Mark Rojtarowski

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APTUTORING Academic Assessments: Frequently Asked Questions

Mark Rojtarowski February 28, 2017

Can you believe that we’re well into term 1! We hope this new school year is filled with a plethora of learning opportunities and academic progress! Our tutors are out in full swing attending sessions to assist their students with kick-starting their learning adventures for 2017.

We’ve also been busy visiting new students and their families to provide our in-house assessment sessions that enable our tutors to begin planning the best way forward in academically supporting your child. Parents often have questions about our assessment sessions so we’ve put together a list of the most popular FAQs for you:

What are APTUTORING assessments?

In our assessments we use booklets designed by APTUTORING (year level and subject area specific). They focus on key learning areas within subjects and are completed within the session to the best of the students ability.
Don’t worry, our assessment sessions are not meaningless tests and they won’t leave your child feeling disheartened about their academic potential!
In addition to your child completing the assessment booklet, our assessor will also talk with you about how they learn, what his/her strengths are and what they would most like to gain from tuition.
Assessment sessions are also about gathering all the necessary information. This can include relevant school reports or other educational assessments completed previously. We take all this information and use it to help us formulate an individualized tuition plan for your child which your tutor will be able to implement weekly.
You should note that APTUTORING assessments are not diagnostic tests for learning disorders such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. They are also not psychological or neurological assessments for various disorders (eg. audio processing disorder).
APTUTORING assessors will also run through the administration nitty-gritties, answer any questions you may have and collect important enrollment documents required to begin tuition.

Who conducts assessments for APTUTORING?

Our assessors have all the skills of a teacher, organisational checks (such as a Working With Children Check) and friendly personality of our tutors plus the extra APTUTORING Assessor training to enable them to gather all the relevant information needed to put together a supportive tuition plan.

So, why do an assessment before beginning tuition sessions?

Well, firstly, we want to be prepared. Time is valuable and we see the value in knowing exactly what each student needs before they get started with tuition. By the time your tutor arrives for their first session they know what your child is wanting to achieve, what gaps in knowledge they may have in the subject area and how best to support them to achieving their academic goals.
Our assessors want to understand how your child approaches their school work and whether they require additional supports due to a learning difficulty so an assessment prior to beginning tuition helps us plan with these things in mind too.
Assessors get a valuable opportunity to speak candidly with parents and students early on about any concerns they might have.

What happens to the information gathered during an assessment?

All information relating to your child is kept confidential and is only used to formulate an individualised tuition plan for your child.
Your assessor will gather all relevant information which is presented to your child’s tutor for lesson planning and curriculum support.

Can I obtain a copy of my child’s assessment?

We understand that parents are keen to hear feedback about their child. Unfortunately, our assessors are not able to provide specific feedback about your child’s booklet during the assessment session.
Once tuition commences, your child’s tutor will be able to provide an overview of the assessment booklet and discuss the individualised tuition plan with you and your child.
APTUTORING assessments are internal documents but should you require a written report please contact our office to discuss your needs and request a written report (fee applicable).

How does the assessment inform ongoing tuition practice?

We use our assessments as an academic reference to help keep your child on track so they can achieve their learning goals.
Assessments help us provide the academic support your child needs as we know how they learn best and what they need from tuition.
Tutors often refer back to our assessments to help your child to track their progress in key learning areas.

We hope these FAQs have helped you understand a little bit more about our assessments!

If you would like to book an assessment with one of our qualified assessors, please contact us.

News, Tuition

Avoiding the Summer Holiday Brain Drain

Mark Rojtarowski December 23, 2016

After a full academic year of schooling and tutoring, how can your child avoid the “brain drain” during summer school holidays? Read on to find out more…

Okay, I’m going to jump the gun a little here and fast forward a couple of weeks to suggest that you’ve all recovered from the end-of-term-4 tiredness, school break ups and Christmas/New Year festivities. At this time of the year it can be difficult (unless you’re a VCE student) to even think about study plans over the summer school holidays but let’s talk about why ‘switching off’ completely may be detrimental to your child getting the most out of their learning when school resumes.

What is Summer Learning Loss?

Research suggests that Summer Learning Loss, or the loss and/or decrease in academic knowledge and skills over long school holiday periods can equate to students academically falling behind by up to 4-8 weeks by the time school resumes. The research also indicates that this varies greatly by student and in topic areas with mathematical skills being most affected.

