First Education

In the tutoring environment, homework plays a crucial role in strengthening learning, building independence, and ensuring students genuinely progress. While tutoring sessions provide guided instruction and real-time correction, homework extends that learning beyond the session, giving students the space to practise, consolidate, and apply new skills on their own. Without this, tutors will never really know if the student fully understands the work and can apply their knowledge.

One of the primary benefits of homework is reinforcement. Concepts covered during a lesson can fade quickly if not revisited, especially for students who struggle with confidence or retention. Homework allows them to rehearse these ideas, turning short-term understanding into long-term mastery.

Homework also promotes accountability as when students know they’re expected to complete work independently, they begin developing stronger study habits, time management skills, and a sense of ownership over their learning. For many students, this shift allows them to transform from passive recipients of knowledge into active learners who can recognise their strengths and tackle their weaknesses.

From the tutor’s perspective, homework provides invaluable insight. Reviewing a student’s independent work reveals patterns that may not appear during guided sessions, such as, common errors, misunderstandings, rushed thinking, or areas where extra support is needed. This feedback helps tutors tailor future lessons more effectively, ensuring the lessons are personalised.

Importantly, homework should be purposeful, not excessive or burdensome. Thoughtful tasks that reinforce key skills or preview upcoming topics can make tutoring more efficient and meaningful. When implemented well, homework becomes a tool that empowers students, deepens engagement, and builds academic resilience.

Ultimately, homework isn’t just an extension of tutoring, it is an essential part of the learning journey, fostering independence and confidence long after the session ends.

Rheanna Leontsinis

Today, I had the opportunity to observe Angelina tutor her Year 8 Maths student.

Angelina began the lesson by checking in on her student and her progress in her study for her upcoming exam. Angelina was very proactive in printing out an array of practice papers for her student to complete, where she was exposed to an array of questions of various difficulty. Angelina quickly found that her student had experienced difficulty in algebra. By taking a step-by-step approach to answer the questions and asking the student about her thought process, her student gradually became comfortable with answering more challenging questions. After spending some time on algebra, Angelina asked her student to consider the key takeaways to solving an array of problems involving skills and knowledge in algebra.

The lesson’s focus then shifted to area and volume, where Angelina provided lots of reassurance and assistance when her student answered questions. I admire the way Angelina engages with her students and her ability to read her students’ emotions as they experience uncertainty or stress. In turn, Angelina was effectively able to keep the session calm and smooth sailing. Finally, it was clear that the student was very comfortable in the lesson which can be attributed to the reassurance Angelina provided.

Marina Nouris

In a world where sales run year-round and every app is engineered to nudge us toward “Buy Now”, shopping addiction has quietly become one of the fastest-growing behavioural issues, especially among young Australians. What used to be a weekend activity has, for many, turned into a coping mechanism, a distraction, or even a financial trap.
Shopping addiction, often called compulsive buying disorder, isn’t about loving fashion or treating yourself occasionally. It’s when the urge to buy becomes so strong that it overrides logic, budget, and long-term wellbeing. People describe a “rush” when they click purchase, followed by guilt, stress, or secretive behaviour. It’s not the products they’re craving — it’s the temporary emotional high.
Part of the challenge lies in how modern shopping is designed. Online stores track preferences, push personalised ads, and send notifications the moment a price drops. The brain reacts to these cues the same way it responds to gambling: with dopamine, the chemical linked to reward. Over time, the habit reinforces itself.
But the issue isn’t just psychological, it’s social. Influencers showcase endless “hauls”, fast-fashion brands release hundreds of new items weekly, and society often celebrates consumption as success. For someone feeling lonely, stressed, or insecure, buying something shiny feels like control.
The good news? Shopping addiction is highly manageable. Strategies such as budgeting apps, spending limits, unsubscribing from marketing emails, and using the 48-hour rule (waiting two days before buying) help reset the impulse. Talking to a psychologist or financial counsellor can also make a huge difference, especially when deeper emotional triggers are involved.
Most importantly, understanding that you’re not alone removes the shame. Shopping should be enjoyable, not a source of stress. When we recognise the signs early, we can regain control and rebuild a healthier relationship with money, emotions, and the things we value most.

