The beginning of a new school year is the perfect time to start tutoring with fresh subjects, new routines, and a clean slate. But if you’ve never worked with a tutor before, that first session can feel a little unknown. A bit of preparation goes a long way in helping you get the most out of your one‑on‑one support.

Start by gathering anything that shows where you’re currently at: last year’s reports, your most recent assignments, class notes, or even a list of topics you already know you struggle with. Your tutor doesn’t expect perfection; they just need a snapshot of your starting point so they can tailor the session to you and make the most out of your session time together.

Next, think about your goals for the term. Do you want to boost confidence, improve grades, stay ahead of class content, or build better study habits? Clear goals help your tutor design a plan that actually fits your needs rather than a one‑size‑fits‑all approach.

It also helps to come with questions, even small ones. Maybe a concept from last week’s lesson didn’t quite click, or you’re unsure how to complete the final challenging question in your homework. Tutoring works best when you’re actively involved, not just listening.

Finally, arrive with an open mind. The first session is about building rapport, understanding your learning style, and easing into the year. You don’t need to “prepare” in the sense of studying beforehand you just need to show up ready to learn, ask questions, and be open to collaborating with your new tutor.

With a little preparation, your first tutoring session becomes a confident step into a successful school year.

Sophia McLean

I observed a lovely session of Katerina teaching her year three student, Demitri, in maths and was strongly impressed with how she kept him motivated throughout. I admired how she began off with effective communication on what she thought could be improved from the neatness of last week’s homework. She said it in a joking tone, which keeps it light hearted and is a great incentive for young kids to remember and put into action what is being said.

First, she got Demitri to colour a bar graph which was a fun warm up to the introduction of the topic of data. After marking some of his work, she told him there was one mistake for him to find, which is a great strategy as it builds students” confidence to reflect and recognise on their own learning patterns. She then asked the question, “Why do you think I wanted you to fix this up before moving on to the next question?.” I thought this was a really thought provoking that gets students to consider the links between the different types of questions, especially in maths when it is important to identify the basics in order to solve harder problem solving questions.

When Katerina’s student originally said no to working with more difficult maths terminology, she reassured him that they have worked hard before and smashed it, which resulted in him immediately resigned to being focused. Demitri silently worked on the worksheets for roughly 15 minutes! I strongly commend Katerina for being able to regulate her student’s mood so smoothly and keep him motivated. Throughout the lesson, whenever he mentioned again how he didn’t want to do something, she would repeat his own desire back as a question such as “You don’t want to do it? C’mon I think you can.” I believe this is a great way to simultaneously affirm a student’s emotions and still encourage their confidence without dismissing their own fears on being unable to solve certain questions.

Additionally, I found it great how whenever Katerina did point out her student’s mistakes, she would never say he was wrong or incorrect. She would be clear to say that “you were close”, “You were off by this much” or “I could see how you came to this answer.” This is a vital strategy in preventing students from feeling demotivated. Overall, these were all effective ways to embolden a student’s sense of self belief.

Anna Ho

Education comes in many forms, but two of the most common are traditional schooling and tutoring. While both aim to support learning and academic growth, they differ significantly in structure, approach and outcomes.

Understanding these differences can help parents and students make informed decisions about their educational needs! School provides a standardised learning environment designed to educate large groups of students at once. Classes follow a set curriculum, with specific learning objectives for each grade or subject. Teachers must balance the needs of many students, often moving at a pace that suits the majority. This structure promotes consistency, social development, teamwork and exposure to a wide range of subjects. Schools also help students develop important life skills such as time management, collaboration and adaptability. However, the standardised nature of school can also be a limitation. Students learn at different speeds and in different ways, but classroom instruction cannot always accommodate individual learning styles. Some students may fall behind if lessons move too quickly, while others may feel unchallenged if the pace is too slow.

Contrastingly, tutoring is highly personalised. A tutor works with a student one-on-one or in a small group, tailoring lessons to the student’s specific strengths, weaknesses and goals. This individualised attention allows tutors to identify gaps in understanding, adjust teaching methods and move at a pace that suits the learner. Tutoring can be especially effective for exam preparation, building confidence, or reinforcing concepts that were unclear in school. Another key difference lies in flexibility. Tutoring sessions can be scheduled around a student’s availability and focused on specific subjects or skills. This makes tutoring a targeted solution rather than a comprehensive educational system.

In essence, school and tutoring serve complementary roles. School provides a broad educational foundation and social structure, while tutoring offers targeted support and customization. When used together, they can create a powerful learning experience that addresses both academic requirements and individual needs, helping students reach their full potential!!

Amanda Susanto

One of the things I hear a lot from students is, “I’m just bad at English.” They say it like it’s true, but honestly, most of the time, it’s not.

