Last week, like the majority of parents to Irish five-year-olds, I was a little misty eyed as I put the vastly oversized uniform on my little girl for her first day of ‘big school’. When I was young, secondary school was actually big school, but for my five-year-old she is moving on from ECCE and crèche and joining the ranks of the ‘after-schoolers’ so for her, this is the big league. My misty eyes were met with a slightly jaded expression from the self-proclaimed ‘big girl’.

She really only started to question what the big deal was when Granny arrived up the lane on her bike, demanding a range of photographs. To her, this was just the newest friend-making experience and I was reminded to stop projecting, she would be fine – and she was.

Our road to the country school that she is now attending has been a little bumpy. Following rejection from our initial choice, we had to review. In reference to said ‘rejection’, admittedly I am being a little harsh as they were full, but this was the school that I had attended with all my siblings and I had not anticipated any problems.

This might seem a minor inconvenience when a lot of country schools are crying out for children, but with both parents working some distance away, it is not simply a choice of school – the services on either side of the school day are of equal importance.

Affordable, available childcare is often called out as a major difficulty or hindrance to women’s careers. This week, the ESRI has published research that directly links the cost of childcare to lower rates of employment among women. All the while, workers within the crèche system can be poorly paid, despite the necessity to up-skill over the last number of years. I accept that the system is not perfect and there have been issues, but having availed of the services of crèches since the arrival of my kids and being fortunate enough to be in the position to do so, I firmly believe that a greater appreciation and review in support of the sector, and those that need it, is warranted.

Reading Margaret’s HealthBytes this week (page 22), I was struck by the number of junk food adverts that children were exposed to during the world cup. What worried me was that this passed off without a murmur and yet the product from our farms and the way it is produced is continually being challenged.

This Friday, I am chairing a session at the Agricultural Science Association’s annual conference – the session is entitled Consumer Trust in the Digital Age. An excellent panel of speakers will discuss this topic in the context of the agri food industry.

Consumers are bombarded with messages about who and what to trust in terms of what they put in their mouths, or the mouths of their families. They should have choice, but these choices should be made on the back of the best information.

Food festivals are taking place across the country in the coming weeks (see this week’s Top 5 on page 39) that will showcase everything that is good about Irish food and drink.

I personally will head for the Blaa at the Waterford Harvest Festival. After all, it is almost National Bread Week (see page 8 for more).