First Education

When teaching difficult historical periods and human experiences, it’s important to create a safe and respectful environment where empathy and understanding are central. Setting clear expectations for respect, using trigger warnings, and reminding students that the goal is to learn—not sensationalise suffering—helps establish this tone. The resources you choose should match the age and maturity of your students: younger learners might connect better with stories, children’s books, or accessible documentaries, while older learners can handle primary sources, survivor testimony, or historical documents. To really humanise these experiences, focus on personal narratives like diaries, letters, or oral histories, which highlight not only the trauma but also resilience and survival. Critical thinking should also be encouraged—ask students why events happened, what lessons can be learned, and how these histories shape the present. Make space for multiple perspectives by including voices often left out, such as Indigenous or minority groups, and by acknowledging the roles of victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and resistors. Creative and reflective activities can deepen engagement, whether through role-play debates, journaling, or linking past injustices to present-day human rights struggles. Above all, balance stories of suffering with those of hope and progress, showing students that even in dark times, there are examples of resistance, solidarity, and change, and that learning from the past can inspire us to build a more just future.

Mary Diamond

Confidence can make a significant impact on a student’s academic success and enjoyment of school, yet many students struggle not only with understanding material but also with believing in their own abilities. This is where tutoring can make a big difference.

One of the benefits of tutoring is the specific support each student will students receive. Unlike a school classroom, where teachers divide their time amongst multiple students, tutoring sessions are specific to each individual pace and learning style. This means students get the assistance they need to grasp difficult concepts, which helps to build confidence. Topics can be repeated and revisited if needed throughout the year, allowing the student to master each topic and have information retained into their long term memory. This allows for less stress and more confidence when it comes to the all important end of year exams. We can tackle harder questions that they may not be taught in a classroom in a controlled environment, which prepares them for the critical thinking needed in exams.

Tutoring also creates a safe space where students feel comfortable asking questions without judgement. This supportive environment encourages them to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes. We can break down complicated topics into manageable ideas, where the student can fully understand each topic before moving on. This motivates the student to keep achieving their goals and comprehend each topic, which further builds their confidence in their knowledge.

Tutoring also helps students develop important skills like organisation, study habits, and exam strategies. For example, good study note setups, study scaffolds and the best way to tackle longer exams. This allows a student to feel prepared for when they walk into an exam, which reduces the common test day anxieties.

Through the combination of these factors, tutoring can influence a students confidence in their knowledge and abilities, which allows them to perform to their full potential when it reaches exam time and into the future.

Maddie Manins

Hey everyone! I watched Sienna’s primary school English session.

Sienna and her student got along really well. Her student felt very comfortable with her, which was great to see as it made Sienna’s student more comfortable, when she asked questions.

Sienna started the session checking her students homework from last week. They then did some work on preparing her student for her upcoming spelling test. They went through a range of sight words.

They then spent the rest of the tutorial, working on spelling words. Sienna started helping her student prepare for her upcoming spelling test. She would say sight words from her students school homework. She would then pronunciate it out and then use it in a sentence, so her student could understand the context of the word and could then use her intending skills to try and work out the meaning of the word. She then got her student to write a sentence using the spelling word to help her student to practice spelling the word and to understand how to form a sentence using the word.

Sienna gave her student the mini whiteboard to write her spelling words on and to write her sentence on. The student also started to visually draw what was happening in each sentence as this helps her to better understand the new spelling words and is a great prompt as she is a visual learner.

When Sienna’s student got distracted, Sienna did a good job, getting her student to focus and get back on track.

They then edited the spelling word, and sounded each word out. They also corrected the punctuation and grammar of each sentence.

Overall, Sienna did a great job helping her student. It was a great session and such a pleasure to observe. Keep it up!

Ashley Cohen

High school can feel like a juggling act. Between schoolwork, sports, part-time jobs, clubs, friends, and family commitments — not to mention sleep — it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But with the right approach, it is possible to find balance and thrive across all areas of life.

