First Education

A study strategy I consistently use with my students is active recall combined making sure I promote repetition, as it promotes deeper understanding and long-term retention.

A clear example of how I use this strategy is when I was teaching my Year 5 student her times tables. I would start the session off with her writing down the answers. Then, instead of having her simply read or rewrite multiplication facts, I would use active recall by regularly testing her without notes. I would focus on a small batch of timestables and ask her quick-fire questions such as “What is 7 × 8?” and encourage her to answer from memory. If she struggled, we’d break the problem down together using patterns or strategies, and then I ask her again shortly after to reinforce the correct answer. This helps shift her learning from memorisation to true understanding.

I also incorporate spaced repetition by revisiting her times tables across multiple sessions. At the start of each lesson, I include a short review of the tables she previously found difficult. Over time, the intervals between reviews increase as her confidence improves. This ensures that she is not just remembering the answers temporarily, but retaining them in the long term.

Through this approach, I have seen significant improvement in both her speed and accuracy as well as her confidence. She is now more willing to attempt challenging questions without hesitation!

Annaliese Lakis

Today’s observation session focused on Daniella working with her student, Eowin, on the topic of indices in mathematics. The lesson was well-structured and demonstrated a clear progression from foundational concepts to more complex applications. Daniella began by revisiting prior knowledge, ensuring that Eowin was confident with basic exponent rules before introducing more challenging problems. This approach helped to reinforce understanding and build confidence.

Throughout the session, Daniella used clear explanations and step-by-step modelling to demonstrate how to simplify expressions involving indices. She frequently checked for understanding by asking Eowin targeted questions, which encouraged active participation rather than passive learning. Eowin showed engagement and was willing to attempt problems independently, indicating a supportive and low-pressure learning environment.

One of the strengths of the session was Daniella’s ability to identify areas where Eowin was uncertain, particularly when applying multiple index laws in a single question. She addressed this by breaking problems down into smaller, manageable steps and using examples to clarify misconceptions. Additionally, her use of positive reinforcement helped to maintain Eowin’s motivation and confidence.

Overall, the session was effective in developing Eowin’s understanding of indices. Moving forward, incorporating more varied problem types and real-world applications could further strengthen conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills.

Tira Rustom

Throughout Years 11 and 12, I experienced significant stress and anxiety. As both a procrastinator and a perfectionist, I often found myself stuck between avoiding tasks and feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to do them perfectly. During the HSC, I had to actively learn strategies to manage this anxiety in order to perform at my best. Now, as a tutor, I recognise these same tendencies in many students.

One of the most important things I’ve learnt is that anxiety in students is not simply about workload, it’s about perception. Many students view tasks as much bigger and more intimidating than they actually are. As a tutor, my role is not just to teach content, but to help reframe these perceptions. Breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps can make a huge difference. When a student feels like they’ve “started,” even in a small way, their confidence often begins to build. Creating a calm and supportive environment is also essential. Students with anxiety can be highly self-critical, so positive reinforcement is key. Acknowledging effort rather than just outcomes helps shift their mindset from fear of failure to a focus on progress. Yet, most student’s during HSC feel this immense pressure and thus, anxiety, I often share my own experiences to show students that this is normal and manageable, by speaking personally I can help normalise their feelings and reduces the sense of isolation that anxiety can bring.

Ultimately, tutoring is not just about improving academic results, it’s about building resilience. By helping students manage their anxiety, we are equipping them with skills that extend far beyond the classroom.

Cara Charalambous

In Year 11 and 12, there is often so much anxiety around rankings and where you sit amongst your peers. I found that students often get caught up comparing themselves with other students, too often, rather than focusing on individual improvement and progress.

Internal rankings determine the school assessment mark that a student receives for a particular HSC subject. This obviously means that a student’s position in a cohort is important, but it doesn’t determine their whole mark for a subject. It accounts for 50%.

Panic can set in when a student receives a mark below their expectations for a particular internal assessment, and they think that it defines their entire outcome for the HSC for that subject. This is far from the truth. With the highest weighting possible for an internal assessment being typically 40% (for trials only), a strong exam can significantly improve a student’s position in the cohort, but a poorer assessment does not end opportunities, especially since most assessment weightings are 10-30%. Consistency is ultimately key to getting a good internal rank.

Rankings for a task are simply a measurement of a student’s position in the cohort at a certain point in time; a ranking for a specific task may not entirely reflect a student’s effort, improvement or potential. A more tangible way of measuring effort, improvement and potential will be to analyse the change in ranks across all internal assessments, which will be a key indicator for the direction the student is heading in for the HSC. Rankings might also not be an indicator of individual performance when in a particularly strong cohort, say, for example, a cohort of Extension 2 Maths students where all students are performing very well.