Sara Theocharidis

When we think about learning, we usually picture classrooms, textbooks, and teachers armed with whiteboard markers. But some of the world’s most powerful lessons don’t come from humans at all, they come from animals.
Across Australia, animals play a huge role in education, from early childhood centres with classroom pets to high school agriculture programs and even therapy animals in universities. What makes them such brilliant teachers? It’s simple: animals model behaviours that humans often forget.
Take the humble kangaroo. Watching a joey learn to balance, fall, and try again teaches students more about resilience than any poster on a classroom wall. There’s no shame, no hesitation, just pure trial and error. When teachers use animal examples like this, students begin to understand that failure is not an ending, but part of the learning curve.
Dogs, on the other hand, offer lessons in emotional intelligence. Therapy dogs in Australian schools have been shown to reduce stress, increase attendance, and help students regulate their emotions. Children who struggle to communicate with teachers often open up more easily when patting a calm, non-judgemental animal. It’s a simple reminder: connection fuels learning.
Even insects, the often-overlooked heroes, have something to offer. Watching bees in a school garden can spark rich conversations about teamwork, environmental sustainability, and the delicate balance of ecosystems. Suddenly biology is no longer just a topic; it’s happening right in front of the students’ eyes.
Animals turn abstract ideas into real, observable experiences. They transform curiosity into understanding, helping students develop empathy, responsibility, and a genuine appreciation for the natural world.
In an age where screens dominate attention, animals bring learning back to something real. They remind us that education isn’t confined to classrooms, sometimes the best teachers have wings, scales, paws, or fur.

Sara

Tutoring is often seen as a way for students to “catch up,” or work specifically on what they aren’t good at but its true value lies deeper. Tutoring assists learners to recognise who they are as students. Understanding strengths and weaknesses is one of the most important steps toward academic growth, and tutoring provides the ideal environment for this kind of self discovery and understanding.

In a busy classroom, students rarely have the time or confidence to pause and reflect on how they learn best and most students don’t even realise until the late high school years. Tutoring changes that dynamic. Through one-to-one conversations, targeted questions, and personalised tasks, tutors can observe patterns that students might overlook. Whether it’s strong critical-thinking skills, creativity, attention to detail, or resilience when solving complex problems, a tutor can highlight these strengths and show students how to use them intentionally.

Equally important is the gentle uncovering of weaknesses, not as flaws, but as opportunities for improvement. A tutor helps students identify the gaps in their understanding or the habits that hold them back. Instead of letting these weaknesses define the student, tutoring reframes them as areas for growth. With guided practice, tailored strategies, and continuous encouragement, students learn to approach challenges with confidence rather than fear.
What makes this process powerful is the shift in self-awareness. As students gain clarity about what they can do well and where they need support, they develop a stronger sense of ownership and autonomy over their learning.

Ultimately, tutoring is not just about improving marks, it’s about helping students understand themselves as learners which is valuable in all areas of life and across all subjects. When students recognise both their strengths and their weaknesses, they unlock the tools they need to grow, adapt, and thrive far beyond the classroom.

Jessica Ciappara

Many students move through school believing they are simply bad at maths. It is a label that often begins in the early years and slowly becomes part of how they see themselves as learners. At First Education we see this all the time. What is most striking is that the issue is rarely a student’s ability. It is usually a mix of confidence, missed foundations and the belief that maths is a talent you either have or do not have.

Maths is a subject built in layers, so even small gaps can grow over time. A student might have missed a key concept in fractions, struggled with place value in primary school or never learnt their multiplication facts with enough fluency. These gaps do not reflect intelligence. They are simply missing building blocks. Once those foundations are rebuilt, students usually feel more capable and begin to make progress far more quickly than they expected.

Another reason the myth persists is that maths often moves at a fast pace in class. Students who need a little more time to process new ideas can feel left behind. Tutoring helps slow things down and creates space for students to ask questions without fear of judgement. When a student finally experiences that moment of clarity, the shift in confidence is immediate. They start taking risks, attempting harder problems and engaging more in their lessons at school.

Mindset also plays a powerful role. Students who believe they can improve tend to try longer and bounce back faster when they get something wrong. Tutors help students reframe mistakes as part of learning rather than a sign they are not good enough. This change alone can open the door to steady improvement.

No student is destined to be bad at maths. With the right support and a patient approach, they can rebuild their foundations, grow their confidence and discover that they are far more capable than they ever realised.

Freddie Le Vay

Every student learns differently, and understanding the way you learn can make studying feel easier, more enjoyable, and far more effective. School often focuses on traditional methods like reading and writing, but there are many other learning styles and strategies that students can explore to get the most out of their education.

One popular approach is visual learning, where students understand information best through images, diagrams, and videos. Visual learners benefit from mind maps, colour-coding notes, and watching demonstrations. This method turns complex ideas into clear, easy-to-see concepts.

Another effective style is auditory learning, which involves listening and speaking. These learners remember information well through discussions, podcasts, oral explanations, or even reading notes aloud. Participating in class conversations or explaining a topic to a friend can significantly boost understanding.

For students who learn by doing, kinaesthetic learning is ideal. This style focuses on hands-on activities—such as experiments, building models, role-playing, or using physical objects to understand ideas. Kinaesthetic learners may also find short movement breaks helpful to stay focused.

