Parent Stories

Pippa was thirty-eight, divorced, with one daughter, Becky, who was sixteen and at the sixth form college for girls. Becky was into drama and was appearing in the show at the college. Mums were encouraged to take part, both behind the scenes, as well as in the show itself. Pippa was certainly up for that. The college did have a strict behaviour regime, and any girls who misbehaved quickly got a detention, and those who go...

Cassie Tremblay steered her aging red Toyota into a parking spot as near to the front entrance to MacDonald Secondary School as she could find. It was a spot in the teacher’s parking area, but that shouldn’t matter. Not after hours. They wouldn’t tow her at this time of day, would they? She glanced again at the digital clock on her dashboard. Late, as usual. She’d have to risk leaving her car where it was and hope for the...

A few years ago, I was working in this private international school in Greece for about four years and I was very happy there. I was on a decent wage, I had made some good friends and I was popular amongst kids, parents and my colleagues. What was pretty obvious was that I was the only male teacher in the school and that potentially led to a different type of popularity. Nevertheless, it could be something to embrace. I s...

A pair of blue-tits was fighting each other for exclusive access to the peanut holder Heather had just attached to the bird table. A female pheasant’s dull brown feathers twitched under a bush as it waited for Heather to return to the cottage kitchen. Then it could peck at the seeds scattered liberally at the foot of the rotting bird table Heather smiled. She pushed open the door to the kitchen where her daughter, Paula,...

How it all started I’ve always hated the stress and drama of parent/teacher conferences. It was one of the few times I’d really “dress up” so I can make a good impression on the parents. This was especially true with the first formal meeting as I figured if I look good, then they would take the news of their child’s academic difficulties a little better. Therefore, I put up with a pantsuit or a blouse and nice skirt with...