This has a cumulative effect on students learning new material after school holidays and is problematic for teachers who spend many weeks having to re-teach material to students. For tutors, it is obvious that the gaps in their students’ knowledge only widens after long school holidays when they have not engaged in reviewing topics or previous learning.

So how do you encourage your child to avoid the summer holiday brain drain?

Let’s be clear for a moment. We are not suggesting that students engage in a rigorous study timetable, in fact that would be counter-productive. What we are encouraging students to do is engage in age/developmentally appropriate learning that supports their academic skills and avoids them ‘switching off’ and lapsing into brain drain that offers no benefits over the holidays or when school resumes.

Take a look at this short list of general activities to benefit primary and secondary learners:

Primary learners:

For very young children, reading at least one book a day as a family.
Visit your local library and encourage your child to browse for texts that appeal to them or a current topic of interest.
Read texts that are challenging and discuss them with your child to enhance comprehension and vocabulary skills.

Remember to use analytical question prompts to help develop your child’s skills; Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Think outside the box and incorporate maths and reading into everyday unstructured activities, field trips and holiday activities.

This can be as simple as helping your child read a map when you’re at the zoo to navigating their way through the grocery store looking for particular items on the shopping list:

Reduce screen time and encourage outdoor fun; nature is a wonderful teacher.
Structure some maths time with your child in a relaxed atmosphere.

Review times tables, count objects of interest, read the time (analogue and digital) and help your child make a list of what they do at certain times of the day, get the blocks out and talk about geometrical shapes while building with your child, cook with your child or do some water play to incorporate measurement skills.

What is your child passionate about? Incorporate learning with their passion through books, trips to museums, libraries, zoos, planetarium etc. Keep a journal with your child filled with interesting facts that they can record, draw accompanying pictures and write accounts of their adventures.

Secondary learners:

Younger secondary students can work on spatial and geometric maths skills such as architecture and engineering through building structures with a variety of materials… get creative!

Have a discussion about the effectiveness of the materials chosen using analytical questions as prompts; Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Get organised for English by reading the set texts before you start the new school year. Think ahead about characters, themes, context and setting.
Older secondary students can review core maths concepts in preparation for returning to school. You can find a plethora of practice questions online to keep your skills in check.
Help your secondary student to develop independent learning skills. Encourage them to take initiative of their own learning and make a list of topics they need to work on in each area of study.
Reading, reading, reading!!! Yes, I can’t stress this one enough. Read often, read widely, think critically about what you’ve read. Whether this is an article in The Australian or a novel of your choosing, think critically about points of view, characters, themes etc. Challenge yourself and don’t just pick your usual familiar genre of text or one that you will easily cruise through.

Remember, it’s easy to avoid summer learning loss while you’re having fun on your summer holidays by including some of the above tips into your break!

Lastly, as the school year has concluded I would like to thank you for tuning into our blog and providing us with your feedback throughout the year! On behalf of everyone at APTUTORING, I would also like to sincerely wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a safe New Year! We thank you for your continued support in 2016 and we look forward to working with your child again in 2017 to assist them in reaching their academic goals!

Cooper H, Nye B, Charlton K, Lindsay J, and Greathouse S. 1996. The effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: A narrative and metaanalytic review. Review of Educational Research 66: 227–268.

Tuition

3 Tips for surviving exam periods

Mark Rojtarowski November 14, 2016

APTUTORING’s Tips for Surviving Exam Periods

Whether you are living with a Year 12 student, facing the toughest period of their secondary school careers with the finality and pressure of VCE exams or you are supporting your secondary school aged child to manage study time effectively during their end of semester exams, the question remains the same. How do we help our tutoring students get through exam periods?

Encourage self-care

At a time where nothing seems more important than the looming test or exam, encouraging students to step out of study mode is crucial for their mental health, learning and exam success. Focus is wonderful and essential to succeed during this period of high stress but without the opportunity to take a break from the pressure young people can be vulnerable to burn out.

So, to avoid extreme physical and mental exhaustion, encourage your child to find a regular activity that helps them take a break or ‘switch off’, preferably away from a screen or device. Get outside, go for a walk, play a sport, garden, do some yoga/meditation, read for pure enjoyment (not study related), visit a friend or family member. Self-care is about connecting and looking after ourselves on a deeper level so encourage your child to engage in activities that allows them to regularly take a break from the craziness and intensity of exam period.

