Although I wouldn't say our discussions were ever over-heated, it did occur to me to wonder what effect they might be having on the children. Were our exchanges healthy, or somehow harmful?

In the spirit of embracing other people's points of view, I conducted a straw poll amongst friends on the question of 'healthy or harmful?'

The response, almost unanimously, was that even quite energetic debate in front of, or including your children was seen as healthy - so long as everybody's right to their own opinion was respected. In fact, far from believing it to be harmful, discussion and debate at home were largely regarded as an important learning curve. 

One friend said remarked "It's how children learn to discuss important matters, find out about current affairs and get an understanding of the family ethos/worldview. Usually if we start to discuss something political it's in the car, and the girls will chip in with questions from the back seat."

It seems there are other benefits to be gained from involving your children in discussions at home. It gives them a chance to develop their own opinions and debating style and, particularly importantly, a chance be listened to. They can see how compromises are reached, or simply that it's ok to agree to disagree. 

Constructive arguments demonstrate that people can hold different views on a subject whilst remaining friends and that it's OK not to agree with everyone else, to make up your own mind, and to have the confidence to communicate your own opinion.

What was regarded as being unhealthy were arguments that got out of control, that became personal, or that covered topics which might make younger children anxious, such as family illness or money worries. One or two friends remembered whispered arguments from their own childhoods, overheard when they were thought to be tucked up safe and sound. These were regarded as far more harmful than open, even heated, debate.

Encouraging pupils to think for themselves, and have an awareness of the world around them is built into the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence. During their school years my children and their fellow pupils will be encouraged not only to reach their own conclusions on issues, but also to understand that other people might come to different conclusions than their own, and to respect those with differing points of view. 

Before the elections, the P7's at my sons' school had a visit from representatives of each of the major political parties standing in the constituency. The visitors explained what kinds of decisions they had to make in their jobs, and how they came to their own, various viewpoints on particular issues.

Having been present at such events in the past I have to say it's amazing the civilising effect an audience of children seem to have on (most) politicians. Maybe we can look forward to the generation of politicians, currently honing their debating skills in school, extending that civility, at least to some degree, to each other too.

Flora Napier works for BBC Learning Scotland.

The first thing that popped into my own head when the eco- Mr Man letter came home from school was 'Mister Mank'. Mr Mank is a bottle-bank dwelling Scots creation hailing from Blethertoun Braes, a book of manky mingin rhymes in Scots.

Current research shows that Scots is still widely spoken, to varying degrees, across Scotland. However, years of it being banned in schools, and in many cases at home, has sidelined the language. 

When I was growing up, Scots was strictly for the playground (and Burns Day celebrations). In the intervening years and most noticeably in the last decade or so, recognition and respect for the Scots language has gone through something of a resurgence.

Rather than facing the belt (or at least a richt guid tellin' aff), nowadays Scottish children are actively encouraged to use Scots in the classroom. This important cultural shift has the full support of the Scottish parliament, Scottish educational agencies and many teachers, academics and celebrated writers such as Alexander McCall Smith and Scots’ Makar Liz Lochhead. Studies have clearly shown that when schools validate the languages and dialects children use in their home lives it has positive and empowering results.

There is a growing wealth of wonderful Scots language resources around. Teachers can dip into teaching materials written with particular local dialects in mind and the Scottish government have sponsored an ongoing school programme which brings Scots into the classroom.

Small independent publishing companies publish both original Scots children’s books and translations from English. Organisations like the Scottish Storytelling Centre regularly run Scots events. 

My own kids love being read pretty much anything, but have a particular fondness for Scots books. I personally love listening to the richness of the language, from Katie’s Coo (read to each of them on my knee when they were barely old enough to chew the cardboard), to the adventures of Wee Grumphie and Hee Haw (aka Piglet and Eeyore). Even more enjoyable than reading Winnie the Pooh in Scots is watching my partner struggle to get through a page, without collapsing in guffaws. 