Start by recognising that balance doesn’t mean doing everything equally. Some weeks school might take priority, while other times you might focus more on a big sports event or important personal time. The key is being intentional with your time and energy.

Time management is crucial. Using a planner or digital calendar can help you map out your weekly commitments and find windows for study, rest, and fun. Planning ahead also prevents last-minute stress and missed deadlines.

Learn to prioritise. You don’t need to say yes to every opportunity. Choose extracurriculars that genuinely interest you, not just the ones that look good on a résumé. Focus on quality, not quantity.

Make time for rest and wellbeing. Sleep, exercise, and downtime aren’t luxuries — they’re essential. Overcommitting might seem productive at first, but it quickly leads to burnout. Regular breaks and time to relax with friends or family help recharge your mind and boost your academic performance in the long run.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for support. Whether it’s a teacher, tutor, parent, or coach, talk to someone if you feel like you’re slipping behind or stretched too thin. Often, small adjustments can make a big difference.

Balancing a busy schedule is a skill — one that takes practice. But with planning, self-awareness, and a focus on what truly matters, you can succeed academically and enjoy everything else that makes school life fulfilling.

Julian Podgornik

I have spent a lot of time balancing between the worlds of formal and informal education. In the day I work in informal education, by afternoon, I am a tutor. I think many people may think the jumping between the two is difficult, but I believe that through a proper synthesis, this style of education can meet any child.

Informal education aims to teach through creative methods, and has a focus of instilling values into children rather than a specific syllabus. Meanwhile, formal education feels more robust, having a rigid curriculum to follow and information which needs to be understood. There are values in both – it is not ridiculous to expect children to absorb and learn information, but I believe we need to extend past overdone methods to truly meet a child where they are at.

During my time at First Education, I have tried to implement my background of informal education into my teaching methods. For my younger students, I will prepare multiple different lesson plans and ask for their preference. I believe it is important for children to feel they have the autonomy to make decisions about their education, something which is unlikely to occur during school. I found it interesting that some of these students reject this and would rather I decide for them.

Informal education has also taught me to try and anticipate the needs of a child. For example, when I can see that a student is losing concentration and becoming more and more drained, we will take a break and play a game, something which I am glad First Education encourages. Informal education has also emphasised to me the importance of ensuring a child’s wellbeing, another skill which has been implemented in my tutoring. Oftentimes, students will struggle with their confidence, and as important as it is to teach, it is just as important that a student feels assured enough to ask questions and learn.

Though appearing as binaries, in truth, there is much that formal and informal education can learn from each other. This combination has the possibility to create a method of teaching which works better for all.

Maya Weizman

In Year 8 Maths, understanding how to summarize and interpret data is crucial, and two key tools that help with this are the five-number summary and box plots. The five-number summary includes five important values: the minimum (the smallest number in the data set), the first quartile (Q1) (which represents the middle value of the lower half of the data), the median (Q2) (the middle value of the entire data set), the third quartile (Q3) (the middle value of the upper half of the data), and the maximum (the largest value). These values give a quick overview of the data, helping us see how it is spread out and where most of the values are concentrated. A box plot is a graphical representation of the five-number summary. It consists of a box that stretches from Q1 to Q3, which shows the interquartile range (IQR), or the middle 50% of the data. Inside the box is a line that represents the median. The whiskers extend from the box to show the minimum and maximum values. If there are any outliers—values that are much smaller or larger than the rest of the data—they are marked separately, often with dots. Box plots and the five-number summary make it easier to visualize data and understand its spread, central tendency, and any unusual data points. They are especially useful when comparing multiple data sets, as they give a clear picture of the range, median, and overall distribution. By learning how to use these tools, students can analyze data more effectively and confidently, helping them not only in maths but in real-life situations where interpreting data is important.

David Hanna

It can be difficult to keep young students engaged with their tutoring session, particularly if the session is early in the morning or late in the afternoon. If the student regularly has struggles with concentrating for long periods of time, this can exacerbate the problem. For this reason, it is important to develop strategies to maximise the student’s engagement for the duration of the session to make sure they are getting the most of their tuition. One method which I have noticed can have a positive impact is allowing them to write on the whiteboard.