A key danger of rankings is that while they can motivate students to improve by comparing themselves relative to their peers, they can distract students from controlling what they can, which is improving as much as they possibly can and working hard. If a student can focus on improving their own marks, then the ranks will move in a similar direction.

While rankings are important, they are not everything. The students who can park rankings aside and focus on improvement throughout the HSC will be the ones who are the most successful.

Hayden McCarthy

One of the most common areas where students in the senior years fall down is not a lack of ability, but simply a lack of structure in their schedule. Students find themselves struggling during busy periods of revision and exams, and often forfeit all of their activities outside of school to focus on study, leading to unproductive behaviour, without realising they can build a schedule that accommodates all their needs.

Firstly, without a schedule, especially during the later years of school, students become unproductive and normally do not complete desired tasks over a specified period of time. They do not organise their time efficiently and will normally come to the end of a day thinking about how much time they spent at their desk compared to how much work they completed. An effective schedule will remove all of this and minimise stress at the same time, by creating a weekly plan that maps out when you will revise for specific subjects or complete certain homework. It makes a larger goal more tangible by breaking it down into smaller, achievable and manageable tasks.

A schedule builds consistency into a student’s routine, leading to continued improvement as the student will have more regular, focused practice.

One of the most important parts of having a schedule during the back end of high school is that it allows the student to manage academic commitments, with extracurricular activities, sports, social activities and downtime, providing piece of mind for the student that they are meeting all their needs, rather than simply giving up on all these activities and focusing on school, which will be detrimental to the student’s wellbeing as they will not distance themselves from academics.

Finally, a schedule will lead to accountability and a sense of fulfilment for the student by following it closely. Regarding the academic side of the schedule, it creates momentum and will fill the student with confidence/trust in their preparation, meaning they can walk into assessments knowing they left no stone unturned. This is extremely valuable when students get close to their final exams.

Ultimately, a thorough schedule will create greater productivity, consistency, variety and confidence for students, especially as they approach important milestones in their high school life.

Hayden McCarthy

I observed a session with a Year 11 biology student focus. The session was structured around reinforcing core syllabus content and addressing gaps in the student’s understanding. The tutor began by asking the student to define enzymes and substrates. The student identified enzymes as biological catalysts and enzymes as the base molecule in which the enzyme acts upon. The tutor expanded on this by explaining that enzymes increase the rate of chemical reactions by lowering activation energy and are not consumed in the process. The lesson then moved to enzyme structure and function. The tutor introduced the concept of the active site and explained how substrate molecules bind to this region. Diagrams were used to illustrate this, which helped the student visualise her explanation. The tutor then focused on factors affecting enzyme activity, including temperature, pH, and substrate concentration. For example, the tutor described how high temperatures can denature enzymes by altering the shape of the active site, preventing substrate binding. The student was asked to interpret simple graphs showing enzyme activity under different conditions, which helped develop data analysis skills. Throughout the session, the tutor used questioning to check understanding and encouraged her student to explain concepts in their own words. When the student made errors or showed uncertainty, the tutor provided clear corrections and examples. She also emphasised the importance of answering short-answer questions in exams in a full sentence form to secure full marks. The session concluded with practice questions that required the student to apply their knowledge. She broke down each individual question for her student and provided feedback which focused on improving accuracy. Overall, the session was content-focused and aligned with curriculum requirements, using explanation, visual aids, and practice to support understanding. As my science knowledge is limited, I found that the tutor explained the concepts extremely well!

Evanthea Kargas

People usually think that forgetting means you didn’t learn something, but apparently cognitive science says the opposite. Forgetting is not a flaw in many cases; it is an important part of how memory becomes stronger, lasts longer, and becomes more useful over time.

The spacing effect is one of the most well-known results in educational psychology. Students remember things better when they learn them over time instead of all at once. Some forgetting has already happened when a student goes back to the material after a break. This “desirable difficulty” makes the brain work harder to put the information back together, which strengthens neural pathways and helps you remember things for a long time. On the other hand, cramming often provides people a false sense of mastery, and the information quickly fades after the test.

Retrieval practice is closely related to this phenomenon. It means actively recalling information instead of just reviewing it. When students use quizzes, flashcards, or practice questions to try to remember something, they are not just checking what they know; they are also strengthening the memory itself. It’s important to note that the effort involved in retrieval is important. It is actually better if it is difficult to remember the information. The brain is changing how it stores information, making it easier to retrieve later.

