The cost of raising a child is £210,000 – a good reason to use Education Recycle

So why use Education Recycle?
Because the cost of raising a child until the age of 21 years old is at present standing at £210. 000 according to LV= this is up 50% from 2003 and this breaks down to £27.50 a day. Ouch!!

The cost of education, school uniforms, after school clubs and university fees has risen by 5.3% in just the last year -

Guest Blog from" Actually Mummy" ...Top ten list of low-cost activities

This week we have a Guest Blogger from Actually Mummy - http://www.actuallymummy.co.uk/.

We love her Blog and she has kindly written for us at Education Recycle - she has written a top ten list of low-cost activities for the summer holidays, you must try them and let us know how you got on. Or feel free to post your own ideas!! We love to hear from you...So here it is Actually Mummy's take on an affordable summer...

The Top five Education related Parental Rights

In law parents have duties to their children and rights in respect to their children, it is important to note here that the rights are not absolute and they are subject to the principle that the child’s welfare is the court’s paramount consideration – this means that Parental wishes can be overridden by the court.  For example the court can restrain a parent from doing something which might adversely affect the child’s welfare. With this in mind, here are what I think are the top five Education related Parental Rights.

The Modern School Fete vs The Traditional School Fete

The good old days of hitting a stuffed sock that was dropped into a drain pipe is long gone or the naff raffle whereupon you would win a bottle of sweet sherry that had been donated by some ones Gran even though you were only 7 years old or the excitement when you put your hand into a bucket of sawdust to get your lucky dip prize...a key ring or a fridge magnet that fell off the fridge every time someone shut the door and eating a cake that had been lovingly made by your fellow classmates and had been overly decorated with everything from their Mums food cupboard. So I went to a School Fete and has it changed?

The diary of the virtual baby weekend

The Virtual Baby named Teddy



So my daughter was chosen to have the virtual baby for the weekend. She was really excited – but me as a parent was not so sure. I thought I would share the weekend with you, so you can see that it is something not to embark on without thinking it through. Believe me it will not just affect your daughter but the rest of the family as you will see through the diary entries throughout the experience. Not all bad though!! But a huge eye opener for all concerned – by the end, it will not feel like a plastic doll but like a real baby.

Worst Primary Schools to become academies

Worst primary schools to become academies

I am sure that all of you have seen the latest headlines that the worst 200 primary schools will be forced to become academies – but what does this mean? What is an academy?

I wasn’t sure so I thought that I would do some internet searching on the subject and share my findings.

The Art of Giving and the Feel Good Factor

The Art of Giving and the Feel Good Factor

Why give something away? Why help someone from your street? Why put yourself out for someone else? The art of giving, selfishly; do you partake in this activity or not? 
Are you a giver? Or do you think that everyone is out to gain something out of every situation and so give and risk the chance of feeling like you have given to someone and you have received nothing in return.

Welcome to our new Guest Blogger - Carly Jacques - "Cakes by Jacques"

We have great news ! We have now a new member to our team who is going to share her wonderful cake recipes with us. Carly is going to post a recipe to make cakes for all those special occassions when we could all do with a little bit of help !!

To start us off, Carly has posted a Ice Cream cupcake recipe - they look like real ice cream cones and I know that the kids are going to love them.

Check out the site http://www.hertfordshire.educationrecycle.net/ and start baking.

 Halloween is the next one - can't wait to see what Carly comes up with. Here is a little bit of information about "Cakes by Jacques" - if you would like to buy your cakes from Carly please visit her site http://www.cakesbyjacques.co.uk/

About Carly

My name is Carly Jacques, 'Cakes by Jacques' is a new enterprise for me. I have always been a passionate baker and I love creating beautiful cakes for family and friends. Since giving up a long nursing career (cancer care) to be a full time Mum to two beautiful children (Catherine and William) I am, at last, able to bake my heart out! 

All of my cupcakes and celebration cakes are handmade, by me, in my kitchen at home. Each is baked fresh to order to ensure the best possible taste experience. I believe passionately in good ingredients from locally produced free-range eggs through to unwaxed freshly zested lemons, fair-trade sugar, the highest quality Vanilla extract and high quality chocolate, I make every effort to create the perfect cakes. 

Each cake I make is a unique bespoke creation. I don't mass produce!

I also make cakes that cater for specific dietary needs (dairy free, egg free, gluten free, e-number free). They are so delicious you'll wonder how I did it! Cakes By Jacques is based in central St Albans, Hertfordshire and creates freshly baked bespoke cupcakes, iced biscuits, celebration and wedding cakes. 

To find the recipes go to "how to...Bake" tab on Education Recycle !

Have fun.