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The strains of children on marriages, and indeed any relationship, are well documented. But most couples tend to think they’ll be able to cope, somehow. As with so many things in life, we all tend to believe the worst just won’t happen to us. I certainly did.

Following the tragic suicide of my father-in-law last year, the strain seems to have proved too much for my husband. I shan’t bore you with the detail, but after a Christmas affair and differences that don’t seem to be getting resolved, we have decided to separate. He has moved out, and I am left with a thousand questions, mostly about the children and how we go about any degree of normal life now.

What amazes me is the supportiveness of friends and family. I hope that anyone else in my situation is not too proud or ashamed to ask for help, because it seems that people are only too willing to give it. Offers of babysitting, visits and advice are all free-flowing, and I feel extremely lucky to have such...

Annalise created these four posters for her A Level exam in Graphic Design.  The posters are her creations and focused on her thoughts about bullying and how it makes a person feel.  She says 'My main inspiration for creating these posters was past experience, I grew up having to deal with the issue of bullying and by standing tall and smiling over the situation has made me the strong person I am today. I hate to see people going through bullying, feeling different and like the ‘odd one out’, this is why for my A-Level Graphics exam I chose to illustrate the issue of feeling left out in different ways.'

By Annalise Armstrong-Bednall, Year 12 Student

Bullying can take place in many different forms; physical bullying such as hitting and kicking, psychological bullying such as name calling and cyber bullying such as abusive and threatening texts or emails. A lot of people would argue that physical bullying is the most harmful because you can visibly see what a person has done to someone but I would disagree. I think that psychological bullying is the worst form of bullying as it usually scars a person on the inside and often the names they are called stick with them forever whereas wounds heal. Recently on channel 5 Jodie Marsh uncovered her story on being bullied as a child and visited her old primary school in which this happened. She interviewed various children at the school who were being bullied and actually found that the children being bullied said the psychological part was the worst. 

I began being bullied at the age of 14 years by my 'best friend'. She was...

Happy International  Women’s Day to every woman and girl today! As women’s roles have changed within families over generations, one thing remains steady: that women – as mums, daughters, sisters, cousins, grandmothers, aunts, friends and carers – are pivotal to making society function. And they need a little appreciation sometimes!

While today, March 8, marks a global day to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future, women across the world still have to battle inequality and indignity.

Women often work for low or minimum wages to keep their families fed. Or they’ll be the first to go without if times are tough. Mums can take the brunt of a teenager’s frustration. And young women, struggling with images of “beautiful” and skinny bodies, can feel far from celebrating their own womanhood.

So this 101st International Women's...