Communicate

Talking is an obvious one here and it’s easy to believe that we are communicating effectively with our child when we are going about our lives but I’m talking more about the quality of communication here. Keep the lines of communication open (yes, this can be challenging to do with a stressed-out teenager) but find a way that works for you and your child.

Does your child love to connect with you over a cup of tea or a walk around the block? Keeping the lines of communication open during stressful times allows you to get a better idea of what they need in terms of support during the exam period. Ideally, working this out in the lead up to exams is ideal but not always a reality for many families. Here are some topics/questions to use as a starting point:

What do you need right now to help you get through this exam?
Help them put the exam within a bigger picture context.
Have realistic conversations about their study goals/plans.
Who could help me with this problem right now (e.g. parent, teacher, tutor)? What steps do I need to take to get the help I need?

Get on the ‘Brain Break’ bandwagon

If you haven’t heard of a ‘brain break’ before then you can read all about it here: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-breaks-focused-attention-practices-lori-desautels

The benefits of regular ‘brain breaks’ are well researched and evidenced as a tool to assist with re-setting the brains approach to a task, problem or situation. Help your child get on board with ‘brain breaks’ by explaining how they can make it part of their ‘toolbox’ for stress management.

The internet has a plethora of great ‘brain break’ examples and activities that vary in time from quick 2 minutes to longer 20 minute breaks.

Until next time…

Happy Learning!

News, Tuition

Yes! APTUTORING Provides Professional Development

Mark Rojtarowski October 12, 2016

Looking to expand your professional development repertoire? Did you know APTUTORING provides accredited professional development for teachers in accordance with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT)?

The VIT states that “as a registered teacher or early childhood teacher you will need to engage in at least 20 hours of professional development (PD) activities, each year to renew your registration… (and) your PD must be referenced to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) and address at least one standard in each of the three domains of the APST: Professional Knowledge, Professional Practice and Professional Engagement.

www.vit.vic.edu.au

This year APTUTORING has offered professional development for teachers in the areas of conducting educational assessments, delivering scholarship preparation, induction for new staff and teaching for special needs.

Did you know that as part of the government’s Special Needs Plan it is now a mandatory requirement (for VIT renewal) for all teachers to complete professional development to enable them to build their skills for working with learners with disabilities.

We now offer professional development ‘Teaching for Special Needs’ that complies with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers 1.5, 1.6 & 4.1. It is based on educational research & draws on the experience of our Educational Assessors to focus on how to meet students individual needs in both classroom & tuition settings. It covers:

Types of special needs disabilities & disorders
Specific strategies to assist students with varying special needs
Includes collegiate activity on individualising pedagogy and differentiating worksheets for students with special needs.

Why choose APTUTORING as the provider of your next Professional Development session?

Our sessions are provided free (or very minimal charge on some sessions)!!

We offer professional development to all teachers (not just those who work as tutors for APTUTORING)
Our professional development is based on educational research & is directly relevant to both classroom & tuition settings.
Our professional development presenters are knowledgeable, experienced & engaging.
We hold sessions in comfortable facilities local to our office in Berwick & we provide refreshments.

So what’s coming up for Professional Development at APTUTORING?

Teaching for Special Needs – Autism
Teaching for Special Needs – Auditory Processing Disorder
Teaching for Special Needs – Mental Health Issues

So, what are you waiting for? Send us an email on admin@aptutoring.com.au or call our office 1300 665 924 to register your interest in attending an upcoming professional development session with APTUTORING! Too easy!

News, Offers

Why Make Up sessions?

Mark Rojtarowski August 29, 2016

The Benefits of Tutoring Catch-up Sessions

So, you’ve had to miss an awesome session or two with your tutor due to a commitment or your child being unwell. It happens. Life happens. So now what? Let’s talk Make Up sessions.

APTUTORING values your child’s relationship with their tutor, keeping your child on track to achieve their learning goals and the time spent for your child’s tutor to plan effective lessons to best assist your child during the school terms. Although we understand that life happens our 17 years of experience tells us a few important things about tuition:

1. It needs to be regular and consistent.
2. It is harder for students to stay connected with tuition and content if sessions are missed.
3. Progress is slower and gaps arise in the students knowledge when sessions are missed and not followed up.

