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If you are anything like me this last week of spring like weather will have you packing away the winter wear and getting our the spring summer clothes. Being the organised Mum and Thrifty Mum I am. Each year I but the boys summer clothes in the previous years sales and have them all packed away for […]
thinking of the Personal Statement a good deal in advance, and how you might help your child to connect their extra-curricular interests, achievements and hobbies with their academic pathway of choice, you can steal a march on all of the rest of the university applicants.
Karen Martin, from the Admissions & Student Recruitment Department at the University of Dundee, explains: “Remember that your Personal Statement is the only piece of written work we will see when selecting the best applicants.”
Pretty crucial, then.
None of this is of course a direct substitute for quality academic performance but, done well and properly, the Personal Statement is often the deciding factor between so many applications of equal weight.
Outlined at the outset on the Personal Statement, there need to be cast-iron reasons for why your child has chosen that particular subject, that university and why exactly they want to go to continue in Higher Education in general. This is the Personal Statement bread and butter.
But, the essentials aside, what other ingredients can you think about in advance that could help boost your child’s application and save you all a whole world of heartache at a later, more stressful date?
Volunteering
Turbo-Boosting Your Child’s UCAS Personal Statement Read More »
Normally on a Sunday I do my ironing whilst watching One Born Every Minute on catch up. But alas the series had ended, so I decided to watch Paul Hollywood instead and you know what I managed to get the ironing done in that time. Now those of you in the know, will understand this statement, but for the uninitiated OBEM is an hour long, whereas Paul Hollywood’s Bread is only 30 minutes long. So I managed to halve my ironing time. Which delighted me. OK this week wasn’t the week that I do our bedding, which is super kingsize and yes before you ask I ironing my own bedding because I love getting in to clean laundered and ironed sheets, but still it was a lot faster than usual.
The Tefal Pr Express has lots of positives, you can fill it up at the tap, large water tank, anti calc spoon for hard water areas, safety catch (so you can store the hot iron) and an auto off facility too. I do, however, need to get a new ironing board with somewhere to put the steam generator.
The thing that got me thinking about how old I was when I learned to iron was the fact the iron is a lot lighter than a traditional steam iron as it doesn’t have to have a tank to hold the water.
So when is the right time to teach my boys how to iron? When did you teach your children?
An Ironing Revolution – When Should Kids Learn to Iron? Read More »
Is it Safe for Your Kids to Take a Gap Year?
By Andrew Tipp
It’s not difficult to find news stories of horrible things happening to young people on their gap years.
Whether it’s a bus crash, a robbery or even a murder, the mid-market tabloids splash multi-page spreads full of emotive and frightening reports when something bad happens to a young Brit abroad.
It’s usually an attractive white 19-year-old middle class girl that’s been attacked in India, or a group of friendly 18-year-old boys that have died in a road accident in Thailand.
The message is usually implicit from the reporting: this could happen to your child. Imagine this happening to your child.
Imagining the worst
It’s a horrible thing for a parent to think about, and instinctively it makes some parents think of ripping up their child’s plane tickets, cancelling their volunteering placement and refusing to let them head off on their gap year.
It’s an understandable reaction. Natural, even. Why let your child go off travelling somewhere dangerous when they could be safe and sound at home?
But let’s think about this for a bit. Just how dangerous is a gap year? How many of these reports are down to bad luck? Or even foolishness?
The truth is that gap years are relatively safe, worthwhile and fun. The chances of anything bad happening to your child on their dream backpacking trip or volunteering placement is incredibly small.
Putting it into perspective
Every year an estimated 200,000 British young people take a gap year of some kind. Of that number some will run into problems. It’s inevitable. But most of the problems are things that could happen anywhere.
It’s definitely not worth you or your child being put off the adventure of a lifetime because of some sensational news reports that highlight the few occasions when something bad happens on a gap year.
The right approach for your son or daughter is to seize the chance at a travel experience, take precautions, use common sense and establish an understanding of how you will stay in touch so they can let you know they’re safe and sound.
Taking precautions
There are certain things your child can do before their trip to reduce and manage the risk of anything negative happening to them.
There should be plenty of research before the trip. Make sure your child knows where they’re going, who (if anyone) will be meeting them at airports and bus stations, how to get between places, what hostels they will be sleeping in and who will be their contact locally (if they’re doing a volunteering placement).
Make sure your son or daughter knows some of the local language for where they’re going – especially how to ask for help in different situations. They should know who to contact if they get into trouble, and how to get in touch with the regional UK embassy.
While planning and before travelling, your family should consult the travel advice from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Oh, and make sure your child buys adequate travel insurance – there are plenty of perfectly avoidable horror stories every year involving parents paying thousands so their child could be flown home after breaking a leg trekking in the wilderness without insurance.
Common sense
The easiest way for your child to avoid crime and danger abroad is simply by not making themselves an easy target.
Tourists wearing expensive clothes and dangling pricey cameras around their necks are calling out for someone to rob them; these things are like a sign that flashes in neon lights: “I have money, come and take it if you can.”
