Today I had the opportunity to observe Natassya tutor her year 5 student in Naplan writing. Specifically, they appeared to be working on persuasive writing and were answering a past paper question together.

My first point of observation was that Natassya was extremely patient with her student. Unlike Maths, English can often be more difficult for students to grasp due to its highly subjective and ambiguous nature. Natassya managed this uncertainty by showing extensive patience and making great use of the whiteboard. In this way Natassya was able to structure the persuasive essay by allowing her student to follow a step by step process, beginning with the introduction and then into the first body paragraph. Tutoring English requires some element of structure, and Natassya demonstrated a thorough understanding of language forms, organisation, and grammar, all of which proved competence in her and confidence within her student. Another important observation was how well Natassya could communicate with her student. Younger students need to be spoken to with an element of patience and in a way that they will understand. Natassya was highly effective at conversing in a way that allowed understanding and meaningful conversation, which in turn allowed her student to write and momentum to build. Natassya was constantly monitoring her student, not only overlooking the content of what he was writing, but also assessing his handwriting. It is important for students to develop a style of handwriting that they are comfortable with and that is eligible in high school. It was great to see that Natassya’s student took such an understanding to the PEEL paragraph concept – something which even high school students struggle with up-to year 10. Being in year 5 and understanding this writing structure is a huge positive sign and indicates that Natassya is not only a capable tutor, but one that inspires understanding, thought, and organisation and neatness within all of her students. Overall, this was a great lesson to observe and I commend Natassya for all of her extensive efforts. Well done.

James Petrakis