This leads to an unexpected thought that memory loss can be advantageous. When people forget some things, it allows them a chance to learn more when they review. Every time you forget something and then remember it, it becomes more stable and less likely to be forgotten again. Learning is not a linear process, it’s a cycle of losing things and rebuilding them.

The meaning is clear for both teachers and students. Learning should not try to get rid of forgetting completely, but instead work with it in a smart way. If you are to space out your study sessions, use low-stakes testing, and give yourself time between reviews, forgetting can go from being a problem to a useful learning tool.

Angelina Castelli

Studying with friends can be great or completely unproductive. It really depends on how it’s done, who you’re working with, and what you actually need to achieve in that session. For some students, it becomes a valuable way to reinforce learning. For others, it turns into three hours of pretending to work and getting nowhere.

There are definite upsides to studying together. Explaining a concept to someone else is one of the best ways to test whether you truly understand it. A good study group can also help you stay motivated and on track, especially when you’re covering difficult topics or feeling overwhelmed. If everyone’s focused and brings something to the table, it can speed up understanding and make study feel less isolating.

But it doesn’t always work that way. Group study can easily fall apart when people are at different levels, get distracted, or start relying on others instead of doing the thinking themselves. If you find yourself just copying answers or zoning out while someone else talks, it’s probably not helping.

The key is structure. Go in with a clear goal, whether it’s quizzing each other, reviewing past paper questions, or taking turns teaching a concept. Keep it short and focused. If it starts drifting, it’s probably time to stop.

In the end, some things are better learned alone, and others benefit from discussion. The trick is knowing which is which and being honest with yourself about what’s actually working.

Misha Fry

I believe First Education is the best tutoring centre because it combines high-quality teaching, personalised support, and a strong focus on student success. One of the main amazing things i have seen, is that First Education contains a family like commitment to helping students understand concepts rather than just memorising content. The tutors explain topics in a clear and structured way, which makes difficult subjects much easier to grasp and apply in exams.

Another reason why First Education stands out is the personalised learning approach. Unlike many tutoring centres that follow a one-size-fits-all method, First Education adapts to each student’s strengths and weaknesses. Tutors take the time to identify areas where students struggle and provide targeted support, ensuring steady improvement. This individual attention helps build confidence and allows students to progress at their own pace.

Additionally, the quality and experience of the tutors play a significant role. First Education hires knowledgeable and dedicated educators who are passionate about teaching. They are not only familiar with the curriculum but also understand exam techniques, which is essential for achieving high marks. Their guidance helps students develop effective study habits and critical thinking skills that go beyond the classroom.

The learning environment at First Education is also highly supportive and motivating. Students are encouraged to ask questions without fear, creating an atmosphere where learning becomes engaging rather than stressful. Regular feedback and progress tracking further help students stay on track and remain motivated to achieve their goals.

Finally, First Education has a strong track record of academic success. Many students show significant improvement in their grades after attending, which reflects the effectiveness of its teaching methods. Overall, its personalised approach, experienced tutors, and supportive environment make First Education the best tutoring centre for students aiming to excel academically.

Its also got amazing and friendly staff and admin to always support me as a tutor, an amazing and caring boss, and feels just like one big family!

Evan Mihail

Many students hold back from asking questions in class or tutoring sessions because they’re afraid it will make them look silly, unprepared, or “slow.” But in reality, asking questions is one of the smartest and most powerful things a learner can do — and it’s a key habit of high achievers.

When you ask a question, you’re not admitting failure — you’re showing curiosity and engagement. You’re taking ownership of your learning and saying, “I want to understand this fully.” That takes confidence and maturity, not weakness.

In tutoring sessions, the students who improve the most aren’t the ones who never make mistakes — they’re the ones who ask lots of questions. They clarify confusing points, explore “what if” scenarios, and double-check their understanding. This active approach leads to deeper learning and better long-term results.

Asking questions also helps teachers and tutors help you. We can’t read minds — but your questions give us insight into what you’re thinking and where you might be stuck. Often, a simple question opens the door to a bigger conversation that helps everything “click.”

It’s also worth remembering that if you’re confused, you’re probably not the only one. By speaking up, you might be helping others who were too nervous to ask.

So next time you’re unsure about something — whether it’s a maths concept, a science explanation, or even a word in an assignment — ask. Be bold, be curious, and don’t let pride or fear get in the way of progress.

Because asking questions doesn’t show you’re weak — it shows you’re serious about learning. And that’s real strength.

julian podgornik