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Hi my name is Sarah, I’m 12 - well I will be a teenager soon then ‘look out world here I come’.  I live at home with my mum and my sister Kate.  Kate is having a baby that will make me an aunty and my mum a granny.... shame dad’s not still around - he would have loved a baby around the house again.  Mind you we are getting a bit crowded; hope when Kate has the baby they will move out of our room.
Anyway, more about me - as I have said I share my bedroom with Kate; I have decorated my side with posters of One Direction mostly Harry but I do like Zayn, Niall, Louis and Liam as well, but I love Harry, I went to see him at the concert hall with my friend Maddy and her mum. I couldn’t speak for a week after all that screaming.  A night to remember!  Their new DVD is out soon I am doing odd jobs for granny and grandpa, nearly got enough - can’t wait.  I follow them on facebook and twitter when I have chance, mum’s always moaning about my phone bill.  Soon I will be old enough to get a job myself, I have applied for a paper round, mum doesn’t know yet it’s still a secret.
At school I am in year 8 my teacher is Miss Spencer.  She’s OK, she and Mr Knowles are friends, I’ve seen them in town, Maddy told the whole class, what a laugh. I am good at maths and English I want to be a pilot and travel the world.  Miss Spencer says I will need to pass ‘A’ levels and go to university.  Mum won’t be pleased because it costs money to go, but that’s a long way off so not to worry about that now.  I was in the school play last month as Juliette I had to let Romeo Kiss me, YUK!!  - boys at school are gross especially him as he tells everyone he is an ACE kisser but I bet Harry is better.
I keep a diary you know, I hide it under my mattress so no one can find it, my diary is my dad, I write in it every night,  I am excellent at drawing and decorate the pages with pictures so dad can see what I am doing and where I am going.  I miss dad, I used to sit on his knee and sing songs, he always loved Blur and Oasis especially ‘Park Life’ and ‘Wonder Wall’, that was his favourite, we sometimes danced around the room, we had so much fun.
My sister and I share a wardrobe, sometimes I use her clothes to go out in, she gets angry especially when she finds them in the wash so I hang them up so she doesn’t know.  That worked OK until I spilt ketchup down her best black t-shirt.  That got me a telling off from Mum as well as Kate. Kate is being grumpy and put a lock on her side of the wardrobe door, I found the key but I’m careful not to mess up her clothes.  She doesn’t notice I use her makeup, mind you I have to put it on outside so mum can’t see me.  All my friends wear makeup but mum won’t let me wear it for school.
Anyway enough about me, I need to get ready, I am off out with Maddy, we are going to the park some of the gang are meeting to hang out and I cannot find my black leggings I may need to borrow Kate’s, whoopee.

How old was Sarah when her father left home? What was her stage of development at that time and how might have this event affected her?

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Think about when you were Sarah's age; what events did you experience that affected your development.

• What physical changes occur when girls are Sarah's age?
• What sexual health education might Sarah have received at this age? What might be the best ways to communicate these issues with Sarah?