Working women benefit from technology

Wendy Tuohy points out that grandmothers are cutting work hours, sometimes at the peak of their careers, to do free childcare (“Grandmothers cut work hours to do free childcare”, March 29). This has been so for years. I did it when I could have reached the peak of my career; those grandchildren are now in their mid to late twenties and are having their own children.

I’m still working as a consultant in my chosen field at 77, so it didn’t affect my trajectory, but just adjusted it. I’m observing the mothers of this generation, including my CEO daughter, doing exactly the same thing, but they have the advantage of technology and juggling the care with online meetings, baby monitoring devices, even taking the children to work when necessary, and at times great grandma stepping in for short bursts. Women always find a way to lift up the next generation, and we are great at multitasking.

Go for it grandmas and grandpas, it’s enormously rewarding.Jenny Gilder, Bligh Park

Schooling gets personal

As the old Castrol line used to go, “oils ain’t oils” (“Public parents fighting the flight to private school”, March 29). Public schools ain’t public schools either. Some are clearly better than others, and there is a reason for that.

Better promotion helps, and so do higher standards. The Glebe P&C initiative is admirable. But marketing only goes so far.

Schools in more affluent suburbs benefit from parents who are more academically engaged and push their children harder. That attracts families from outside the catchment. I know of one migrant family who settled in Killara purely because of the local public school.

They couldn’t afford private education, but they had done their research. Driven parents cluster around high-performing schools, which become more sought after still. In England, parents pay a premium to buy within a favoured catchment.

As demand rises, catchments shrink. Public schools are meant to be open to all. In reality, access to the best ones depends on where you can afford to live.

John Kempler, Rose Bay