Grandmother Power
The Grandmother Power movement is a little known but growing phenomenon: activist groups of grandmothers coming together, saying, “This is not the world we want for our grandchildren!” and making...
View ArticleTigers, Teddybears and Why It’s Important To Connect…
My own hope is that once we have a better cultural understanding of attachment, we will realise it is not just about children. It is about us: it is about what it means to be human, to live, to lose...
View ArticleThe Importance Of Dads…. (Father’s Day 2013)
I saw this video today and it brought amusement at the long-suffering Dad who would do anything to make sure his daughter was not distressed, and the way the daughter was making sure her Dad wasn’t...
View ArticleMary Lily Walker: ‘A Forgotten Heroine’
Unemployment. Poverty. High infant mortality rates. A century ago, cities in Scotland were plagued by similar issues of health and inequalities as we are faced with today. While our politicians and...
View Article‘It’s not what they take away from you that counts – it’s what you do with...
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” - Theodore Roosevelt - In the summer of 2010, my family were dealt a cruel blow with the news that my 34 year old cousin, John, was ill. John’s...
View ArticleCareers, vocations, and loving what you do…
I’m about to make a career move. This career move is taking me back to a world that I have worked in before, and it is a move I could not be more delighted to make! I’m returning to the classroom and...
View ArticleIt’s Everyone’s Job To Make Sure I’m Alright
Over the past few weeks, the UK news has been dominated by the story of a four-year-old boy, Hamzah Khan, who died of starvation and horrific neglect at the hands of the person who gave birth to him....
View Article“I was not put on this earth to be invisible…”– The Girl Declaration
For days, months – even years – the girl development community has worked to put girls on the agenda. To make them a priority. To make the world understand that girls are the most powerful force for...
View Article“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the...
Every once and a while in this world we, as human beings, have the opportunity of witnessing the extraordinary. People who demonstrate through their lives the most beautiful aspects of humanity....
View Article2014 – a blank slate
2013 has slinked off quietly into the past and we have stepped swiftly into 2014. New year always brings people into a time of reflecting, reminiscing and resolving. We look back at where the past 12...
View ArticleBehind the Words of a Child
As the children were coming into class this morning, one of the little girls came dashing up to me, desperate to tell me the latest event in her life. Today’s event was that she had a new Princess...
View ArticleOn attachment, teaching and connections…
This post has been viewed more than 850 times and is by far and away the most viewed on my tiny little corner of the internet. In the post, I talk about attachment and the importance of connection...
View ArticleWhy Early Years?
My career and vocation in life is teaching. Within the world of teaching, my passion is working with early years – the period from birth to around age 8. I have often had colleagues, some of them...
View ArticleThe Missing Piece
The world is a giant puzzle that hasn’t been put together yet, and we’re trying to find the other piece of this puzzle that goes with us – E E Cummings E E Cummings is my favourite poet. His poems and...
View ArticleEducation is the key…
Every so often something appears in the news or on tv that truly sends a wave of despair over me. As a natural optimist, and positive thinker, it really does take a lot to wear me down. Even so, this...
View ArticleOn flaws, beauty and vulnerability {International Women’s Day 2014}
30 Years Old I recently turned thirty. The age of thirty often has an ominous sound to it. For whatever reason, society has turned the age of thirty into a turning point in a woman’s life. Suddenly the...
View ArticleNo Make-up Selfies & The Positive Power of Social Media….
Social media trends are a part of our modern world. From Twitter to Facebook to Instagram, we are bombarded on a daily basis with hashtags, trends, and selfies. Much of the time these hashtags and...
View ArticleFace Planting and Risk Taking
I’ve recently taken up a new sport. The sport has been described as playing speed chess while bricks are thrown at you. It’s full contact, fast, and players get used to being covered in bruises. Oh,...
View ArticleThe Difference Between Justice and Mercy
I will always remember and stand by the people of Rwanda. - Ban-Ki Moon (Secretary General of the United Nations) – 20 years ago a horror beyond much of our understanding took place within the borders...
View ArticleThe case of endless wanderlust… or things that travel has taught me.
wanderlust ˈwɒndəlʌst/ noun noun: wanderlust 1. a strong desire to travel. I love an adventure. Whether it’s exploring far off exotic lands or taking a road-trip around the countryside, I can’t resist...
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