For Parents
Learn how to help your child get the most out of their education.Useful Articles
Why most students underperform in NCEA exams
The reasons students don’t do as well as they can in NCEA exams usually have very little to do with “intelligence,” or even hardwork. In fact, usually the reasons are deceptively simple, but classroom learning often fails to address them. Here are our top 3 reasons students fail their exams, and what you can do to help your teen beat them.
The problem with how we talk about tutoring
Tutoring has been around for centuries, but it’s still something that’s riddled with misconceptions and myths. In this article, we explain why how we think about tutoring is all wrong – and how tutoring can benefit everyone.
Why textbooks don’t work anymore – and what does
Textbooks are a controversial topic in the education community. Whether you’re considering buying your teenager some expensive textbook to revise for their exams, or your teenager is begging you to buy the latest and greatest on the shelves: make sure you’re not wasting your money or time. Read on to find out the truth about textbooks: what doesn’t work about them, and – more importantly – what does.
Our ultimate guide to succeeding in mock exams (2018 edition)
Understand the key features of these exams, avoid common mistakes students make, and learn our science-backed tips for excelling in your mocks.
Five practical steps to help your child get better NCEA grades
It’s hard to know how to help your children through NCEA when you don’t entirely understand the system yourself. In this piece, we’ll give you five practical steps that you can take to boost your child’s NCEA performance, and support them through this often stressful time.
Everything a parent needs to know about NCEA
NCEA can be an confusing system to get your head around at the best of times. We break down NCEA into its simplest components – so that the next time your child comes to you crying about an “N/A” grade, or celebrating having received a Merit on their Biology test, you’ll know exactly how to respond.
3 main reasons teens don’t reach their potential at school
It’s the question on every high school parents mind – is my teen meeting their potential at school? Everyone wants their child to grow into the best version of themselves, but how can we be sure school is really setting them up for success? Read our latest article to find out!
How to tell if your teenager is struggling at school
Assessing the real status of your teenager’s learning is hard, especially when they don’t let you in on what’s really going on, or if you don’t entirely understand the system yourself. In this piece, we’ll break down how to work out where your teenager might be struggling at school, and what you can do about it.
What skills will your teen need to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce?
We’re living in a fast-changing world. Whatever stage of education your child is in, it’s a good idea to know exactly what skill-set they’ll need to thrive beyond school. Here’s our top six skills for tomorrow’s world, and how you can help your child build them now.
How to help your child through their exam results
Early Tuesday morning, NZQA released the eagerly-awaited results of last year’s NCEA exams, and students across the country could finally see how much of their hard-work last term paid off. Whether your child has already checked their results or they’re still feeling too nervous to share them: there are two things that both of you should keep in mind when reflecting on these results – good or bad…
Beat Procrastination with these 3 Steps
We all procrastinate from time to time. In fact, many of us do it a lot! To beat procrastination we have to answer the question: ‘what is procrastination and why do we do it?’ Put simply, procrastination is applied anxiety. We procrastinate when we know...
How to Start Studying – A Guide For Unmotivated Students
Often the hardest part of study is starting. Studying for exams is a big task. Just the thought of study can be daunting for students. When faced with the overwhelming task of studying a year’s worth of content in time for exams, it may seem easier for students to avoid the task, rather than knuckling down and studying…
Why Students Underperform in Exams and How to Help Your Child Avoid Doing the Same
How many times has your child studied hard for exams only to be sorely disappointed by their results? Or walked into an exam with all the confidence in the world, and been completely thrown off guard upon opening the first page? This is something we see time and time again in students – even the most dedicated studiers. It’s a result of the “illusion of learning”, and it’s a common reason students underperform in exams, despite having studied for months in advance…
A Step-By-Step Guide to Acing Your NCEA Exams
We get it. Exams can be tricky. We know what it feels like to feel prepared for an exam, then have that illusion shattered the minute we open the first page of the exam paper. We’ve all been there. Maybe your goal is to just make it through an exam without panicking…
Our Top 5 Tips to Ace Exams
Exams are just around the corner, and this time of the year is notoriously stressful for students. While nerves can be helpful, too much stress can be detrimental to your child’s success. Over the years, we’ve had lots of first-hand experience guiding students through this stressful time of the year. So, we know the best strategies on how to tackle exam period…
Why Get Tutoring in Term Four?
Studying for exams can be really tough on young people. The pressure is high, the content is tricky and the exam leave period means that students don’t have any support from teachers on hand. Studying the “right stuff” can often become a guessing-game, plagued by uncertainty and procrastination…
How to Make the Most of Mock Exams
Mock exams cause a great deal of stress in our students – with many not knowing how much effort they’re worth, or even where to start. In this post, we break down key struggles students face when it comes to mock exams, ways of overcoming them, and give a list of practical strategies to ensure success in mocks and beyond.
How to Help Your Child Overcome Their Fear of Maths
"I don't have a maths brain" is a phrase we hear often. Below, Inspiration Education tutor Alwyn talks about the misconceptions behind this statement and how this belief can be harmful to a student's learning. I often get told that I “have a maths brain”. Usually it...
Parent-Teacher Interviews – Why They’re Important and What You Should be Asking
Parents often ask us: “How can I best support my child through High School?” The answer is probably more simple than you would expect. One of the most important things that parents can do to help their children through their schooling is to keep updated on their...
7 Steps to Build a Positive Relationship with your Teacher
It’s almost impossible to get along with everyone you meet. Everyone is unique, and has different ways of viewing the world. Inevitably in life, you will bump into people that you simply don’t seem to gel with. For various reasons during your high school experience,...
Learning How to Learn – Retrieval Techniques Foster Success in Students
Study. Even the word fills most of us with dread. Whether you’re a student attempting to study, or a parent trying to encourage your child to study, I’m sure we can all agree: study is not fun. However, it is necessary. Study can be made a lot easier, and less...
Why Mistakes Actually Enhance Learning
“Why might mistakes be important to learning?” Have a quick think about why this might be, then read more below. Mistakes are Important. Really. Wrong is the type of word most wouldn’t associate with any form of success while learning, but science suggests it may be...
Why Illusions of Learning May Be Robbing Your Children of Success in School
“But, Mum and Dad, I did study hard and I thought I knew my stuff. I’m not sure why I did so badly on my test?” It's a conversation we have all likely been privy to at some point in life. Unfortunately our brains are not as trustworthy as we believe them to be. All of...
Why Most Tutoring Doesn’t Work — and What Does
Most tutoring doesn’t work. It may be shocking, but it’s true. Even I have been guilty of providing non-effective tutoring at some point of my life. Let me explain. Inspiration Education has been in operation for over five years; I’ve been tutoring for over ten. In...
Tutor Spotlight: Sarah Murphy (Hamilton)
What made you decide to become a tutor? I’ve always been interested in education. I think it’s highly valuable but is often underrated. Throughout school I noticed that many students, right up until year 13, expected the teachers to almost spoon feed them the answers....
Tutor Spotlight: Andy French (Christchurch)
‘Tutor Spotlight’ is a blog series we are running at Inspiration Education to showcase some of our passionate, talented tutors. Today we will be showcasing Andy. Andy is a tutor at our…
Why English is More Important Than You Think
“Why is English important?” is a classic question parents often get from their children. Below, Inspiration Education tutor Emma Vitz makes the case for why English is vital to…
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