👋 hello!👋
I’ve had a few new followers recently, so it feels like a good moment to re/introduce myself!
I’m Cathy.
I’m a teacher (20 years in the classroom), educator, freelance education futures consultant, speaker, life coach, parenting commentator, writer for The Sunday Times and The Telegraph. Oh, and a mum of teenagers, which informs pretty much everything I do.
I’m a regular media contributor across TV, radio and podcasts, including appearances on Good Morning Britain and Times Radio.
My coaching work is for anyone navigating a big life shift: career changes, returning to work, burnout recovery, or simply working out what comes next, whatever your age, whatever your situation.
I also work in schools programme development, helping bring entrepreneurship and innovation education to young people across the globe.
And through my podcast The Futures Project, I have honest conversations with guests about how we navigate the brave new world we’re all making our way through.
If you’re here for education, futures, parenting, well-being, or the occasional overshare about the juggle, the hustle and the humbling business of raising kids, you’re in the right place!
Glad you found me, thank you for the follow 🙌
.
.
#education #LifeCoaching #parenting #futures #podcast #teens #entrepreneurship #TheTimes #writer #GoodMorningBritain #foryou #Speaker #teacher
What a week of contrasts!
It began with a family wedding, pure joy. Music, love, the kind of day that leaves you feeling kind of breathless with gratitude for life and love and renewed connections.
It has evolved to my body finally, firmly, telling me to stop. I’ve had chronic back pain for six weeks and like most good, busy, working women I know, my strategy has been to ignore it and push through. You know the drill 💪
And then, now, suddenly, I can’t. Standing hurts. Sitting hurts. The only relief has been walking, which means I’ve been spending a lot of time in my beautiful local area, for which I am genuinely more grateful every day.
In between, I discovered codeine, which was brilliant until it wasn’t. Somewhere along the way I lost the ability to string a sentence together and feel my fingers, which my family found a bit comical and which 111 found mildly worrying enough to call me back about.
So this week I’m thinking about how to work creatively when the desk is off limits for a while. Tips? Joyful thoughts? Pithy maxims very welcome.
Mine comes via @madonna on @jayshetty : the same lessons keep showing up until you learn them. I’m learning, I think: listen to your body; stop when you need to stop; rest is not failure
Your back is one of those things you take completely for granted until you can’t. If yours is currently behaving itself, please appreciate it on my behalf.
If it’s not, I wish you courage and I’ll share my top tips for standing desks when I can! ❤️🩹
#backache #pain #codeine #rest #listentoyourbody
‼️Parents - are you feeling the pressure?
A recent @myedspace survey found that 45% of parents feel more stressed than their kids as exams approach.
I’ve written for @thetimes about the best strategies for managing your stress and anxiety so you can be better-placed to support your young person as exam season approaches.
Your self-care impacts directly on their sense of calm, perspective and confidence, so the bottom line is: look after yourself.
Huge thanks to some brilliant experts for their take here too
@dr.lee.david@harrietemilyrye@hepplestonmassage@jimfoulger@sophiewalkerstuff
#parenting #exams #teens #revision #mentalhealth
April where did you go? Here’s my download …
🍃Spring greens 💚
💩Does everyone have a drawer of random shite in their house? This week featuring lashes
💫 I had some much-needed rest
🤤 Air Fryer baked eggs, delicious AF (= air fried)
👯 A minibreak!
❤️ My favourite view on the dance floor
🍫 A pictorial representation of temptation
✨ Work in progress
#april #photodump #nature #wellbeing #mentalhealth
Three gorgeous, restorative, celebratory days in beautiful, friendly Palma with one of my oldest, loveliest friends 🌴🌊🍷🛫⛱️5️⃣0️⃣
#friendship #femalefriendship #birthday #minibreak #mallorca #holiday #fifty
👋🥚It’s the start of the Easter holidays, yay! Or is it more: ooof? How are we feeling about it?
Knowing I am wfh this week and have limited availability to cook / entertain / ferry, I did a BIG SHOP with lots of treats that garnered the response ‘woargh mum’s done an American shop for the holidays’ 👌
Who out there has booked activities, prepped snacks, and put a daily chores schedule on the fridge in return for the wifi code? Or, like me, were you so flat out that you clocked it was the hols last Thursday at 5pm and thought ‘ooof’? (and did an American shop?)
If you wfh, I think, the holidays hit different... for me that means: the background quiet disappears, the WiFi speed plummets, the heating stays on longer to pre-empt complaints 💸💸 and omg the question of screens – how much, when, why and the reminder that in families like mine, to a certain extent, we’re closing the gate after the horse has bolted 🐎😭
And if you have a GCSE or A-level reviser in the house…. The snacks, heating, wifi, quiet – and patience – premium is even higher.
Of course I don’t have a tidy answer. BUT I do think that two weeks of unstructured time, a bit of boredom, the odd bout of bickering and not adapting every area of family life to make yourself 💯 available are NOT going to fundamentally damage your child, and in fact the opposite might be true.
And a shout-out to the parents of teenies too - my algorithm on here constantly serves me tiny, gorgeous babies and toddlers to soothe my overstimulated parasympathetic nervous system. And though I miss those days I guess that for all the snackageddon and doomscrolling, parenting teens means a bit more freedom during holidays and being able to have a wee in peace these days (usually).
Sending love and empathy to all parents of all young people learning and working it out as we go. Hope everyone gets a break of sorts.
