Quite literally, you are what you eat!

Protein foods (such as meat, fish and cheese) are essential for building neurotransmitters. It is these neurotransmitters that enable our brain cells to communicate – and where would we be without that?!

Carbohydrates provide the fuel for the brain and fats (the right sorts, mind) are essential to keep the brain in tip-top condition.

And don’t forget the water. Just a 2% loss in hydration can impair our performance by up to 20%.
Eating a healthy balanced diet is essential to Key Stage 4 success and for life success! Ensure you are;

• Drinking plenty of water throughout the day - take a bottle of water with you, and take small sips throughout the day to stay hydrated.
• Eat breakfast, you can not learn without 'fuel' in your body, 1st break is too late to eat breakfast!
• Snacking throughout the day on healthy foods, will keep your energy levels high and ensure you can get the best learning out of your day - an apple a day and all that!
• Sleep is essential to keep your body healthy and concentration high throughout your school life - you should ideally be aiming for a minimum of 8 hours of sleep a night.

Many people tend to struggle with remembering a list that contains more than three unrelated items, and most of us would forget more than seven.

However, by linking items in a story we can make them all into one big memory so that we can remember a lot more information and quickly recall and use it.

If you are trying to remember a sequence of events, or several 'pieces' of information, try creating a picture story to help you remember the main points.

You can make the pictures yourself, using drawing tools in Word, or you can use photos or images from the web or home. Piece these images together to create a story. Practice your story, so that you can remember the main points. Practice this again a day later, then two days after that, a week after that and then a fortnight after that. You should be able to recall the main points with ease!

The following questions are useful to consider when completing research for coursework. Have you considered the depth of your work? Have you questioned the idea enough to deliver a high grade assignment piece?

These questions can be used to develop an idea further in order to gain those higher marks.

Questions that seek clarification:

Can you explain that..? (explaining)
What do you mean by..? (defining)
Can you give me an example of..? (giving examples)
How does that help..? (supporting)
Does anyone have a question to ask..? (enquiring)

Some background information on concept mapping and mind mapping:

Concept mapping centres on the idea that learners actively construct knowledge.  Concept maps can communicate simple to complex ideas.  Here are some useful websites – plus learning support also have Inspiration software – go and ask about trialling it!

CmapTools – http://cmap.ihmc.us/download/

Mind42 – www.mind42.com

Research has shown that concept mapping can be a helpful 'thinking' tool, which can show learners how previous and new information can interact within their existing thought structures.