It occurred to me, writing this, that it would be gey braw if my weans' school celebrated World Book Day next year with a Scots themed project. But, just as reading is not just for World Book Day, Scots should not just for Burns Day and other 'special' occasions. As indicated in the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence guidelines, Scots should be woven into the school day and embraced for its richness and as part of our Scottish heritage.

Flora Napier works for BBC Learning Scotland.

There seems to have been a recent spate of stories circulating about e-safety lapses. These included one about children, in their early teens ‘sexting’ one another. Apparently, sexting is the term for sending indecent texts or images. Although most of us around the table had only heard these stories second-hand, one of the mums, a teacher, confirmed that her school had had to deal with an incident of this nature recently.

There has been a small but nagging voice at the back of my mind about internet safety, for some time. My elder two boys spend quite a bit of time each week either on the computer or on their games consoles. Being the ages they are (both under ten) I tend to stay in the room when they’re online, but the conversation with my friends from the other evening has prompted me to take a serious look at what steps I should take, to avoid trouble in the future.

Whatever ages your children are, I personally think, the most important thing we, as parents, can do is keep ourselves informed about where the potential dangers lie. Once in the know, we can decide what action to take, whether it’s blocking unsuitable sites or just sitting down and having a good old-fashioned chat about the issues involved. At the same time it’s also key to get the balance right, between teaching your children to be aware and responsible, and being too alarmist.  

With younger children there are lots practical things parents can do, such as using parental control systems on computers, consoles and mobiles. 

Once children are in their teens, the whole situation can be trickier. With the threat of cyber bullying, vulnerability in chat-rooms and ‘sexting’, some parents might be tempted to take the view that a total clamp down would be the best route: no internet access on computer, consoles or phones. However, this approach could have pitfalls of its own. What teenager wants to be excluded from something all their peers are part of? On top of that, valuable skills that would otherwise be learned through online gaming and socialising - like confidence, communication and ICT skills - could be lost. 

So, is there a way to make a virtue out of the necessity of staying e-safe? Getting a teenage son or daughter to take responsibility for his or her own safety could be a good learning opportunity. A recent report from Ofsted indicates that school children who are shown more trust when using the internet, can understand and manage the risks of new technologies better, than those using ‘locked down’ online systems. In the future, my kids will probably be better placed than me, to keep across all the technological advances and the dangers therein. So I’m hoping that by trusting my children and keeping lines of communication open, without being too intrusive, they’ll know they can turn to me if and when they ever come across situations, which make them feel uncomfortable.

Today, the 8th February is Safer Internet Day organised by Insafe, a Europe-wide network of organisations, to promote “safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world”. This year the focus is on online gaming and social networking. As well as a wealth of information available on the topic of e-safety online, many schools, libraries and councils can also offer practical help and advice, such as running short courses on the technology. My local council publish an internet safety guide for parents in leaflet form - you may find yours does too. If becoming e-safe seems daunting, a trip to your local library or council offices could be a good way to get started.

Flora Napier works for BBC Learning Scotland.

Conversations with both my 4 year old and his elder brother on the topic of future career moves tend to veer between the hilarious and the bizarre. When I can manage to keep a straight face I try to get the occasional pitch in (beloved of parents everywhere) about the importance of trying hard at school if they want to be able to follow their dreams. 

"Erm… I think windmill engineers have to be pretty good at maths, but you like maths, don’t you, so that should be ok." 

When the time comes for my boys to start thinking seriously about their options I hope they have a positive attitude to education as a springboard for the rest of their lives. To be totally frank I don’t care whether they have high flying careers so long as they have jobs that they value. And to have a chance of that, they need to keep their options open. 

In terms of careers advice in schools the coalition government are committed to establishing an all-age careers service in England. Similar services are already successfully established in Scotland and Wales. There are also a lot of great web resources out there, which offer practical advice on careers, without losing the sense of excitement and possibility. 

I have lot of respect for careers advisors and their dual roles of encouraging ambition and giving down-to-earth advice. My partner used to work in this field and has first hand experience of the difference he and his colleagues made (across the academic scale) with the support, information and advice they could offer people facing difficult choices. (Having said that, his dream jobs for the boys include both international football player and 'Rock God'). However, I strongly feel we as parents have the biggest role to play in helping our children look to the future. 

