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.

Lessons can be either 60 minutes or 90 minutes long. For Years 9 - 10 students, we recommend 60 minute lessons. For Years 11 - 13 students, both 60 minutes or 90 minutes 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).

Weekly tuition is the ideal 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 - especially on the leadup to an exam, it is not uncommon for a student to request extra tutoring. It depends on the availability of the tutor, but in almost all cases we are able to accommodate.

Lessons can take place at your home, local library, at school, or online. We travel throughout Christchurch, but where travel is required to outer Christchurch suburbs we will charge a $5 - $15 travel fee, depending on distance.