My advice would be to plan early- even from your child’s birth. Look around on websites such as Mumsnet and The Good School’s Guide. Once the schools in your options are selected, ring them. Ask about the application process and deadlines. Look on their website for application information.   Usually, nurseries conduct an informal assessment at this age, which is usually in groups to see how children interact. Parents may have a one-to-one discussion with the

There’s a fork in the road when it comes to negative emotions. One direction is that when channeled productively, negative emotions can propel you to new heights. The other direction, of course, is that they become toxic for you and can inhibit your well-being and those of others.   All negative emotions are completely normal, and as humans, they are innate for survival in our epigenetics from the beginning of time when we had to daily

You need passion to keep you going through the tough times. It’s a rollercoaster ride of emotion when you are an entrepreneur, but you need to love what you do to keep you going. It needs to be in line with your values and ethics and needs to embody who you are a person or you will be at a conflict with yourself.   Boundaries with your clients are important  You will attract the tribe for

Get clear on which bits of your life aren’t working  Draw a wheel of life (which is a circle with a number of segments- depending on how many you need) and for each segment, label them what you need to like ‘relationship’, ‘parenting’, ‘career’, ‘me time’, ‘house organisation’ ‘personal development’ etc. Give yourself a score out of 10 for each segment of the wheel where you currently are with each one and write down one

On a basic level, the duration of light and day each day will affect a person’s mood and well-being. Many people are affected in the winter months when there are less hours of light. This is why light therapy is very popular and also mood lights for SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Our very bodily rhythm depends on colour, called our circadian rhythm. This is our natural sleep and wake cycle, aligned with day and night

In my opinion, all tutors and teachers (and parents!) should also be qualified coaches. It is extremely important to boost confidence, self-esteem and help with underlying unhelpful beliefs that cause anxiety, as well as of course implementing the academic side of tuition. Children are not one-dimensional. They do not come to school as blank slate ready to learn the academic parts, so why does most of academia treat them as they are? When they come