Breaking the Silence: Providing Authentic Opportunities for Parents to be Heard

Within Western society over the past 30 years a vivid picture has emerged of exactly what a ‘good parent’ looks like. This ideal parent works hard in order to contribute to the economic wellbeing of the nation at the same time as having abundant time for the nurture and educational development of their child. This parent does not question or challenge, but rather silently supports the superior knowledge of researchers, policy makers and educationalists. This parent is ‘valued’ as the child’s first educator, yet, we argue in this piece, has no voice. In this literature-based article we explore the silencing of parents within educational systems and look at the possibility of creating more authentic partnerships between them and educational settings. We challenge notions of parental conformity and instead encourage educational cultures where parents are invited to suggest and challenge, inspire and educate. We look at ways of opening positive channels of communication between parents and educationalists, where knowledge and perceptions of quality can be genuinely shared, recognising and respecting the multiple dimensions of school and family life

A panoply of errors: polymerase proofreading domain mutations in cancer

Although it has long been recognized that the exonucleolytic proofreading activity intrinsic to the replicative DNA polymerases Pol δ and Pol ε is essential for faithful replication of DNA, evidence that defective DNA polymerase proofreading contributes to human malignancy has been limited. However, recent studies have shown that germline mutations in the proofreading domains of Pol δ and Pol ε predispose to cancer, and that somatic Pol ε proofreading domain mutations occur in multiple sporadic tumours, where they underlie a phenotype of 'ultramutation' and favourable prognosis. In this Review, we summarize the current understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of polymerase proofreading domain mutations in human malignancies, and highlight the potential utility of these variants as novel cancer biomarkers and therapeutic targets