My wife and I spent the weekend in London while my parents looked after our children - between our busy careers and family life we rarely get time for ourselves, so a weekend away was just what the Doctor ordered. We visited Covent Garden and apparently there are around 300,000 lights strung through the piazza and surrounding streets this year- part of their display called “The Theatre of Christmas”. There was a huge 55 foot Christmas tree which was lit up with thousands of l

Yesterday was one of those days that seemed determined to go wrong from the moment it began. I had an Access to Work meeting that didn’t go to plan at all, the sort of meeting where you go in hopeful and come out wondering what on earth just happened. The children were full of energy and noise, and every attempt to restore a bit of calm vanished within seconds. On top of that, my parents-in-law needed taking back to the airport between client sessions, which is always a sad l

"See a child differently, see a different child" I recently came across a post that included the quote “See a child differently; see a different child.”  I saved it immediately because it summed up so much of what I learned during more than ten years as a teacher. It is one of the most accurate and meaningful lines I have ever read about working with children who think and learn in different ways, particularly those with ADHD and other forms of neurodiversity. My experience t

This weekend I went to the Christmas market in Ely with my family and my wife’s family, who are visiting from Spain at the moment, and it turned into one of those days where you only plan to have a quick wander but somehow end up completely swept up in the atmosphere and you're out for hours! Ely cathedral looked even more stunning than usual with all the Christmas lights shining against the stone (if you have never visited, I highly recommend it.) The cathedral had that love