Wednesday Wisdom
Tooled Up tips for loving parents around the world
11/06/2025
Sport for Strength
I am the Head of Research at Tooled Up, but outside of my work, I am proud to say that I am the Strongest Natural Woman in Scotland, and second strongest natural woman in the UK & Ireland. In this week’s edition of Wednesday Wisdom, I wanted to reflect on my sporting journey and share some insights that may open up conversations with young girls and women in your lives about the role sport can play in building body confidence.
04/06/2025
Baby, Bathwater?
Without naming names, there is a campaign knocking around social media arguing for a ban on all tech being used as part of teaching and learning in schools. Several celebrities are piping up all over the place (on Zoom) to extol the poisonous evil (their words) that is technology. They talk about radiation being emitted from interactive whiteboards, pour water on any digital platform that ‘gamifies’ learning and wish for a return to a simpler time when learning didn’t involve a screen of any kind.
28/05/2025
Girls' Digital Lives
Not a week goes by without questions coming in from our Tooled Up community of parents and educators, who are keen to support the young people with challenges relating to body image, identity, friendship, fairness, confidence, dating and peer pressure.
21/05/2025
Loving Learning
When, as a recent graduate, I was first considering training to be an English teacher, a careers advisor at my university gave me some advice which has always stuck with me. “Only become a teacher,” she said, “if you want to work with young people. If you like books, go and work in a bookshop.”
14/05/2025
The Wonder Years
In this week’s Wednesday Wisdom, Shirley Hayman, our resident Early Years Educator and Tooled Up team member of 35 year’s experience, reflects on her career. She shares snippets of wisdom that she wants to pass onto parents and other educators. She also shares some research into the foundational early years that Tooled Up has highlighted to its school and parent communities.
07/05/2025
A Victory for Values
Send tea! I’m in the middle of the notorious ‘double’; the year where two teens in the same household face high stakes exams. My boys have 32 exams over the next month and a half. All the while, parents like us have households to run, personal and work commitments to battle through! It is tough to keep everyone healthy and calm.
30/04/2025
Wisdom Worth Sharing
Did you know that the consumption of energy drinks has been linked to mental health problems in teens? That encouraging adventurous play can reduce the risk of childhood anxiety? That fun isn't a luxury, but a developmental necessity? That dinnertime chats can uniquely boost children's executive functioning? Or even that engaging with music is correlated with greater empathy and kindness?
23/04/2025
Good Enough
This week, Wednesday Wisdom is written by Dr Tara Porter, clinical psychologist and best selling author. Her latest book, "Good Enough: A Framework for Modern Parenting" was published earlier this month.