Our tutorials are structured flexibly. Generally, our tutoring model is: 1. introduce content and guide the student through it; 2. set work for the student at the appropriate level; and 3. monitor student’s performance and provide real-time feedback. Lessons often begin with a brief bit of information gathering: we’ll discuss with the student about how they have been going with their classwork in the week forgone, talk through any teacher feedback they’ve received recently, and find out what assessments they have upcoming. After that, the content of the tutorial depends on the outcome of the discussion and our particular goals with the student. We are able to look backwards at previous year’s curriculum content, or ahead at future years, depending on what our target areas/subjects are.

In the past decade, there has been a movement led by the Ministry of Education to eliminate class streaming from NZ's schools. By consequence of this, classes are comprised of students of mixed ability, and teachers are given the impossible task of teaching all of them to a level suitable to each of them. ​​ The evidence shows that mixed classes do reduce educational inequality and are suitable for some students. However, a great many of my students over recent years have learning needs which aren't being met in their classroom environment. From our observations, the adversely affected students are usually the students who sit at the top of the class (gifted and high-achieving students) and those students who are sitting at the bottom of the class (i.e. students who have fallen behind). Extension tutoring targets the learning needs of these particular groups of students and provides the learning support they need. For these students, individual attention is crucial and can make a remarkable difference to their academic ability, their motivation and their perception of their future. The middle-runners in the class are generally not as adversely affected by mixed classes, but this absolutely varies from student to student.

Homework is an important part of our tutoring method. We only have limited time together during the tutorial, so part of our job as tutor is to, as best we can, make sure our students are maximising their time outside of tutorials. We set homework after almost every lesson. We are fervent believers in homework. It is a valuable opportunity for the student to complete work in an independent, self-led environment. Independent study forms the basis of NCEA and further education (tertiary), and hence we see it as incredibly valuable to develop the underlying traits early (those traits being discipline, independence, and time-management).

We tutor numeracy, literacy (reading and writing), pre-NCEA, NCEA, Cambridge and Scholarship up to Year 13 level. All subjects that we tutor, we can tutor up to Excellence level. The full list of school subjects that we teach can be found here. Tutoring can be for a single subject or multiple subjects. It is up to the tutor, in consultation with the parent/student, to determine how tutorial time is used.

For Years 9 - 10 students, we recommend 1 hour lessons. For Years 11 - 13 students, lessons up to 1 ½ hours can be suitable, depending on the needs of the student. After 90 minutes of tutoring, you will generally find that a student's attention starts to drop off. If you're unsure, start with 1 hour and see how it goes from there. You can always change!

One lesson a week is generally a good frequency. It allows time in between tutorials for the student to do their homework and come to the next lesson with their motivation levels high. A higher frequency of tuition is also possible (i.e. 2 or 3 lessons a week) for students wanting the extra support. If you're not sure what's best... Start with 1 lesson a week and see how things go. You can always bump this up later, if needed. Bear in mind you can also book in extra, one-off lessons on top of your weekly lesson(s). This is particularly common on the leadup to exams/assessment deadlines. It depends on the availability of the tutor, but in almost all cases they can accommodate.

Yes. Lessons can take place at your home, local library, at school, or at a local cafe. We travel to you, throughout Christchurch. Travel is already built in to our prices except where travel is required to outer Christchurch suburbs (e.g. Lincoln, Tai Tapu), in which case we charge a $5 - $15 travel fee, depending on distance.

No. We specialise in in-person tuition, where we believe we can make far more of an impact as compared to online tuition.