I have been involved in charities supporting high learning potential children since joining Potential Plus UK when my first child was 6½ years old in May 1998. I came to realise that something was seriously wrong with his education when, in a discussion on the way to school about using the dictionary there to find out what ‘narwhal’ meant, he was told that children weren’t allowed to use the grown-up dictionary. They could only use the Children’s dictionary.  Further investigation revealed that ‘our teacher likes us to read books but not books like that’, the book in question being Erik the Viking. My children are now grown up, having successfully navigated the shoals of the education system, but I have continued my involvement in the support of high learning potential children as a trustee of both Potential Plus UK and the Potential Trust. I am now retired and when not working for charities, I spend my time learning the saxophone and painting water colours.