Parent Testimonials

"Just by having 4 or 5 one to one sessions with Melanie, Jack's confidence and understanding of the subject was increased enormously. Jack has said he felt confident with his answers but would not have if he hadn't had the tuition. Thank you Melanie."

Jack’s mother Karen, December 2009
Year 11 Biology, Chemistry & Physics

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you SO much for all your help and support over the years – you have made an amazing difference to Alex and I know she would have struggled without you. I think it would be lovely to keep in touch – I know Alex will really like that.

Thank you again – for your fabulous help."

Alex’s mother Catherine, December 2012
Year 13, Level 3 Biology, Calculus, Chemistry & Physics

“My daughter's confidence, self-esteem and knowledge have all improved significantly. Clare had been considered 'at risk' of not passing NCEA by her school. However she ended up earning 102 credits which she was very excited about.
She doesn't find tutoring boring and is always happy to go. [She enjoys] Jackson's warm, kind and patient manner as well as his ability to explain things in different ways until she understood - he didn't make her feel stupid for asking for more detail.
Highly recommend AHeadStart.”

Clare’s mother, January 2016
Year 11, English & Science

 “I would highly recommend AHeadStart for students undertaking NCEA. It has been especially helpful for helping our children to understand how NCEA works and to manage and prepare for the external exams."

Holly’s & Bernadette's mother Mary, January 2014
Year 11 & Year 12, Chemistry, Mathematics & Science

“Melanie, I meant to call you on Friday to say how delighted Jordan was with the pack and goodies and how impressed both he and Fletcher were with Michael. They said he's making physics sound so achievable.
Please pass on my congratulations to Michael - he may be able to crack the 'code' and get Jordan excited about science again.
Looking forward to tomorrow. Liza.”

Jordan’s mother Liza, April 2016
Year 12, Physics
 

“Sean is really remarkable, Tom’s confidence is growing in leaps and bounds and he is loving learning. I am so pleased I found your organisation :)”

Tom’s mother Jo, May 2015
Year 9, Mathematics & Science

“Thank you Melanie. The tuition has given Sarah a lot of confidence and the service was excellent, reliable etc. Sarah was well suited to Liam's style of help. We understand he is overseas next year but we would appreciate it if you could think who else in your team has a style similar to Liam for next year.”

Sarah’s mother Joanna, November 2015
Year 12, Chemistry

“Thanks Melanie, Jedd has done very well with English this year and has enjoyed his tutoring with Blake and English at school - which is a huge achievement!

We are keen for Jedd to have English tutoring again next year so please put him on your list of students who want tutoring.”

Jedd’s mother Stephanie, November 2015
Year 10, English

“She has really enjoyed her time with Hamish and felt the best she had ever going into an exam, regardless of the result. That is something for her.”

Sophia’s father Greg, November 2015
Year 11, Science

“Thanks so much for the learning support and can you please give Jeremy a massive thumbs up from Josh and I? He is the perfect tutor – turns up on time, is polite, focused, friendly to Josh and does a great job of teaching. Josh mentioned they covered a few topics in the Physics exam that he would not have passed if he didn’t have Jeremy’s help. We have been super happy with Jeremy.”

Josh’s mother Carne, November 2015
Year 12, Physics

"Briar was totally chuffed at her results and deservedly so. But the key for me was that it confirmed for her that she was quite capable of working through and understanding her maths, even though she had convinced herself that this was not possible. It seems to be a real issue for maths that so many students think that they are totally unable to comprehend the principles - you either like maths or you hate it and there seems to be no grey area in-between. So the credit really goes to you Melanie for getting Briar over that "useless at maths" label and giving her the chance to succeed - and she did so well! You have a great intuition for understanding how best to explain the subject."

Briar’s mother Cathie, January 2009
Year 12, Level 2 Mathematics

"Matthew is loving his time with Daniel and even told me last night that he now really enjoys maths!!! That is a huge compliment coming from Matthew. Met Daniel last week and he is a delight and a real credit to you."

Matthew’s mother Heather, February 2012
Year 11, Level 1 Mathematics

"We believe that the programme has allowed Saphron to gain confidence in Maths, she now feels she has the ability to solve problems and understand the breakdown involved in finding solutions. She is starting to excel in the Classroom environment whereas before she would normally sit back and become somewhat lost. Well done Melanie you have an ability to made Saphron comfortable, which has meant that she now has a desire to continue learning Maths."

Saphron’s father Mark, December 2008
Year 7, Mathematics

“AHeadStart suited my son well. He was motivated but did not want to ask questions in class and had low confidence in Calculus. He was in Year 13 so did not want me to be too involved! His marks and confidence improved and he was happy with his NCEA results. That is all I wanted from the tuition.”

Alex’s mother, January 2016
Year 13, Calculus

"Scott seems quite happy with the exams so far. I am very appreciative of the skills and abilities of the tutors as Scott has certainly become more confident in the knowledge that he does know things. Both Helena and Kirsten have helped greatly in developing his skills and techniques in both subjects.

I don’t know how children get on who don’t get tutoring, especially when the lack of knowledge comes down to the teacher that the student currently has. I firmly believe that Scott would probably have struggled to get an achieved in both subjects if we hadn’t approached you.

Please pass on our thanks and best wishes to Helena and Kirsten."

Scott’s parents Susan & Bruce, November 2014
Year 11, English & Mathematics

“Maths and English were two topics she greatly struggled with. By the end of Level 1 and Level 2 she was achieving in ways that not only shocked us but also her teachers. The improvement was mind blowing.

In Maths it was all new work to her and she did not understand it at all, her tutor was honestly the best tutor we had ever met, he not only taught her skills to understand Maths but he got her from basic maths to achieving mainly merits throughout the two years. For English her first internal she went from getting achieved to suddenly getting excellences for every internal she ever did. And passed all of her exams.”

Mikayla’s mother Leeann, January 2016
Year 12, English & Mathematics

"Thanks for the report. Ayrton struggled with all subjects at primary & intermediate school, and he has never had any confidence in his ability. Now with the help of both Ezra & Alex he is starting to realise he can do well and he is enjoying it so much more particularly the maths. Ayrton is now in a pre Cambridge Maths class and CBHS are getting them all to do some of the NCEA1 maths exam at the end of the year."

Ayrton’s mother Anna, July 2011
Year 10, Level 1 Mathematics

“Please thank Don for me. The whole process has been very easy for both myself and Alex. The tutorials gave him confidence which with any maths is vital.”

Alex’s mother Gael, November 2015
Year 13, Calculus​

“I'd like to say a very big thank you to both Ashleigh and Hugh for the support that they have shown Megan through this year. They have been wonderful and a huge help.

It has been a very tough year for Megan, far worse than we could ever have imagined, but she seems to have pulled through.   They were both very understanding and accommodating to the way Te Kura set out their lessons etc.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!”

Megan’s mother Toni, November 2015
Year 13, Accounting, Economics, English & History

“Morning, Many thanks for Maddi’s progress report– Just wanted to say how pleased we are with the progress Maddi is making and we believe a lot of this can be contributed to Jackson’s fantastic way of teaching Maddi…
Kind regards, Sue”

Maddi’s mother Sue, April 2016
Year 11, Mathematics & Science