Mother’s Day was celebrated yesterday and as I sat quietly with a cup of tea chatting to a friend after brunch with my son and shopping with my daughter, I started to reflect on the African Proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” and I thought about what that means and how very true it is! Later, in the day, as I sat quietly with all of my children - now teenagers (or nearly) -  I thought about how lucky I am to have a village of people who have both guided and supported us, laughed...

The World Book Day theme this year was ‘Go All In’ and this year it ran in partnership with the 2026 National Year of Reading.   Did you know that World Book Day takes place in the UK and Ireland on the first Thursday in March each year? Their website has a wealth of ideas and suggestions; including a link to some incredible FREE audio stories. https://www.worldbookday.com/   As schools celebrate books, stories and literature it is essential that, in our technology heavy world, we reflect on...

I was struck by the data released this last week by the Office for National Statistics  -see the link here: Sampling variability for estimates of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) - Office for National Statistics The data showed that the number of 16-24 year olds not in work or education is close to one million! To be exact, the number is estimated at 957,000. This is huge. This means that 12.8% of all 16-24 year olds are not working or in education. There has been...