First Education

Recently, I spent some time reflecting on how small changes in tutoring style can make a big difference in how students learn. One approach that has really stood out to me is the idea of breaking problems down into manageable steps, rather than tackling everything at once. While it sounds straightforward, this method can completely shift how students approach challenging material.

Instead of presenting a full solution immediately, I guide students to focus on just the first step. For example, I might ask, “What’s the very first thing the question is asking?” or “What information do we already know?” By narrowing their attention, students avoid feeling overwhelmed and can build momentum gradually. Each small success gives them the confidence to move forward.

This step-by-step approach is especially helpful when students feel stuck. Often, the difficulty isn’t the entire problem, but one specific part of it. By isolating that part, we can address the confusion directly without losing sight of the bigger picture. Over time, students begin to recognise these patterns themselves and learn how to break down unfamiliar problems independently.

Another key benefit is that it reduces anxiety. Large, complex questions can feel intimidating, particularly in exam settings. When students are trained to think in smaller steps, those same questions become far more approachable. They develop a sense of control, knowing they don’t need to solve everything at once.

Ultimately, this method helps students build resilience and independence. Tutoring becomes less about providing answers and more about shaping how students think. By encouraging them to take problems one step at a time, we’re not just helping them solve a single question—we’re giving them a strategy they can rely on in any subject.

Katreen Diab

Module B in HSC English can feel confusing at first because it is not just about knowing the plot of your text. It is about developing a deep, critical understanding of why the text is valuable, how it is constructed, and why it still matters. Naturally, because apparently reading a text once and “getting the vibe” is not enough for NESA.

In Module B, students are expected to study one text closely. This could be a novel, play, film, speech, poetry collection or nonfiction text. The main goal is to evaluate the text’s textual integrity. This means looking at how the ideas, language, structure, form and context work together to create meaning.

To do well, you need to move beyond simple themes. Do not just say a text is about power, love, identity or conflict. Instead, ask: what is the text saying about these ideas? Then ask how the composer uses techniques to shape that message.

A strong Module B response usually includes three things: a clear argument, detailed textual evidence, and analysis of the composer’s choices. Quotes should not be dumped into paragraphs like decorations. They need to be explained properly.

Students should also consider different interpretations of the text. Module B rewards independent judgement, so your essay should show that you have formed your own view of the text’s significance.

The best way to prepare is to know your text extremely well, memorise flexible evidence, and practise writing arguments. Module B is difficult, but once you understand that it is about critical appreciation, it becomes much more manageable.

Anthea Preketes

Today, I had the privilege of observing fellow tutor Joe’s session for his senior maths and physics student, Frida.

Joe took Frida through a few rounds of GeoGuessr to warm up. This game is perfect for tutoring – it’s a fun, challenging, and engaging brain break that forces you to think outside the box, interpret obscure clues in the surrounding environment and to be observant. This really struck me as creative on Joe’s part – it’s definitely a top pick for when I’m tutoring my students, which demonstrates the level at which he understands them. Frida also seemed to be highly invested in this activity, even striking up casual conversation simultaneously with Joe, demonstrating his skill in creating an invigorating yet comfortable and cordial learning environment.

Though even more striking I feel was the way he took Frida through her physics work afterwards. There was a noticeable shift in tone between the two – what was once carefree and energetic was now focused and direct, though nothing about his casual and conversational approach from before had changed. He was always privy to answer any complicated questions Frida was willing to ask. I could tell that Joe gets along with Frida, which is important in tutoring as it really helps in build confidence in the student by keeping things light and low-pressure.

Joe was very effective at summing up otherwise tricky physics concepts in a more intuitive way. He described physical concepts in easy-to-understand everyday language whilst using physical objects in his vicinity to demonstrate phenomena like the forces acting on a particle, which is a tried and true method, again reflecting positively on Joe’s aptitude as a tutor, and is something I’m trying to include more of in my sessions.

Overall a very insightful session which really demonstrated Joe’s efficiency, skill and professionalism as a tutor. Cheers Joe!

Zac Markovina

Something I’ve started to notice in tutoring sessions is how much confidence affects a student’s ability to engage with the content. It’s not always about whether they understand something or not because sometimes they hesitate simply because they’re unsure of themselves.