My eldest son has stuck for several months to the idea that he wants to be a scientist. Although I know this is currently driven by a desire to build huge destructive robots, I think it’s a pretty good aspiration and I feel a trip to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and it's wonderful, child-friendly robot exhibit coming up. I hope to keep on using any opportunities I can, to encourage my sons to aim as high and as wide as they want to, but also taking the chance to remind them that some things are worth working hard for. 

Flora Napier works for BBC Learning Scotland.

Thinking back to my own school days, I remember my parents greatly looking forward to the annual school Christmas carol concert and nativity play. The whole school and wider community turned out for an evening of festive entertainment - if a gathering of forgetful, tuneless but highly decorative small people, can be called entertainment.

So when did things change from one simple evening of fun, to the packed calendar of Christmas events which I received in the last school newsletter?

Altogether, between the Christmas Fayre, fund-raising carols, Santa’s appearance at the Christmas party and the Nativity play itself, there are five different events at my son’s school, which parents have been invited to. None are in the evening, three clash with the days I work and the others both involve a good deal of shuffling other small folk about, then expecting said small folk to sit quietly, while their siblings have all the fun. Bah. And on top of that, I’m forking out money every day for pantos, grotto gifts, stalls and the obligatory Christmas card exchange, which in these parts, even extends to the nursery pupils. Humbug.

So how has it come to this, who is it really meant to be for and why do I get the feeling that Santa won’t be coming to my house, if I don‘t make a supreme effort to attend all of the events? 

By now, my inner grinch had started muttering darkly along the lines of, ‘it’s all very well for stay at home parents’. What about parents who work, but don’t want to let their kids down?

Then I remembered last year, when I moved heaven and earth to get to the tail end of my son’s school Christmas party. The hall was packed solid with other parents, who had made the same effort. My son however, along with many of his peers, was entirely oblivious to our being there at all. 

In a halleluiah moment, I realised I had forgotten that the whole point of these events is for the kids to enjoy celebrating age-old traditions. It’s also a chance for them to contribute something to the community. My son and his class and thousands of other children like them, will get a kick out of carol-singing their hearts out and charming little old ladies in supermarkets and old-folks homes all over the country. And besides, who really cares if mum makes it along to the Christmas party, so long as it’s not Santa that can’t take the time off work?

I sat down and had a chat with my son and explained that I would only be able to come along to one or two things this year. He was pretty keen for me to come along to the nativity play, but was otherwise supremely unfazed.

So, for stay at home mums - and dads - who can make it along to every event (not forgetting you are often the same people who give up time to make costumes and fund raise for the panto trip etc), enjoy! 

But this year, I think that those of us who work full- or part-time, should all have a merry little guilt-free Christmas. I’m going to accept that I’m not needed or expected at every single event in my son life. Independence is something schools should be teaching and encouraging anyway. 

And now I feel I can sit back and really look forward to all the fun and hilarity of the up-coming alternative nativity. If last year is anything to go by, it will probably prove to be a wet-wool smelling, uber-fidgety, over-crowded joyous giggle and definitely worth taking the afternoon off work for…

Flora Napier works for BBC Learning Scotland.

To be honest, with around a decade in hand before my eldest heads off to university, assuming he follows that route, I haven’t seriously thought about the financial implications. Just re-reading that sentence now makes me feel more than a tad nervous. At some point in the future my partner and I might be supporting three full- time students. When I have given it a passing thought, and given Scotland’s tradition of delivering higher education free at the point of delivery, I assumed we’d be forking out for accommodation and other living expenses, not facing the prospect of paying tens of thousands of pounds in fees.

As things stand the Scottish Government has pledged not to introduce upfront tuition fees. But in the face of budget constraints, if a week is a long time in politics what changes will the next decade bring?