So, what is a Make Up session?

Make Up sessions are your child’s opportunity to catch up on the content and learning they have missed out on through cancelling of a session/s due to illness, commitments or life getting in the way of tuition.

How do make up sessions work?

When sessions are cancelled and you are eligible for a make up session (see t’s & c’s here) we notify your child’s tutor who puts aside their cancelled lesson plan for a later make up session date.
You are then invoiced for your session as usual, but it sits in our system as a make up session for you to use at a convenient time for both you and your tutor.

When you’re ready to use your make up session it’s easy, you contact APTUTORING with your availability and we take care of the details of scheduling with your tutor so that he/she arrives at your door to do the important work of helping your child catch up and stay on track with achieving their learning goals.

We’ve put together some frequently asked questions that parents often ask us about Make Up sessions?

1. Is it compulsory to do make up sessions?

Yes, at APTUTORING we do ask that you adhere to our T’s & C’s and attend make up sessions. To be able to get the best out of your sessions, your child needs consistency. Missing sessions habitually and not having a chance to catch up on content does adversely affect your child’s understanding of curriculum content and ability to progress with their tuition learning plan.

2. Can I use my make up session before an exam or assessment?

Absolutely! It’s your make up session so if you feel that you would like to use it for extra preparation before an exam or assessment then let us know. Obviously if you are behind in a key area then your tutor may suggest using your make up session to catch up on core learning first so please chat with your tutor.
We ask that in using your make up session/s for exam or assessment preparation that you provide us with as much notice as possible so we can sort out logistics with your tutors availability.

3. Am I charged for Make Up sessions?

No you are not charged again when you use your make up session. When cancelling a session during the school term you are invoiced for that session as usual and this then sits as a credit for you to use as a make up session. Easy!

4. How long do I have to use my make up session/s?

Make up sessions sit as credits in our system until the end of the following term following your cancellation. So, for example if you cancel a session in term 3 you have until the end of term 4 to use it. Obviously we can use our discretion here so if there are extenuating circumstances as to why you can’t use a make up session then contact us EARLY ON and let us know so we can best help you.

5. Can I use my make up session on a weekend, public holiday or school holiday

For sure! Scheduling a make up session is dependent on yours and your tutors availability. Do keep in mind that our teachers have lives and families too but they are very flexible and we endeavour to find a suitable day/time that suits everyone.

6. Who’s responsible for keeping track of my make up sessions?

That would be you. As you can appreciate, keeping track of a gazillion students, parents and teachers availabilities and schedules is a big job! If you’re unsure if you have a make up session owing then contact us and we will be happy to check for you. Or you can easily log into your child’s student portal (refer to your invoices for the details) to check if you have any Make Up sessions to use.

Have further questions regarding make up sessions? Need to book a make up session for your child? Then contact us and let us help you.

Until next time,
Happy learning!!

News, Tuition

Get the Most Out of Reading

Mark Rojtarowski July 27, 2016

How to Encourage Your Child to Get the Most out of Reading

For some children, a love of reading emerges naturally and with little encouragement from parents. For other children, reading is a challenge from the beginning (for so many different reasons) or just making time to read regularly becomes a battle that a lot of parents dread on a daily basis. There is a large body of research supporting the positive impact of regular reading on vocabulary, reading comprehension, general knowledge and verbal fluency (read this interesting research paper for more info). As professional tutors, we know that reading proficiency is an important key to unlocking success at school and in later life so…

How do you encourage your child to get the most out of reading?

Give children a say in what they’re reading! Renowned Australian author, Jackie French, says:

“When giving kids books, adults think, ‘This is a kid’s book therefore it’s appropriate’, but just as not all adults enjoy every book, kids need the chance to develop their own preferences.” (A. Hennessy ‘Why kids should ditch consoles for books‘, Perth Now).

Support your child in developing their literary preferences and gently guide them in journeying through the many genres available. This way they will really enjoy what they’re reading and it will be easier for them to read regularly.

Not sure where to start? Head to your local library and encourage your child to browse the shelves to get a sense of what appeals to them.