This isn’t too much of an issue for independent gap year travellers, as most of them genuinely have little money – either in the bank or on them. Even so, it would be a good idea for your child to segment their money – storing some of it in wallets/purses, some in bags, socks, hostel safes, etc.
Behaviour can make gappers as much of a target. What you do is as important as what you wear. Be sure your child knows not look too much like an innocent, naive and vulnerable fish out of water. Being able to ask for directions confidently and not looking lost with a huge map is helpful.
Locks for backpacks is an option to stay safe, but obviously it’s a good idea not to take anything that’s worth stealing in the first place. In terms of personal safety, rape alarms and ‘defence’ spray cans are good purchases – although be careful with the latter as in some places this is considered a weapon.
Control and intuition
Although drinking and having fun is part of the gap year experience, staying in control is important. Getting really drunk makes young people abroad vulnerable, so be sure to make them agree to staying with groups and friends if they’re heading out drinking.
Just as you wouldn’t wander into the wrong area of Manchester or Birmingham, it’s crucial your child avoids the dangerous areas of any city, but especially high-crime urban sprawls like Johannesburg or Bogata.
Likewise, it’s obviously no safer for your son or daughter to go home alone with any strangers on an evening of romance.
Staying in contact
Maintaining communication between parent and child is important during a gap year. It’s easy for parents to worry if their son or daughter drops out of contact.
It might be a good idea to agree on a rough contact schedule. Nothing too rigid, but maybe a clear but informal understanding that they will try and check in weekly or fortnightly by email, and let you know if they’re going on a trip to, say, a rainforest and will be out of contact for a while. You might also want them to let you know what hostels they’re staying in.
If your child plans to be very active online during their gap year, this could be an issue; if they blog and tweet and facebook every other day you might also worry if they suddenly stop. It might be a good idea to agree that they let you know if they’re going to cease updating their digital profiles for a while.
Ultimately, there’s no way of guaranteeing safety abroad. There’s no way of eliminating risk completely. Bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time can happen to anyone, anywhere.
But if you have frank and thorough discussions about taking precautions, using common sense and staying in touch there should be nothing to worry about.
Read more about gap year foreign travel advice: https://www.gov.uk/gap-year-foreign-travel-advice
Learn more about volunteering abroad placements: http://www.originalvolunteers.co.uk/
Visit a gap year advice and community site: http://www.gapyear.com/
About the author
Andrew Tipp is a writer, blogger and editor. He’s spent more than a year backpacking and volunteering abroad, and used to work as a site editor for travel advice and community website gapyear.com.
If the slight change in temperature has got you hopeful for the summer you’re not alone. We’re feeling pretty excited about it too and in fact have started to think about holidays as a result. We’ve been dreaming about the type of summer holidays that we remember from childhood, where the days seem to stretch on forever, the beach is always in sight and you get to taste every flavour of ice-cream over the course of a week, going home with salt in your hair and a big grin on your face.
If you yearn after these type of holidays as well, and particularly if you want to recreate this kind of unforgettable summer fun for your kids, we’ve prepared a post for you about summer holidays in Cornwall.
When it comes to taking time out Cornwall really does offer the goods, plus, a holiday in Cornwall really doesn’t have to cost the earth. And in fact once you’ve booked and paid for your place to stay (some luxury accommodation providers also offer baby friendly holiday packages!), once you’ve arrived there are many cheap and even free things to do there. So if all of this talk of summer has made you want to dig out the swimsuits, buckets and spades read on. Here’s our guide to the best summer holiday hangouts in Cornwall…
Eat Roskillys Ice-Cream at Padstow Harbour
Nothing says summer holidays like a big, crisp ice-cream cone full to the brim with several generous scoops of creamy Cornish ice-cream. For the very best we recommend heading to Roskilly’s ice-cream shop which overlooks the picturesque Padstow harbour. They have more flavours than you’ll be able to choose between and each one is just as delicious as the next.
Spend the day at Polzeath Beach
This is one of our very favourite beaches in Cornwall, as it’s a lovely sandy beach which stretches out to meet the stunning Atlantic ocean. Polzeath beach is really close to the town too and as such means that a whole range of lovely cafes and restaurants are available to you come mealtimes – this makes it ideal if you have something other than sandy sandwiches in mind for lunch! The beach often gets good surfing waves too is is a fabulous place to have a go at this, plus it has the best sandcastle-building sand we’ve found! Heaven.
Great value and family friendly things to do in Cornwall Read More »
Hola Spain! Top four holiday spots
Get your passport and factor thirty at the ready and cast your eyes over this quick and dirty guide to the four top Spanish spots to visit this year.
Barcelona
Barcelona is brilliant for a city break, and has loads of culture and history to take in, so it’s an ideal choice if you get bored lounging on the beach all day. Top sightseeing spots in Barcelona include the Gothic Quarter, with buildings dating back to Medieval and Roman times, and Antoni Gaudi’s Church of the Sacred Family, described as “a masterpiece of modernist architecture”.