What I’ve noticed is that students don’t usually hate English. They just feel unsure or nervous about it. Unlike maths or science, English doesn’t always have one right answer. You have to explain your ideas, analyse texts, and write in your own words. That can feel risky, especially when teachers give different opinions. Some students worry about being wrong, sounding silly, or just not knowing what to say.

A lot of this comes from past experiences. Maybe their work was covered in red corrections, or a test felt impossible. After a while, some students start thinking English is only for “smart” people. That belief can stop them from even trying. They wait to be told the “right” answer instead of trusting their own ideas. In my sessions, I see students with really good ideas who won’t write them down because they’re scared of messing up. They overthink every sentence and lose confidence before they even start.

So how do I help?

First, I remind them English isn’t about being perfect, it’s about getting your ideas out. If you can say it, you can write it. We start small: one idea, one sentence, no pressure. Then, we break tasks into steps: What’s the question asking? Which quote could we use? What does it mean in simple words? Writing becomes just “thinking on paper.” I normalise mistakes. Struggling doesn’t mean you’re bad; it means you’re learning. We rewrite, talk ideas through, and build confidence together.

Over time, students start trying more. They answer questions, write more, and swap “I don’t know” for “I think this means…” English stops feeling scary and becomes a place to explore ideas. Ideas come first, then language can help you show them.

Vicki Synesios

Hey everyone, wanted to come on here and right a small piece about how I’ve been pushing my students more since Term 1’s started. Specifically, I’ve been making great use of our centre resources – mostly, textbooks from higher grades.

Week 1 is always a slow week at school. Many of my students feel like the stuff they’re doing is just too easy, or not moving at a challenging enough pace. Previously, I’d just find more resources from their current grade’s syllabus and smash those out with them. More recently, however (especially if the stuff is mostly revision material and I can see that they’re all over the concepts) I’ve been grabbing textbooks from the year above them and challenging them to have a go at those questions instead.

For one, they get the immediate “I’m doing more advanced work than I have to be doing” feeling, which is great for their self-esteem, confidence, motivation and actually makes them work harder (they feel like they’re getting an massive lead on their classmates who they can probably guess aren’t doing this level of work at home).

It also creates a new standard for what “work” should feel like, so that when they get back into their classrooms at school, that material feels (at least relatively) much more like a breeze and like they completely kill it!!

If the current concepts don’t make sense to your students, I would seriously recommend staying on the fundamentals and making sure that they’re super solid on those before doing any of this extra stuff. But, if it’s obvious that they’re all over the current stuff and itching for more, I don’t see any scenario in which grabbing more advanced material for our students to have a crack at isn’t super beneficial for them!!

Thanks for reading guys 😀

Thomas Koutavas

In tutoring, progress rarely arrives in grand, dramatic moments. More often, it shows up quietly in the form of small wins that are easy to overlook but incredibly powerful.

A student finishes a question without giving up. They remember a method from last week. They correct their own mistake without being prompted.

These moments might seem insignificant on the surface but for a student who has struggled, they are everything.

Many students come to tutoring feeling overwhelmed by how far behind they think they are. The mountain of content feels impossible to climb, so they focus only on the summit. When they don’t reach it straight away, they feel defeated.

Tutoring reframes this mindset. Instead of chasing huge leaps, we celebrate small steps. Each tiny success becomes proof that effort works. That understanding can grow, that confidence can return.

What’s inspiring is how quickly these small wins begin to change a student’s relationship with learning. They stop bracing for failure. They start showing up with a little more belief and belief, once planted, has a way of spreading.

Over time, these small wins compound. Confidence builds quietly. Skills strengthen and eventually those early breakthroughs once barely noticeable add up to meaningful progress.

Tutoring teaches students that success doesn’t have to be loud to be real. It can be gentle, gradual and deeply personal and when students learn to recognise their own small wins, they begin to understand something powerful. They’re capable of far more than they realised.

Sometimes, it’s not the big victories that change everything, it’s the small ones that keep students going.

Isabella Naumovski

Hi everyone! I observed Sam and his student Edric reviewing his previous assessment. Sam explained the errors that were made and provided similar questions to review and extend Edric’s knowledge. It was great that Sam allowed enough time for Edric to problem-solve questions independently before providing hints to guide his thinking. This process is useful for helping Edric to engage his existing knowledge and reinforce concepts even when he was not able to obtain the final answer independently. With more difficult questions, Sam provided a full written solution and verbal explanation to ensure that the student was able to learn within his zone of proximal development. For some questions, Sam explored the differences between the way that Edric and himself solved the problem, and was encouraging of Edric’s thinking. It was impressive that Edric was sometimes able to suggest a more efficient way of solving questions – a testament to Sam’s teaching and Edric’s flexible thinking.

