Making the transition from one school to another can be a really challenging experience for some young people. They are stepping away from all that is safe and familiar and entering into the unknown. Some settle quickly and thrive, while others find the experience more unsettling and may need some additional support in the first few days and weeks. In this episode, we explore some of the practical things pupils, parents and teachers can do to help make the adjustment as smooth as possible.

More of our daily communication is digital and our inboxes are filling up faster than ever before. Knowing the conventions of email and understanding how to avoid the pitfalls of poor communication are critical skills. Whether you are requesting a homework extension, asking for help in understanding a lesson or informing your teacher that you will be missing a class, there is a right and a wrong way to do so. In this episode, you'll be guided through a 10 step checklist to take your email to the next level.

We all know that having a healthy diet is an important part of overall health and wellbeing. The evidence is growing, however, to suggest that keeping the trillions of bacteria that live in our digestive tract happy, may be a critical factor in how we perform in the classroom and exam hall. In this episode, I explore the fascinating world of the 'enteric nervous system' and offer some simple takeaways that you can use to optimise your gut health.

Do you consider yourself to be lucky or unlucky? Where's your proof? Who is the luckiest person in the world? How about the unluckiest? Most importantly, can you change your luck? In this episode, we will be exploring the science of luck and what the research says about the small changes you can make to turn yourself into a luck magnet!

In this episode, I am going to be chatting to David Ralph - entrepreneur, out of the box thinker and host of 'Join Up Dots' podcast which has been running since April 2014. David had an ambitious mission to touch the lives of more than 1,000,000 people through his show and online resources and now, just 4 years later and with more than 5 times that number of downloads since he started recording, he has already smashed that target.

To find out more about what David's educational journey has been like and how he feels about whether schools are or are not preparing young people for the tests of life, listen to this lively and inspiring conversation.

Mindfulness is a simple but powerful way of getting back in touch with yourself when the chaos of everyday life is pulling you away from your centre. Just a few minutes' practice each day can have huge benefits to your health and wellbeing, classroom performance and quality of life. Listen in to find out all you need to know to make mindfulness work for you.

Sleep may well be the master key to success in school and beyond and yet so many of us are chronically sleep deprived. In this episode we take a deep dive into some practical steps you can take right now to improve the quality of your sleep and why it is so important.

More young people are cutting, scratching and burning themselves as a way of coping with overwhelming feelings, than ever before. The issue is made all the more difficult to address because of the conspiracy of secrecy and shame that accompanies it. In this episode, I break the silence and offer an honest, unvarnished commentary on what self-harm is, why young people do it and how we can help them embrace healthier coping strategies instead.

Most people stumble out of bed, once they can no longer ignore their alarm, and then dive headlong into the chaos of a new day. Without realising it, they've set themselves up for failure! How we organise and spend the first hour of each morning can have a massive impact on our success in the classroom, on the sports field, in the exam hall and wherever else we need to bring our 'A game'. In this episode, we explore the building blocks of a successful morning routine and how you can create your own.

Anxiety is a growing issue among students of all ages and yet it is still very much misunderstood. In this recording, we explore why anxiety is more an over-protective advisor than an enemy to be destroyed. We look at how anxiety can show up in our bodies, thoughts, feelings and behaviours and we consider some simple ways in which we can develop a wiser and more healthy relationship with our anxiety.