secondary school

Parents Guide to GCSEs 2021: Practical Tips to Help Kids Get the Grades

Teachers explain how to get good GCSE results even during Covid-19

How do you get the best GCSE results you can during Covid-19? If your child was expecting to be sitting GCSEs in 2021 the chances are they and you have been been feeling quite stressed since the announcement that GCSEs will not go ahead “as normal” in 2021. Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash The uncertainty around how GCSEs will be graded has certainly caused some worry in our house as our daughter prepares to achieve exam grades based on something completely different to what she was expecting. And the lack of clarity over what exams will look like in the summer …

Read more

Should you get private tutoring for your child when schools go back?

Working with a private tutor can help after lockdown

How are you feeling about your kids’ schoolwork right now? I don’t mind admitting that – despite friends telling me not to worry, that Covid 19 lockdown is unprecedented, that just surviving and staying happy is the most important thing – I have spent a little bit of time wondering how my children will fare when they go back to school. Have they done enough schoolwork to keep on track for their GCSE’s?   I have teenagers, so you can imagine how well it would go down if I offered to sit next to them at their desks and have …

Read more

What’s all the Fuss about 13 Reasons Why?

Everyone is talking about 13 Reasons Why. Have you seen it? Have you deliberately avoided it, not wanting to go to that place where your child is 17 and no longer tells you anything? Has your 12 year old seen it? Did you ban her from watching it? 13 Reasons Why – the take-home message for parents If you don’t know what I’m talking about here, chances are you don’t have a child somewhere between the ages of 11 and 18. 13 Reasons is the Netflix drama about a girl who commits suicide, and the 13 tapes she records to …

Read more

School: The most stressful days of your life?

Does your school look after your child's emotional wellbeing?

 School stress image courtesy of Shutterstock. Does your school prioritise wellbeing and emotional health? On the school run I walk past two schools: the primary, where my children spend their days; and the local secondary school, which churns out hundreds of blazered adolescents attached to phones, bikes, and in some cases, to each other. Overall, these teenagers are pretty well-behaved; their headteacher often operates the pelican crossing, so they need be, at least until they’re over the road and round the corner. They will move aside for your buggy – if they see you. They will nod, and maybe even smile, if …

Read more