A key takeaway from this session was the way Sam encouraged Edric to think independently and the way he worked alongside Edric rather than ahead of him. I find that often during my own sessions, students will “give up” and wait for me to provide the solution or next step without actively problem-solving. However, persistance is essential for achieving higher marks, especially in the senior curricula when solutions are not always directly evident. In my future sessions, I will aim to prolong the time before I give students the next step to encourage students’ independent thinking.

Another great session, thanks for letting me observe!

Derus Kung

Tutoring can be a very powerful tool for learning, but its impact depends largely on the habits students have towards it. The most successful students don’t just attend tutoring sessions but they actively use them. Building the right habits can help you get far more value from every session!!

1) Prepare before each session

Effective tutoring starts before you sit down with your tutor. It is importantly to review your notes, attempt homework questions, and write down anything you find confusing. Coming prepared with specific questions allows the tutor to target problem areas instead of re-covering material you already understand.

2) Set clear goals

Know what you want to achieve from tutoring. This might be improving grades, understanding a difficult topic or preparing for an exam. Make sure to share these goals with your tutor and revisit them regularly. Clear goals give direction and make progress easier to measure! ☺️

3) Be an active participant

Tutoring works best when you engage fully. Ask questions, explain your thinking out loud and attempt problems even if you’re unsure. Making mistakes during tutoring is valuable as it shows where learning needs to happen. Passive listening rarely leads to long-term understanding.

4) Apply what you learn between sessions

Studying shouldn’t end when the session does. Review notes, practise problems, and apply strategies your tutor suggested. Using the material independently reinforces learning and helps identify new questions for the next session.

5) Reflect on progress

Take a few minutes after each session to reflect. What improved? What still feels challenging? Tracking your progress, whether through grades, confidence or completed topics keeps you motivated and focused.

It is very important to incorporate habits to suit and compliment your tutoring sessions to maximise the content you learn and work towards your academic performance 🙂

Amanda Susanto

When you have been tutoring a student for a while, we all revert to a default style of tutoring. It may be our normal mannerisms and behaviour, or may be our standard ‘teaching’ persona. Nevertheless, it comes naturally for us as tutors to sometimes become complacent with our tutoring sessions. This is especially with tutors who have a large number of students, or who have been tutoring for a long time with repetition that habits can form.

As a result, it is important to practice self reflection, whether it be about a job, personal relationships or emotional self-reflection. This can be a difficult thing to passively achieve, and as such we may need to gain a new perspective in order to progress as tutors.

I have realised this with some of the students I have been tutoring in the past year. There have been many large life-changing events I have had to overcome, and as a result I have noticed myself getting more laid back with the job. Whether it be arriving on time, filling in the calendar correctly, following up with homework, I have realised that maybe I need to do some self reflection to get back on track.

I believe a good way to initiate this process of self-reflection could be for a new form of tutor observations.
Similar to what we already have, a tutor will sit in and observe another conducting their lesson, but in this case it will be an experienced tutor doing the observing. The experienced tutor should observe and make notes in the form of questions about why a tutor made a teaching decision, why they structured the lesson in the way it was, questions about how the different needs of the particular student influenced their tutoring style, and perhaps many more.

After this observation, the observing tutor would take the observed tutor out to lunch, similar to the current format, but in this case ask the questions they noted during the observation.
This could hopefully be a great ice breaker to a conversation about specific aspects of their tuoring that the observed tutor may not even have thought about.

Structuring the observing tutors notes being questions instead of observations or suggestions can help mitigate the possibility of the observed tutor feeling too harshly critiqued or micro managed, and instead initiate a positive environment where they can reflect on the questions introduced.

I believe this could be a useful way to help all tutors, and foster positive discussions between colleagues.

Sebastian Zois

The beginning of a new school year always feels full of possibility. As a tutor, I see this season as one of the most important opportunities to set students up for long-term success. Those first few weeks are about building habits, confidence, and trust, not just about getting straight into reviewing the material.
One of the first things I find is important to focus on is connection to the students. Every student comes in with a different view about school. Some are excited and motivated, others are anxious or already feeling behind. Taking time early on to listen and learn how they feel about their classes, what worked and what didn’t in the past year, and what their goals are, helps me tailor our sessions in a way that truly supports them.
Structure is another key piece. At the start of the year, students are juggling new schedules, expectations, and workloads. Tutoring is the perfect place to introduce organisation strategies, consistent routines, and effective study habits before things get overwhelming. When students learn how to learn early, the academic content becomes much more manageable.
I also like to set small, achievable goals right away. Early wins matter. Whether it’s improving a quiz score, completing homework more independently, or simply feeling more confident participating in class, those successes build momentum. Confidence is often the missing ingredient in academic growth.
From my experience, students who begin the school year with tutoring don’t just perform better academically, but they also feel more prepared, supported, and empowered. And that’s what starting on the right foot is really all about.

Katreen Diab