The Parent Student

The House of Five Generations

Agustina was twelve years old when civil war broke out in Spain. She lived through four decades of Franco’s fascist dictatorship and survived for long enough to meet her great-great granddaughter. The Family Guardian published her story and the University of Brighton picked up on its historical significance. One stifling summer, in a rural hamlet [...]

Blog: In a class war, it helps to know which side you’re on…

The Telegraph’s main headline yesterday declared the outbreak of ‘class war’ in a post-budget attention-grabber which made me slightly anxious…. A class war, claims the Telegraph, has been ignited by the new 50% tax rate for those with annual earnings of £150,000 or more. What’s more, in the paper’s view, this signifies a declaration of “war [...]

Blog: Inspiration from Indonesia

Every now and then you meet someone who is so inspiring, they take your breath away. Yesterday I ‘met’ Raden Ajeng Kartini, a Javanese aristocrat who lived for just twenty five years and in that time inspired a revolution in ideals for the women of the Indonesian archipelago. Kartini was born in 1879 just as [...]

Blog: Easter Guilt

Well it appears to be the Easter hols which means that, while I am meant to be researching Raden Ajeng Kartini (Indonesian feminist) I am, in fact, playin’ choo-choos with two small boys. Suffering from Permanent Guilt Syndrome – I feel guilty for not taking the kids out enough, guilty for not teaching them extra [...]

Blog: Just pick something and go with it

Having one of those don’t-know-where-to-start days. Which I hate because while I’m faffing around wondering where to start, an hour or two pass by and then I think – Christ, I could have accomplished something by now – if only I could just pick a thing and go with it… So here goes, I have [...]

Blog: The very first Parent Student blog post

*wow* there’s something very intimidating about a vast white space with no words on it, so I thought I’d begin by rambling inanely until the whiteness subsides… there, starting to look a little more cluttered already. But where to begin? Does it matter? How much do people want to know? Should I offer a little [...]