I’ve struggled to work out where I stand on the issue. I’ve thought long and hard about my opposition to both fees and a graduate tax. To my Scottish psyche, tuition fees are a definite no, but maybe now is a good time for everybody to become a little more open-minded.

A green paper on the subject of Scottish higher education funding is to be published in December, after cross party and public consultation. With both the president of the NUS Scotland and Universities Scotland, who represent Scotland’s university principals, backing some form of graduate contribution, it’s apparent  people have been freeing up their thinking and not just rigidly sticking to their old ideals for the sake of them.

My gut reaction in the past has been against a graduate tax, but thinking about it from first principles, it may well be the lesser of many evils. One of the main reasons I have been opposed to any form of personal funding of higher education, is the idea that it would put off potential students from deprived backgrounds. Research has shown fees at a certain level can be off putting to certain socio-economic groups. A clearly outlined graduate tax could side-step this obstacle. 

Many parents across Scotland with children approaching university age may well breathe a sigh of relief at the idea of a graduate tax. Firstly it puts fees firmly on the back burner, at least for the present. A top-up tax kicking in at £28,000, for example, would be noticeable but relatively painless. It’s even been suggested that the revenue raised could be used to help future students facing financial difficulties. 

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that politicians, parents, students, educators and all other parties with a vested interest in our children and our society’s future keep an open mind when figuring out a fair but pragmatic way to proceed. Maybe along the way we can all learn a thing or two. 

Flora Napier works for BBC Learning Scotland.

Watching The Big School Lottery, it was the children that my heart went out to. Following the families as they puzzle, debate, hope and nail-bitingly wait I wondered if every parent across England involved their child to the same degree as the parents featured. Although most of the children in the programme seemed unfazed, I could only imagine my 11-year-old self feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all.  

I‘m more than happy that, for my family here in Ayrshire, Scotland, the path through education will be more straightforward. If and when there is a choice to be made it will be a question of “here’s the school we’ve been allocated - not bad, but that one over there looks good too”. No entrance exams, no weighing up of a myriad of complicated factors and no sleepless nights for myself or my weans. Our boys will get a say in which secondary they go to, but it will be a simple choice governed by ’factors’ along the lines of where their pals are going.

For the majority of families in Scotland the secondary school enrolment system will be equally straightforward. It was the same for me growing up in the 70s and 80s. I went to the one-and-only wee local primary then transferred to the nearby secondary school. I well remember my first nerve-racking day at ‘the big school’ …half believing in the hinted-at ordeals awaiting new S1 pupils. The anxiety of my first day was definitely tempered by the familiarity of classmates’ faces and the closeness to home. 

Roughly speaking, in Scotland each secondary school is paired to one specific catchment area and also linked to several feeder primary schools. Choice does exist; parents can submit a placement request to an alternative state school. There are independent schools, denominational schools and niche choices such as GME - (Gaelic Medium Education) and Centres of excellence for Music, Sport and Dance.

There is no denying there are educational black spots in Scotland where there is an uphill battle, against issues of poverty and deprivation, to provide children with a good education. Outwith these black spots however, it seems to me, as a parent, that the Scottish system works reasonably fairly. It’s doubtful any catchment-based system could be perfect but certainly in my local area the social mix across schools is fairly well balanced. This can be attributed partly to careful planning on the council’s part, but also to the positive attitudes of parents towards local schools.

There are some issues with the system in Scotland. House-prices can be inflated close to popular schools. There have been a number of high profile catchment disputes over the past few years. In my own community I have heard parents discuss a highly praised secondary which is over 10 miles away despite there being a host of good local options. 

So, does this reflect a shift in attitude amongst parents? I hope not. If parents who are empowered enough to make a choice choose to stay and support good local schools hopefully we won't end up going down the same route as that portrayed in the programme.

The 'Big School Lottery' is part of BBC Two's School Season.

Take a look at the BBC Learning Scotland blog entry 'A Highland Education' by Bruce Munro and Claire O'Gallagher's blog 'A Scottish Lottery?'.

Flora Napier works for BBC Learning Scotland.