In one session, I worked with a student who actually had a decent grasp of the material but constantly second guessed their answers. Even when they were correct, they would say things like “this is probably wrong” or look for reassurance before continuing. At first, I found myself jumping in quickly to confirm whether they were right or not, but I realised this might have been reinforcing that uncertainty. Instead, I tried holding back slightly and giving them more space to commit to an answer before responding. I also made a conscious effort to acknowledge their reasoning rather than just the final answer. Over time, they seemed more willing to speak without immediately doubting themselves, which made the session flow more smoothly.

This made me reflect on how tutoring isn’t just about explaining concepts clearly, but also about creating an environment where students feel comfortable taking risks. If a student is too focused on being wrong, they’re less likely to fully engage or attempt more challenging problems.

At the same time, it’s important not to let incorrect understanding go unaddressed. There’s a balance between building confidence and ensuring accuracy, which can be difficult to manage in the moment. To be completely honest, I’m still working on how to best navigate this, particularly in knowing when to step in and when to let the student figure things out independently.

Lily Powell

Tutoring can plan an important role in helping build a students confidence in their own abilities. It can be especially helpful when students may feel scared or embarrassed to ask questions in class, when they don’t understand soemthing. Tutoring creates a safe and comfortable atmosphere, where students feel supported and able to ask questions without feeling judged. By tutoring creating a safe environment, it helps students feel comfortable and confident in their own abilities.

Another way tutoring builds confidence is by helping students to effectively communicate their ideas. Students are able to ask questions, explore ideas and explain their thinking process and how they approached a question in an open and safe environment. By regularly attending tutoring, students faster their communications skills so that they feel more comfortable sharing their ideas in a classroom setting. By students feeling comfortable sharing their thoughts it means that they are more likely to participate in class discussions or debates and that they are able to colloborate with others, when working in group projects.

Tutoring helps students to develop confidence in their abilities and to handle making mistakes. When a student makes a mistake in their tutorial session, they are able to stay motivated as they understand that making mistakes is a crucial part of the learning process. By tutors helping students to understand where they went wrong, it can help the students build resilience and gain confidence in tehir ability, when they answer a question tehy previously answered incorrectly, correctly. Students may feel more comfortable, making mistakes in a tutorial setting, as they know the tutor will support them and not judge them. They may be inclined to attempt questions they wouldn’t attempt at school as they don’t want to embarass themselves incase they get the wrong answer. Therefore, tutoring will help students build up their confidence.

Ashley Cohen

Teaching Animal Farm in Years 9–10 works best when students are guided from simply understanding the story to analysing how George Orwell uses language to construct meaning and critique power. Rather than overloading students with historical detail, briefly introduce the Russian Revolution and map key characters to real figures so the allegory becomes clear and accessible. From there, focus on explicitly teaching language devices through short, targeted extracts, modelling how to identify and explain techniques such as allegory, symbolism, and propaganda. For instance, Squealer’s persuasive and emotive language is an effective way to demonstrate how authority is maintained through manipulation, while the windmill can be used to explore symbolism and false hope. It is essential to move beyond definitions and instead show students how these techniques work to shape meaning, consistently asking what Orwell is trying to suggest about power and control. Structured scaffolds are highly effective at this stage, particularly simple analytical sentences that guide students to link technique, idea, and effect. For example, students can be taught to write responses such as: Orwell uses propaganda through Squealer’s emotive language to manipulate the animals, highlighting how those in power distort truth to maintain control. Providing model responses and unpacking them with the class helps students understand expectations and builds confidence in their own writing. Short paragraph practice is more effective than full essays early on, allowing students to refine their analytical skills incrementally. Ultimately, the aim is to help students shift from retelling the narrative to analysing how language constructs meaning, enabling them to engage with the text on a deeper and more critical level.

Eleni Nicholas

Holidays are a great time to relax and take a break from the usual routine of school. Using this time to switch off and spend time with friends and family can allow you to return back into the term with energy and motivation to concentrate and study. However, the holidays can also be used as a time to get ahead and begin the term prepared with knowledge and not forgetting everything that was covered in the term before.

Finding the middle ground between completely ‘switching off’ and studying hard can be difficult. My top tips are:

– Set aside 30 minutes to an hour for study each day, just a small amount of time can make a big difference

-Set goals for each subject so you know what to do each day

– Make sure all notes are up to date and holiday homework is done

This should allow you to enter the term feeling prepared but refreshed for class each day.

Maddie Manins

Balancing exercise with study is essential for both academic success and an individuals and students overall wellbeing. Many students believe that spending more time studying will automatically lead to better results, but neglecting or reducing physical activity can actually actually reduce focus, energy, and motivation. Therefore, by incorporating regular exercise into a study routine it can help optimise both physical and mental performance.