Get talking with your child about what they’ve read

I’m not just talking about a simple plot summary here… but, more meaningful discussion around the characters, themes and interpretations in the text. By encouraging your child to delve a little deeper in their thinking you are helping them develop key critical thinking skills which really assists their analytical skills now and in future learning. Try asking these questions regarding a chapter, theme or character:

What?
Why?
Who?
When?
Where?
How?

Encourage your child to reflect and journal about what they’ve read

Use the above questions and ask your child to write down a few sentences (younger students) or paragraphs (older students) focusing on analytical thinking. Some children feel more confident in writing down their thoughts about a text rather than having a conversation so get them writing!

Quantity vs quality

What’s more important here? The number of books read OR the quality of book and time taken to think critically about a text? Over the years we’ve seen many students read text after text almost robotically in haste without pause to think critically about the text. Choosing quality texts for your child’s literacy level (there are some starter lists here and here) and focusing on discussing and responding to the text in written form will greatly benefit your child’s literacy skills and help them to think critically about the world around them.

Until next time, happy reading!

News, Tuition

4 Easy Ways to Get Back into the Tuition Term…

Mark Rojtarowski July 11, 2016

How do you ease your child back into the new tutoring term?

Oh holidays… Sometimes it can feel like they take forever to arrive, and then they’re gone in the blink of an eye! We hope you had a wonderful school holiday!

So, in the face of a new term how can you ease your child back into tuition? Here are four easy suggestions:

1. Get Organised

Your child might need a little extra help getting organised in the first week back. Prompt them to think about what they need for their session and where possible have it ready the day before.
Lacking motivation? Encourage your child to write down:
a) One thing they need to ask their tutor about.
…OR….
b) Something they need to work on in their tuition this week.

2. Rest

Remember that your child will most likely be extra tired in the first week back and may need an earlier night the day before tuition. If possible, get your child outside (with lots of extra winter layers!) and out for a run around before their tutor arrives.

3. Food

Back to school hunger will likely strike in the middle of a tuition session so have some healthy snacks (nuts, avocado, fruit, cheese, biscuits) and water on hand to keep your child’s concentration up during a session.

4. Realistic Expectations

Know that it usually takes a week or so to get back into the routine of tuition (even more so with younger children). With the return to school and the onslaught of extra curricular activities students get tired quickly at the end of the school day. So, encourage your child to talk to their tutor and use part of their first session back as a space to regroup, check in with their organisational skills and get on top of school homework and assignments.

With these handy tips up your sleeve your child will be back into the swing of tuition in no time! And remember, if you have any concerns about your child then have a quick chat with your tutor, or contact us so we can help.

Happy next term, and happy learning!

News, Tuition

5 Reasons You Should Tutor With APTUTORING!

Mark Rojtarowski June 14, 2016

We get a lot of tutor applications at APTUTORING. We value passionate teachers. We value committed teachers and we value quality teachers.

As a family based business, we always come back to one question; is this applicant someone we would be happy to welcome into our own home? By keeping this in mind we are confident that the tutors that we accept at APTUTORING will be in turn welcomed into our clients homes too, with their abundance of expertise and professionalism to boot.

We also think that being particular about our tutors sets us apart from the pack. We make no apologies for only accepting teachers as our tutors. We are by no means saying that wonderful non-teacher tutors don’t exist in the world! But rather that through our experience, teachers as tutors make a great match to the varied needs of students who come to us with diverse learning needs.

So, are you thinking about tutoring with APTUTORING? Here are 5 reasons you should:

PICK YOUR OWN HOURS: Weekly sessions that are scheduled around days/times that suit you and your lifestyle means that you run your own show.
BE YOUR OWN BOSS: Bring your innovative approach to learning and combine it with Victorian Curriculum F-10 standards to support students and make a real difference!
COMPETITIVE RATES: We are proud to say that we love our teachers, value them and reward them with attractive pay rates that still keeps tuition affordable for all students.
ROOM TO GROW: Interested in developing curriculum with us? What about diversifying your role and conducting assessments? We provide these opportunities and more for our committed staff.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Need to ‘up’ your PD hours? We provide regular PD sessions that are recognised by the Victorian Institute of Teaching.

If you are a passionate teacher who would like to commit to making a difference with our students while setting your own work pace then WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU here. Apply Now!

Until next time…

Happy teaching!