Whiteboards are a useful resource for a number of reasons, but one thing I have noticed is an increase in the student’s focus and attention when I get them to write on the whiteboard themselves– whether it be taking notes as I am speaking to them about something, or working through a problem– rather than if I were simply to write the points out myself to show them. Tasking them with scribing the session notes ensures that they must slow down and really listen to what is being said, and think carefully about how to phrase it in their own words and in a way which makes sense to them. It is well-known that writing– particularly by hand– is linked to memory, with a positive impact for learning. Thus, the act of writing themselves will improve their ability to remember the content being discussed. Writing is also a physical action, forcing them to be actively engaged with the session, as well as allowing them to channel any restless energy that could alternatively lead to fidgeting or distractions. Further, focusing their attention on the whiteboard in front of them helps to ensure that the student is staying on task, making it clear if their mind begins to stray.

Ultimately, having students make notes on the whiteboard themselves is a great way to engage them in a more hands-on way by getting them to play an active role in their learning, helping to channel their attention on to the task at hand and improve their connectivity with the material.

Olivia De Araujo

Trials are over and for a lot of students it feels like the hardest part is done. It’s tempting to take a break, sleep in and convince yourself there’s heaps of time before the HSC. But this short window between trials and final exams is actually one of the most important parts of the whole year.

Lots of students start to lose motivation during this time. They’re tired and think they’ve already done the hard work. But here’s the truth. This is the best time to fix the gaps. You’ve already seen what you’re good at and where you struggled in the trials. Now is when you double down and sharpen the areas you weren’t confident in.

It’s not about doing ten hours a day and burning out. It’s about being consistent. Even one or two focused sessions each day can make a huge difference. This is when your brain starts locking in the information for the long term. If you stop now, you risk forgetting a lot of what you worked so hard to learn.

Tutoring during this time can also help you stay on track. It gives you structure, helps you target the right topics and keeps your head in the game when motivation dips. Every hour of effort now will pay off in your HSC results.

Finishing strong matters. When you walk into those exams knowing you gave it everything, the pressure lifts. You’re not guessing, you’re ready. So don’t switch off now. You’re nearly there. Make it count.

Eireyna Papinyan

Today I was able to observe Davids Year 12 Maths Standard session.

During the tutoring session, the student and David worked collaboratively through a range of past paper questions, using them as both a revision tool and a way to strengthen problem-solving skills. David guided the student in approaching each question step by step, first encouraging them to identify what the problem was asking and which concepts or formulas were most relevant. This method ensured that the student developed a structured process for tackling exam-style questions, rather than simply jumping to solutions.

As they progressed, David encouraged the student to explain their reasoning aloud, which allowed for immediate feedback and correction of any misconceptions. This interactive style of learning promoted a deeper understanding, as the student was not only practicing content knowledge but also developing exam technique and confidence. When the student encountered difficulties, David broke the problem down into smaller, more manageable parts, highlighting key strategies and patterns that could be applied across similar questions.

Overall a great session to observe

Alexader Nikitopoulos

When I first started tutoring online, I wasn’t sure how I’d adapt without a physical whiteboard. Over time, the Zoom Whiteboard has become one of the tools I use most often. It’s not flashy, but it makes lessons smoother and more collaborative. Here are a few ways I’ve found it useful:

Essay planning: I’ll set up a quick mind map or outline on the board. Students can add their own ideas, which makes it easier to see how their argument is taking shape.

Problem-solving: For maths, working step by step on the board helps me show the process clearly. Students can also try a line themselves without worrying about “getting it wrong.”

Active checking: Asking students to annotate or highlight key points shows me how they’re processing information, and I can correct misunderstandings on the spot.

Flexibility: Sometimes I just use it as scrap paper mid-lesson, sketching out an idea, a diagram, or even a timeline. It feels natural and keeps the session flowing.

For me, the whiteboard isn’t about replacing in-person teaching, it’s about making the most of what online tutoring offers.

Toby Bower