Tooled Up Education
"We thrive on providing you with resources that can help cultivate children’s resilience"
"We turn evidence-based research into impactful, real-life tools that help children thrive"
"We help you equip children psychologically for early adulthood and beyond"
"We support the continuing professional development of educators through access to the highest quality research evidence"
“If a community values its children, it must cherish their parents” - John Bowlby, 1951
"We constantly create and adapt our tools to meet the needs of families in an ever-changing world"
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Topical Resources

Tooled Up Events

The home of evidence-based resources on all aspects of parenting, education and family life

Organisation that are part of our Tooled Up Education community can provide their parents and teachers with access to Dr Weston’s exclusive resources, covering areas such as aspiration, resilience, mental health and behaviour.

As a member of the Tooled Up community you will have access to a whole host of evidence-based resources, which will enable you to support your children or students in a way that makes their lives and educational journeys both easier and more enjoyable. 

Check if you belong to a Tooled Up Organisation

Dr Weston's Wednesday Wisdom

In an ever increasingly busy and demanding world, Wednesday Wisdom provides a reflective 2 minute read every week that readers constantly tell us they look forward to. Full of topical and relatable experiences that help provide reflection, motivation and support in achieving a balanced family life.

Over the years, thousands of people have benefitted from, and continue to enjoy, the parenting and educational talks from Dr Kathy Weston at Tooled Up Education and have subscribed to Wednesday Wisdom. Join now for free to get your own weekly digest of motivating, interesting, and thoughtful parenting advice from Dr Weston herself.

“I just wanted to say how grateful I am to read your Wednesday Wisdom email. Perfect size for the time I have to engage and reflect and think about the topics you touch on. It helps me to evaluate my parenting and take a step back to look at scenarios that play out.”

Parent – October 2020

The Magic Pill

Here in the UK, it’s National Sleep Awareness Week. Recently, I went to a timely two-day conference organised by The Sleep Charity, a UK organisation which campaigns to improve sleep support and raise awareness of the value of a good night’s sleep.

Read more...

Parenting Question of the Month

I have a question about my Year 6 son. He is going to a different secondary school to all of his primary school friends. I am worried about him feeling left out and anxious about not knowing anyone when he gets to his new school. He doesn’t seem worried and is confident socially and in new situations, but I don’t want to assume he is fine when he might not be. Also, his older brother has not had a very positive time at secondary school, resulting in a lot of detentions and a lot of parent meetings so I am concerned he will have picked up on this negativity when he is a very different person. 

Hello! Thanks for your question. When I was reading through it, the thing that stood out first was the description of your son as unconcerned about impending changes and “confident socially”. This is good news indeed and bodes well, although, as you suggest, it is prudent not to assume that he has zero concerns at all about the upcoming school move. 

Researcher of the Month

Dr Mariya Stoilova, Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Research Interests

Dr Stoilova’s research focuses on the opportunities and risks of digital media use in the everyday lives of children and young people.

Find Dr Stoilova’s research here.

In recent years, there has been considerable industry investment in a new generation of technical child protection measures, designed to help parents and carers control what their children see and do online. But how many families actually make use of them, and do they work? Our Researcher of the Month, Dr Mariya Stoilova, and her colleagues, reviewed all available evidence in a recently published study

Dr Stoilova and her team, led by Professor Sonia Livingstone, conducted a rapid evidence review of all studies published (in English) between 2010 and 2021 on the subject of age verification and parental controls. 40 studies which met specific criteria for relevance and quality were included in their in depth analysis, which showed very mixed outcomes from using these tools. The research highlights that parental controls should not be considered a ‘silver bullet’ to guarantee online safety. However, when chosen carefully and used to help promote children’s digital agency and development, rather than limit it, they can be helpful as one of many tools that parents can use to help children to thrive in the digital world. 

Implications

To find out more about the implications of Dr Stoilova’s research, read our full Researcher of the Month article. Tooled Up subscribers can also tune in to our interview with Dr Stoilova and read the accompanying notes.

Tooled Up News

#InspireInclusion: Celebrating International Women’s Day

You are probably already aware that it’s International Women’s Day today. This year’s theme is #InspireInclusion and the event focuses on celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness about discrimination and taking action to drive gender parity. Working as part of a small (but growing) team of fantastic women (and men), these are things that we are passionate about at Tooled Up, and we have plenty of resources for the Tooled Up community which will help to break down stereotypes and recognise the successes of some remarkable women.

Read More

Testimonials

"I thought the talk last night was absolutely fantastic. It really helped us to have a vision and how we can support [Child] to develop his resilience."
    Parent

Yarm School

"So informative - lots of food for thought as a teacher and a parent of two girls. Thank you."
    Parent

Merchant Taylor's School

"Thank you so much for such a wonderful Q&A, it was so informative and rich with information. I am certain our parent community will use all these resources!"
    School Welfare Counsellor

St. Catherine's British School

"Expert and engaging, Kathy gives rich, evidence-based guidance. You will come away inspired and empowered"

Dr Johnny Noakes

Eton College

"It is no exaggeration to say that Dr Weston’s input into our pastoral programme has been transformational. Her presentation to more than two hundred staff was the most inspirational – and practical – training we have received on how to support adolescents through the changes of the teenage years."

Headmistress

Francis Holland School

"Kathy’s talk was engaging, interesting and highly informative throughout. She balanced factual information with personal advice and practical tips to ensure that the talk was relevant and accessible from the outset."

Head Teacher

Sarum Hall School

"Just to say you are amazing at what you do.. really really informative and helpful to parents and can’t recommend tooled up highly enough!"

Teacher

Davenies School

"I just wanted to say that it was great to meet you yesterday. Thank you so much for giving such an impressive and insightful talk. We have had lots of positive comments today about it. You struck just the right tone, and I know that the advice will have been invaluable to so many of our parents. It’s such a vital and important message and we are very grateful to you for sharing your knowledge and insights."

Teacher

Highgate School

"I’d like to just say that I found the Tooled Up parent launch talk to be content-rich, super relevant, and exceptionally (I mean, the best I’ve seen) professional in terms of delivery."

Parent

Francis Holland School

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Have a Question?

If you are interested in learning more about Tooled Up Education, have a technical question, press enquiry or any other query, please follow the link below or get in touch with Dr Weston’s team on email: office@tooledupeducation.com