News, Tuition

5 Tips for getting the BEST from Primary Level Tuition

Mark Rojtarowski May 30, 2016

At APTUTORING we love working with primary aged students to support their learning and help them develop skills that will form a solid foundation for later learning. We are also fortunate to have primary school teachers with specialist skills meaning that we provide tuition to all students no matter what their background. You can read more about our individual primary tuition, but here’s a quick snapshot of the primary level tuition we provide:

Consolidating core Literacy and Numeracy areas using the F-10 Curriculum).
Additional support for students with diagnosed and undiagnosed learning difficulties.
Providing tailored scholarship preparation for selective schools entry.
Home-school Literacy and Numeracy support.

So, you’ve made the decision to have your primary school student tutored with APTUTORING, and now you’re wondering how to encourage your child to get the best out of their sessions. Well, read on for our top 5 tips!

We consulted the ‘experts’ on this topic, our awesome primary tutors — who else would have the best tips, right?!

1. Encourage your child to be prepared for their session by:

Having an early night the day before tuition will help them better concentrate after a full school day.
Having a snack, drink & getting some fresh air outside before tuition starts will help with mental alertness. If your child has a session immediately upon arriving home from school or an extracurricular activity then we encourage them to have a snack and drink during their session!
Ensuring they have located their tuition workbook/worksheets, pencil case and completed homework before their tutor arrives.

2. Encourage your child to complete any homework tasks set by their tutor. We don’t routinely set homework, opting for meaningful tasks that consolidate instead. These tasks help your child to process content between sessions so they get the most out of each session.

3. Help your child to stay engaged with their learning and tuition by incorporating learning into life. So, if you are having English tuition, try and read daily with your child to support their skills and instil a love of reading. If you are having Maths tuition, encourage your child to practice their timetables during the week to support their maths skills and number facts knowledge. Remember to keep it fun!

4. Encourage your child to take responsibility for their own learning from a young age by asking them to write down questions for their tutor before their session.

They might have questions to help them with school work, or to clarify a topic from the previous session. It might be a question about their tuition homework.
Encouraging your child to take this initiative will not only grow their confidence but help them to problem solve and think about what would be most helpful to them.

5. Stay Connected. Okay parents, this one is really for you!

Be curious about what is working for your child in tuition and the strategies your tutor is using to help your child.
Ask questions when you need to at the beginning of a session giving your child’s tutor time to respond accordingly.
Communicate with your tutor and APTUTORING regarding sessions and your child’s progress. We are here to help and only a phone call (1300 665 924) or email away (admin@aptutoring.com.au).

So, there you have it, our Top 5 Tips to help your child get the best from their primary tuition! As always, comment below, drop us an email or connect with us via Facebook to let us know what you think about our blog and what you’d like to read about next.

Until then, happy learning!

Tuition

How do I get the best out of my tuition sessions?

Mark Rojtarowski May 16, 2016

You may think this is a fairly straightforward question with a very obvious answer, right? Well, you may be surprised to know then, that in our 17 years of experience, we have found that a lot of students and even parents, are not quite sure how to make the most of their tuition sessions and knowledgeable tutor.

Sometimes, between recognising that your child needs a tutor, contacting us, establishing tuition needs through our assessment process, and having a tutor attend your home can feel like you’re ‘turning up’ so to speak, and therefore your child can begin to absorb information and be ‘tutored’.

But, we can suggest a couple of scenarios for you to ponder while we look particularly at two different ways to approach tuition in secondary levels (we will tackle primary levels in our next blog post!).

Let’s take two students in year 10 English, for example, who have similar learning and tuition needs. We will call them Jack and Jill (yes, I have two little ones that are loving nursery rhymes at the moment so that’s what popped into my head first… hehehe).

Jack and Jill have come to APTUTORING for additional English support, and they really want to focus on being better prepared for VCE English that is fast approaching them.

Scenario A: Jill’s approach to tuition

Jill is organised for sessions with appropriate materials and when her tutor arrives she engages willingly. At times, Jill spends most of her session jumping from topic to topic trying to remember her ideas and what she needs help with. When she has a SAC due, Jill often realises last minute that she isn’t as prepared as she thought.

