it’s time we took a bit of a reality check here. First of all, we are all pushy parents at...
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Is your daughter a 'little princess'?
Monday 11 February 2013
Categories: Family Relationships, Growing up, Parenting
Nicole Chapman, the head of a leading girls’ grammar school, has warned that many parents are leading their daughters to believe they ‘can do no wrong’, and consequently these girls are failing to develop a sense of proportion about themselves and cannot cope with criticism (The Daily Mail, 29/1/13).
Mrs Chapman criticises such parents for not striking an appropriate balance of praise and advice. Girls can be too readily rewarded, and never exposed to negative feedback which would...
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Tidings of great joy!
Monday 24 December 2012
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Family Relationships, Parenting
Fear not, you don’t have to exhaust yourself trying to become the Tiger Mom of legend. In fact if you are – stop it at once! Desist from enrolling your daughter up to all those “improving” extra-curricular activity. And resist scheduling her every moment, for comfort comes with the news that pushy parents risk damaging rather than enhancing their children’s prospects (The Telegraph, Why pushy parents fail to make the grade) Of course your daughter needs your encouragement and...
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Are we raising our children 'in captivity'?
Monday 17 December 2012
Categories: Family Relationships, Letting go, Parenting
Professor Tanya Byron, the author and broadcaster who has featured in television programmes such as ‘Little Angels’ and ‘The House of Tiny Tearaways’, has warned in a recent interview for SecEd magazine that we are endangering the mental health of our children because of our attempt to protect them from risk and failure. (Reported in The Telegraph Dec 2012).
She claims that clinicians are seeing an increasing number of “breakdowns” among bright children from relatively...
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Are you your child's parent, or their friend?
Sunday 19 August 2012
Categories: Family Relationships, Growing up, Parenting
‘The Daily Mail’ reports on a warning offered by Professor Tanya Byron, the clinical psychologist who featured in the BBC television series ‘House of Tiny Tearaways’.
‘Children as young as six are brought to my clinics by parents who are anxious that any time they try to set a boundary, the child becomes distressed’. She cautions against the age of the ‘friend-parent’, where children’s development is impaired because parents are so fearful of disciplining their children... -
What should we be teaching in Sex and Relationships Education?
Sunday 5 August 2012
Categories: Family Relationships, Health, School curriculum, Sexual Relationships
The Guardian recently reported on lessons at St Marylebone School in Central London where girls are properly informed about fertility issues in their Sex and Relationships education lessons. It observes that this practice seems to be relatively uncommon, as SRE lessons in schools tend to focus on avoiding unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The message we unwittingly give is that getting pregnant is easy. If, later in life, the girls who are led to believe this to be...
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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...
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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’...
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Stating the obvious...
Monday 14 May 2012
Categories: Family Relationships, Health, Higher Education, Media Influence, Parenting
Yes I know that a great deal of research is extremely useful but sometimes when I read newspaper headlines I just want to scream “Well obviously!” And at other times I seriously doubt the intelligence of the headline writers.
Two recent examples illustrate the cause of my frustration. The most recent concerned people who stay on in education longer. This, the newspapers report, “makes people smarter” and “results in superior memory skills later in life”. Isn’t it more likely...