Nightlife is big in Barcelona! If you’re into your clubbing then visit Razzmatazz or City Hall Nightclub. To sample a shot of absinthe (if you can handle it) then pay a visit to Bar Marsella in Carrer Sant Pau.
Benidorm
There’s a reason Benidorm’s been a popular holiday spot for so many years, and its four miles of gorgeous sandy beaches is one of them. If you’re after a relaxing holiday in the sun with enough to do at night then you can’t go wrong with a holiday in Benidorm .
You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to sunbathing and swimming spots here, and there are also great spots for scuba diving and snorkelling. The local seafood is delicious so make an effort to visit one of the many restaurants, such as the Agir or Casa Toni, both offering traditional Spanish fare and picturesque views while you eat.
Costa del Sol
When package deals first came to prominence, the Costa del Sol was the place to go. These days, travellers visit all areas of Spain, but the Costa del Sol still has plenty to offer holiday makers and remains popular as a result. As well as the beaches and of course the Spanish weather, the Costa del Sol has a great public transport system that makes it easy for you to visit other areas from whichever resort you’re staying in.
You can easily spend a day strolling around the ancient capital city of Malaga, taking in the historic streets and beautiful architecture of the churches and museums. Make sure you pay Malaga Castle a visit too, to soak up the history and enjoy some fabulous views.
Majorca
Holidays in Majorca are ideal for families and couples, with plenty to do if you need to be kept busy, but enough opportunity for relaxation if you choose to do nothing at all.
If it’s a family holiday you’re looking at, the dolphin and sea lion shows at Marine Land are a safe bet to keep the kids entertained. Couples can take advantage of the area’s many chilled out bars and fabulous restaurants serving delicious local food, such as the top rated Village Café in Deia.
Wherever you choose to go in Spain, you’ll be unlikely to have many problems with language, as all resorts are set up to cater for tourists and making yourself understood in English is rarely a problem. Having said that, taking a phrase book and learning a few key phrases, such as ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘beer’, will be much appreciated by locals and might get you better service!
So tonight, I took myself off for my bath with my Eye & Brow perfector and the Vanilla Coke that I bought in Boots earlier today on my first Social Shopper insights study for Cbias. Yes I did say Vanilla Coke, I did a happy dance when I saw it as It was and still is my favorite soft drink.
There is something really decadent in doing something for yourself that you wouldn’t normally do. I would usually have a bath after the boys were safely tucked up in bed, but having one when it was still daylight was lovely as was laying there with the perfector on my eyes. I have not had a reaction and they feel soft, but only regular use will tell if it works for me instead of mascara.
I think I really deserved a bath on my own after taking the two boys to Boots during the holidays, why not take a look at my Google+ Album to see how we got on.
I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® #CBias #SocialFabric.
Treat yourself to a movie. There are a lot of advantages to going to the movies by yourself. You don’t have to grapple over which film to see (no more animated kids movies, please), and you don’t have to share your popcorn. This is exactly my idea of fun and entertaining ‘me’ time.
Living an ecological family life
An environmental mindset has become stronger in society. Two main reasons are moral as well as cutting back on costs. For that reason, it is also the duty as an adult and guardian to demonstrate the importance of an ecological way of life at home and to pass-on these habits to others. The following tips may help families introduce some easy and some more sophisticated aspects in order to keep the home green.
Switch off the lights: Whether it’s forgetfulness or laziness, a lot of households aren’t too bothered with switching off the lights and multimedia devices when they leave the room. It can save a lot of energy which tends to grab people’s attention when they see how much they save on their electricity bill. With children, it is easy to raise awareness at an early age to make them care about resources later on as well. By regularly showing them to save electricity or water, by switching off the light (or turning off the tap), they will adopt this habit quickly.
Isolate the house well: When building or buying a new home for the family, it is sensible to look into the house’s insulation. Windows and walls alike should be strong in keeping the cold outside and saving the warmth inside. In that respect, heating costs can be reduced as heating won’t need to be used as much.
Separate the waste: City councils around the UK have implemented recycling into their waste collection strategies, so separating your rubbish is not a foreign routine. We know to separate glass, paper and plastic and – if possible – food scrapes for the compost. When everyone does their part to separate their recyclables properly, then we make the work of local waste management services more efficient. Labelling bins for children with images or colours showing what rubbish goes where is easy to do and also helps to train the importance of recycling. Going a step further by finding creative ways to reuse can also make for fun DIY projects as well. Sites like Pinterest have very creative craft sections for both adults and children, which heavily involve reusing and recycling. Careful though, there are so many ingenious projects that can make scrolling addictive!
Produce energy: It still might sound futuristic for some, but it is definitely possible to produce some energy with the right technology. As shown by solar businesses, an installation of their panels on the roof of your house is very energy efficient. As their technology has advanced over the years, they are now able to produce more energy than it makes to make them. This then makes the technology more appealing to purchase with their pros becoming a lot stronger than their cons.
