ABSTRACT
In 1979 Gloria Gaynor released the feminist anthem ‘I Will Survive’. Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first woman prime minister and so far as I had made any decisions about my life, I was going to be one of those women who decided not to have children. However, in 1980 I became a lesbian, and in 1981 I found myself responsible for co-parenting three children. There are a number of stories that could be told about this particular journey which are not relevant to this discussion, but what I did discover was quite a lot about what it feels like to be a parent, wanting the best possible education for the children I loved, at a time when four consecutive Conservative governments shaped the political and social climate and controlled education policy and schooling.