Jill asked her tutor for a list of novels she could read to further her reading and responding skills. In addition, Jill needs to extend her knowledge of the themes in her key school English texts so her tutor gave her a list of practice essay questions to develop her understanding and further her skills in essay writing. Unfortunately, Jill has been unable to organise her time efficiently and isn’t engaging in writing practice essays for her school text or reading any additional novels. Sometimes Jill struggles to motivate herself and unfortunately she has come to rely on tuition to be her main motivator.

Lastly, Jill has a tendency to be passive during tuition. She does ask questions occasionally but she lacks the motivation and initiative to think deeper and more critically about the information provided to her.

Scenario B: Jack’s approach to tuition

Before Jack’s tutor attends his home he reviews his class work to get a bigger picture of what he has learnt that week in class and what areas he has struggled with. Sometimes that is an assessment task/SAC, a question about the study text, a question or a point his teacher has raised that he hasn’t had time to clarify in class. Jack has a good understanding of what he needs from each tuition session to be able to work through his class work and develop his skills further.

During the assessment stage, Jack expressed a willingness to read a variety of supplementary novels to expose him to different genres of writing and extend his essay writing skills. Jack was given a list of possible essay questions for his chosen texts and encouraged to submit practice essay responses to which he would be provided feedback and further direction.

Jack organised himself so that on weekends he could read some of the chosen texts. Afterwards he worked with his tutor to develop his critical thinking and responses in essay format. Jack often initiated further study on textual themes, independent of his tutors set tasks and was able to formulate thoughtful questions to discuss with his tutor, further developing his knowledge of the texts.

So, having looked at these two year 10 students’ approach to English tuition, let’s bring the discussion back to our original focus question with a quick checklist of how you can best utilise tuition sessions:

How to get the best out of your tuition sessions?

Do:

Be prepared —obviously have all your information with you (eg. SAC dates/details, all study texts and novels, any additional work you have completed during the week). Also, be like Jack and review your week before your tutor arrives. Have a good idea of what you would like to work on with your tutor based on what you found challenging during the week.
Ask questions — not only does your tutor welcome your questions but they will also encourage you to think critically not just accept ideas at face value without challenge. This is a key step in developing critical thinking skills to enable you to respond to texts with depth in your analysis.
Communicate with your tutor — had a challenging or busy week at school and you couldn’t get through supplementary set work? Talk to your tutor and use your initiative to review goals and organisation skills to better assist you in completing set tasks. Remember, teachers are human too, and they definitely understand the pressures of school life. Maybe they can suggest a strategy that you may have overlooked?
Take initiative with tuition and your learning —what do I mean? Well, take ownership over your own learning. Be the driver in achieving your learning goals and don’t wait for your tutor to always set tasks for you or tell you what to do.
Complete practice questions and review notes —going over your class work and tuition notes from the previous session before your tutor arrives will really help you keep track of areas of study you are understanding and reveal where more work may be required.

Don’t:

Only absorb information at face value without challenging content with further questions.
Suffer in silence. APTUTORING tutors are extraordinary people but they’re not mind readers. If you’re not understanding something, ask a question! If you’re struggling with organisation, motivation or workload… speak up! Tutors are human with a lot of useful life experience and suggestions that might help!
Sail through tuition as a passenger! To get all the benefits from tuition you need to participate, show initiative and take ownership over your learning.
Expect your brain to remember everything you worked on in previous sessions without giving it a helping hand! Regular reviews and study before seeing your tutor will help consolidate your knowledge and allow tuition to move you towards achieving your learning goals.
Cancel your sessions regularly! (Obviously we are not talking about ill health here or circumstances out of your control). Having one hour a week with your tutor is a drop in the ocean in comparison to school time. It’s 60 minutes to cover a lot of curriculum and answer questions. If you cancel regularly, you will find that tuition becomes a catch-up game and not much time is left to cover areas in the depth and detail you need.

So, as you can see, getting the most out of tuition, especially in secondary levels, involves so much more than just being ‘tutored’ or ‘taught’. We hope it’s given you some food for thought and some ideas to discuss with your secondary school aged child.

Stay tuned for our next blog where we look at tuition in primary years and ways you can support your child to get the most from their tuition experience and their tutor!

Like what you’ve read? Have suggestions for future blogs? We would love to hear from you so, write a comment below, connect with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/APTUTORING, or email us info@aptutoring.com.au.

Happy learning!

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