School & Career

Unsung Heroes – Lollipop Men and Women

Is there a Lollipop Man or Woman on your road to school? Do you know his or her name?
When I take my children to school, we walk  if we can, because the parking situation near the school is a bit difficult. On our way we cross the road where the Lollipop Man stands guard.
He isn’t particularly talkative, but is friendly and helpful. It has been warm these past days, and still he stands, in his reflective jacket and ear-muffed reflective hat. I am waiting for him to take the hat off, he must be sweltering under there. Perhaps he has a lighter hat in his cupboard, which doesn’t get worn until summer.

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Art & History

I am Not a Tourist, I Live Here – Mexico

“Why don’t you have a tan?” This is the question Dr Cath Andrews is always asked on returning home to the UK from Mexico. It seems that Mexico lives in the British imagination as a tourist destination, where the sun always shines and all residents must have time to sunbathe.
Cath explains that living in Mexico is very different to visiting as a tourist. 

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Home, Health & Style

What is Counselling?

ids When something’s on your mind, it can help to talk about it and share it with someone else. But what if you don’t want to talk to your friends or family, or you can’t?
That’s where counselling can help.

Basically, counselling is just a space for you to look at your feelings. You do this with a trained counsellor who is experienced at working with young people. You don’t have to talk for the whole time – counsellors also use sand trays, drawing and modelling to help explore feelings. They won’t make you talk about something you don’t want to; it’s your time to use how you want. Even if your school has suggested you see a counsellor, you don’t have to – and you see them for as long as you want to.

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Home, Health & Style

How Much Sleep Do Kids Need?

Julianne Robertson investigates the world of snoozes, forty winks, cat naps and snoring. What is SLEEP, why do we need it, and how much sleep do kids need?

 

A couple of nights ago I was feeling really, really tired, so I went to bed early.  I slept soundly, without even dreaming, until about 5am, when I woke up.  It felt like I’d only been sleeping for about 5 minutes!  After that, I fell back to sleep but had lots of vivid dreams and when I woke up a couple of hours later, it felt like I’d been asleep for a long time.  After all that I still felt well-rested and was ready for the day.

All this made me wonder – what IS sleep?  Why is it that some nights we feel like we’ve had a really good nights’ sleep, while other nights we still feel tired when we wake up in the morning?  Here’s what I’ve discovered about sleep…

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