🐣 Happy Easter!🌷
What does the Easter holiday juggle look like in your house? Leave a comment below 💬
#easter #holidays #parenting #teacher #exams #break #vacation #teens #parentingteens #revision #workfromhome #family #balance #education #futures
✨ Say less
✨ Let your children speak
✨ And then ask if they want your input (they often don’t!)
A perfect takeaway from last week’s podcast episode with @educathy as we head into the holidays.
It sounds simple, but it’s not always easy.
So often we jump in; to fix, to reassure, to correct, to teach.
But when we pause and listen..it can be a game changer.
Since recording the episode, I’ve been trying (often failing) to say less. And what I’ve noticed is:
When children feel heard, they open up more.
When they’re not interrupted, their confidence grows.
And when I stop over explaining? My own stress levels drop too.
Sometimes the most powerful thing we can say is nothing at all.
If you haven’t listened yet, this episode is full of simple, practical shifts like this that can transform your relationships. Share it with anyone you think might find it helpful!
🎧 Catch up here:
/#40s-woman-beyond-podcast
#40sWomanAndBeyond #ParentingTips #ConsciousParenting #ListenMore MentalWellbeing @ghnutritioncoaching@crushedbymcs
A week in China! 🇨🇳 ✈️ 🌏
Here’s my download…
1. Shanghai is beautiful. So much colour and greenery, exquisite architecture. I loved strolling along the river exploring the Bund and French Concession with @pewlez and @dustinrdaniels and @emma777_ and @elljay1980 🌿
2. We stayed in the Jin Mao Tower – my bedroom on the 71st floor. As someone who lives in a house in South Yorkshire, this fact and the accompanying view blew my mind 🌇
3. So much time spent navigating new apps – DiDi not Uber, WeChat not WhatsApp, Alipay not Apple Pay. Nobody uses websites here, forget Google Maps. Good to have your assumptions tested, but a daily mental challenge when combined with no sleep and minimal Chinese 🤯
4. As a languages teacher I hate not being able to communicate – but I maxed out my Nihao and Xie-xies all week. Thank goodness for AI @claudeai is my LLM of choice 🤓 - useful for communicating my life-threatening allergies to the staples of Chinese cuisine 🥜
5. Super fun to deliver entrepreneurship education with @lsegenerate – and this time the lucky school was @aislharrowschools Or rather, we were the lucky ones, getting to meet and work with their brilliant young people 💫 And 📣 #teachers give me a shout if you want us to come to you!
6. Home delirious with jet lag and desperate for a home-cooked meal after playing nut and sesame roulette all week. Special thanks to @pewlez for sharing her safe snacks – and thank you, locals, for not staring too hard at us eating tins of tuna in the street to stay alive and hit our protein goals 🍜
Off to bed. I had the foresight to put clean sheets on my bed before I left 😌
#china #entrepreneurship #travel #education #allergy #innovation #shanghai #guangzhou #apps #ai #futures #teachers
March so far…
👌Insta wisdom I have enjoyed
🌷Spring spring spring ❤️❤️- and hanging washing out again!! So exciting at my age
❤️👧
🎤Massaoke at @freightislandmcr with @amy.settle was crackers and super fun
❤️ Manchester
❤️ @simon_edward_settle
🔥 @lilyallen@sheffieldcityhall
🎙️loved this conv with @40swomanandbeyond about how to navigate the anxiety, fury, exhaustion and overwhelming love that is parenting
💬 and an honour to be a @lorrainecandy expert on exam prep and empathy
🎧 and this ace collab with @yotoplay for @worldbookdaysocial
Happy weekend!
#photodump #weekend #foryou #parenting #wbd @instagram #march #springtime
I am so delighted to be partnering with @yotoplay for World Book Day 2026 on this campaign 🧡 #ad
When children lose themselves in a book, whether reading or listening, they are not just absorbing words. They are developing empathy, building vocabulary,and gaining the quiet confidence to be themselves wherever life takes them. And audiobooks are an integral part of this! Swipe to read my thoughts in full ➡️
📚Yoto is the Official Audio Partner of the charity World Book Day.
📕 On World Book Day itself (for one day only) Yoto is offering a range of Yoto cards for just £1, playable on the free Yoto parental app and all Yoto Players.
📖 Right now Yoto is donating £1 from sales of selected cards to the World Book Day charity here: /collections/world-book-day-2026
🎧 There is also a selection of free audio books provided by Yoto hosted on the World Book Day website here: /book-types/audiobook/
Books, whether heard or read, are a crucial part of how we raise children who can listen well, speak confidently, and genuinely connect with the people around them.
Happy World Book Day! 🎉
#worldbookday #educathy
#yoto #audiobooks #childrensbooks #parenting #education #reading #books #listening #futures #skills #connection #empathy #ad
@yotoplay@worldbookdaysocial
World Book Day® is a registered charity, company and trademark
School stress & your teens: a masterclass in helping them without piling on more pressure. On my Substack newsletter today I talk to ex-teacher and education consultant Cathy Walker, @educathy who worked in schools for 20 years and now runs Cathy Walker consulting.
We discuss:
- How to motivate the least interested teens
When to talk to the school and how to ask teachers for help
What to do if your teens hates revision more than most
Why you must back off and change your language during exam time
Practical revision strategies, snacks, the basic prep for a good mental health
Why putting times on revision is unhelpful and mostly doesn’t work (a teacher’s view)
Why this time in history is the best time ever to flunk exams (really)
Why your expectations may be damning your teen to achieving less
When they need to be on phones, listening to music during revision
Why what you see is often misleading when it comes to what your teen is actually doing during exam season
what to say after and before exam day
#parentingteens