Many students use a combination of these styles. For example, someone might enjoy watching a video (visual) but also need to talk it through with a classmate (auditory) before completing a practical task (kinaesthetic). Mixing techniques can make study sessions more engaging and memorable.

Technology also offers new ways of learning, from interactive apps and online quizzes to virtual tutoring and educational games. These tools can support different learning styles while making study time fun and flexible.

Ultimately, the key is to experiment. Try new strategies, pay attention to what helps information “stick,” and build a study routine around your strengths. When students understand how they learn best, they become more confident, motivated, and successful—both inside and outside the classroom.

Alexander Nikitopoulos

Something I’ve realised from tutoring senior students is that knowing the content is honestly only half the battle. I see so many Year 11 and 12s who think, “If I just memorise everything, I’ll be fine,” but that’s not how the HSC works. The real game-changer is exam technique—actually knowing how to use what you’ve learned in timed conditions.

The other day I was working with one of my Year 12 English Advanced girls. She literally knew everything about her text—quotes, themes, all of it. But when we tried a practice essay under time, she froze. She spent ages trying to make her intro “perfect,” didn’t adapt her ideas to the question, and ended up rushing the final paragraph. And honestly, this is so normal. The HSC is basically a time management sport.

So we stripped everything back. I showed her how to plan in under two minutes, how to reuse her ideas no matter what the question asks, and how to bring the question into every paragraph. Once she realised she didn’t need to write the perfect essay—just an organised, on-task one—you could literally see the stress leave her face. Her next assessment went from 13/20 to 18/20 just from changing how she writes, not what she knows.

Moments like that always remind me why exam technique matters as much as content. It’s not just about the syllabus—it’s about strategies like marks-per-minute, question decoding, flexible paragraph structures, and finishing under pressure. When students learn both the content and the method, everything suddenly clicks.

Tutoring isn’t just teaching facts. It’s helping students feel confident, calm, and in control when it actually matters. And honestly, seeing that shift is the best part of the job.

Ellie Mceachern

Retrieval practice is a tutoring method that is based around the idea that students learn best not by re-reading notes or listening to explanations, but by actively pulling information out of their memory. Instead of adding more content, it strengthens what is already there.

This method is so effective as it forces the brain to work harder and dig deeper. Rather than being given the answer or being guided step-by-step, the student is asked to recall the idea on their own. Something as simple as, “explain this concept to me without looking at your notes,” or “try this question first without any help from me”, forces the students to think for themselves and remember how the concept worked. The effort involved in remembering actually improves long-term retention far more than simply revisiting the explanation again.

Another interesting thing about this method is that it reveals gaps in understanding, which is very important to determine while students are still learning the topic. When a student tries to retrieve information and gets stuck, it shows exactly what we need to focus on, which makes the tutoring lessons a lot more efficient for both the tutors and the students, as the students themselves are able to identify what they need help with without even realising they’re doing it. It also helps students recognise what they truly know, rather than what feels familiar just because they’ve seen it before.

Retrieval practice also reduces exam anxiety. When students get used to pulling knowledge from memory regularly, they become more confident doing the same thing under timed conditions. In this way, it turns revision into an active process.

Overall, by including the retrieval practice method within tutoring sessions, it transforms the way students study outside the lessons as well. It helps them retain information longer, identify their weaknesses more clearly, and build the confidence that comes from knowing they can rely on their memory.

Katreen Diab

When it comes to tutoring, I’ve realised there’s no one “perfect” way to help someone learn. Every student is different, so I’ve ended up building a little toolbox of simple strategies that make sessions smoother, less stressful, and more fun.
The first thing I always try to do is keep the session feeling relaxed. If a student walks in feeling overwhelmed, nothing is going to stick. When the atmosphere is calm and casual, they’re way more open to asking questions or admitting when they’re confused.
Another strategy I use is focusing on small wins. Instead of trying to conquer a whole topic in one go, I break things down into tiny steps. When students start ticking off those little successes, their confidence shoots up. And once they feel confident, they learn faster without even realising it.
I also like to mix things up. Sometimes we talk through a problem, sometimes we draw it out, and sometimes we go through examples together. Switching up the approach keeps their brain awake and stops the session from feeling like a chore. Plus, it helps them figure out what kind of learner they actually are.
One of my favourite tricks is letting students explain things to me or tell me how to do a question. It doesn’t have to be perfect — the point is that teaching something helps them process – and it gives me a good idea of what they actually understand versus what they just take my word on.
But honestly, the biggest strategy is patience. Learning takes time, and everyone moves at their own pace. When students know they’re not being rushed or judged, they’re so much more willing to try. And when they finally get it, that little spark of “ohhhhhh” makes everything worth it.

Ellie Tsoukalas