Exercise plays a key role in enhancing brain function. When you engage in physical activity, blood flow to the brain increases, delivering oxygen and nutrients that improve concentration, memory, and learning capacity. This means that even short bursts of movement can make study sessions more effective. Instead of long, unproductive hours at a desk, combining study with exercise can lead to better retention and understanding of information.

In addition to cognitive benefits, exercise is crucial for managing stress and maintaining mental health. Academic pressure, deadlines, and exams can create high levels of anxiety. Physical activity provides a natural outlet for stress by releasing endorphins, which help improve mood and promote a sense of wellbeing. This can make challenges feel more manageable and reduce the risk of burnout. Therefore it is important to find a sport that you enjoy and want to participate in! Creating a balance between study and exercise requires planning and consistency. Scheduling workouts just like study sessions can help build a routine that supports both.

Even 20–30 minutes of exercise a day such as a walk, gym session, or sport, can significantly boost energy levels and productivity. Using exercise as a break between study blocks can also refresh the mind and improve focus. Ultimately, exercise should not be seen as time taken away from studying, but as an investment in better academic performance. By prioritising both, students can achieve a healthier lifestyle, improved results, and a more sustainable approach to learning.

Daniella Antoun

Happy Easter / Xristos Anesti for everyone who celebrated!! Hope the break was restful and rejuvenating for everyone. Over the break, I had more time than usual to do some reflecting, and wanted to share one thought in particular with you all this evening. “How can I make the tutoring experience as rewarding as possible for my students?”

I heard Alex Hormozi say on a podcast once that successful people don’t have more “grit” or “willpower” than regular folks, they’ve just found more ways to get rewarded for doing the same task. As we become more and more competent at things, we become less and less outcome oriented and can become more immersed in and rewarded from the actual process itself. At that point, the process itself is what becomes most rewarding, and the destination (or in academia, the test results) – just a nice byproduct.

I thought “how can I keep my students in a perpetual state of process-oriented focus, instead of outcome-oriented focus?” Or, as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined it, a constant state of flow? The answer, to me was obvious – progressive overload. A concept not unfamiliar to regular gym goers – instead of shooting for the stars or unreasonably large leaps in progress every single session, simply starting at a point that our student finds challenging (though not anxiety inducing) and making incremental increases in question challenge (or in the gym analogy – load, over time).

As our students get more and more confident in their ability to answer questions at the level they’re at, they become increasingly eager to continue attacking harder and harder problems, because the process of answering questions (and over time, getting more and more of them correct) is what has become rewarding in and of itself. Ideally, we’re creating little question answering machines who have learned to become so rewarded and fulfilled by the process (answering challenging questions) that gets them the favourable results (good test marks) that when the A’s come back, they’re just icing on the cake.

Thomas Koutavas

In English, you have to put yourself out there in a unique way: you have to articulate what you think, a process interwoven with emotions, experiences, desires, and other such sticky business.

When younger kids struggle in English, our instinct might be to fix the skill problem visible in their work, meaning more homework, worksheets, or spelling tests. And sometimes that helps, but it doesn’t always shift the underlying issue — which is not just that they “can’t” do it, but that they don’t even think they “can” in the first place. This is especially true of younger kids, where confidence dictates their willingness to engage (unlike older kids who might have the looming shadow of the HSC or a termly exam to motivate them). So the thing that differentiates “strong” students is not always pure ability, and instead often their willingness to have a go (while the less confident one is still sitting there trying to get it perfect in their head before opening their mouth)

Something I’ve observed across my own experiences as both a student and a tutor: kids are constantly reading the room to gather environmental information, asking questions like: what happens if I get this wrong? Will this teacher laugh at me? Will it seem like a stupid mistake?

If the signal they get is “you should already know this” or “only good answers matter”, they WILL start protecting themselves emotionally, and it’s very hard to get them to re-engage.

On the flip side, when it’s clear that trying counts, that half-formed ideas are great news, and that mistakes aren’t a big deal, you see that shift almost immediately. That means we need to be careful about what we reward: if “good” can include things like taking a risk, explaining an idea, or even just attempting the task properly, this encourages more self-conscious students to give it a go.

So, for younger learners, confidence is key in many of the things we can teach them – meaning once it is there, they can learn just about anything.

Mica Krzyzanowski