Parent Testimonials

"Michelle's lesson with Meg yesterday went well. Meg said she learnt a lot and though she's aware that she has a long way to go yet with algebra, she felt like she learned things that she has been unable to learn at school (apparently the teacher does not really address questions the pupils have - she just moves on). So it has been a great start."

Meg’s mother Lee, August 2012
Year 11, Level 1 Mathematics

“Thanks so much for accommodating William this term. Daniel has been wonderful and I would recommend him to anyone. He has been professional in every way, always on time, never missed a tutorial. His manner and demeanour where encouraging and firm. I feel William has benefited immensely and look forward to his NCEA L1 result. Thanks, we will be in touch next year."

William’s father Kevin, November 2013
Year 11, 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

“My daughter, Emerson, decided that she needed to pick up specific Sciences in Year 13 having only studied General Sciences up to Yr 12. To achieve to an excellent standard in L3 Chemistry she felt tuition would be valuable. We approached AHeadStart, who provided Emerson with Jackson. He was an amazing tutor who worked with Emerson throughout 2015 to an excellent standard. We were thrilled. Needless to say we had a fantastic experience with AHeadStart.”

Emmerson’s mother Tracey, January 2016
Year 13, Biology & Chemistry

“Ethan very happy with Hamish. All positive feedback from last night’s tuition, with explanations provided helpful as to what he needs to write for excellence level.”

Ethan’s father Brett, May 2015
Year 10, Level 2 Mathematics & Physics

"The session went really well thanks. Molly said Cameron was great answering her questions and that he communicated really well the answers. She said it was very helpful"

Molly’s mother Pip, September 2014
Year 12, English

 “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

"Thanks for all the time you have spent with Nikki over the past few months. Nikki has so much more confidence now. Thanks for making such a huge difference."

Nikki’s mother Sharon, November 2010
Year 11, Chemistry & Physics

“Thank you for all your support & help for Mikayla throughout the past 2 years, James was the most amazing Maths tutor & did wonders with Mikayla, I couldn’t speak more highly of your tutoring company and of James. And feel very blessed to have had the chance to discover who you were as it helped so, so, so much. Thanks again for everything.”

Mikayla’s mother Leeann, November 2015
Year 12, English & Mathematics

"Hi Melanie – Just to let u know Caitlin passed NCEA Level 2 with merit endorsement. 2 merits in bio and merit endorsed in bio, chem merit and two achieved, 2 merits in English & 1 achieved. We r rapt! Thanks 2 u & Kelly. We will b back this year for more support."

Caitlin’s mother Karen, January 2013
Year 12, Biology & Chemistry

"We would just like to let you know that things went really well with Hannah’s first visit today. Lucy was really chuffed about how much she had learned and Hannah is a lovely girl and obviously very patient!

We are feeling very confident that this is the beginning of a huge improvement in Lucy’s understanding of maths and we are lucky to have someone like Hannah to help her."

Lucy’s mother Sarah, July 2012
Year 5, Mathematics

“Our daughter was able to learn at her own pace and to clarify points that needed clarification. It was a positive one on one learning environment. Amelia was a positive role model.
Her tuition helped her gain confidence in her own ability which translated into improved test results. She went up a stanine level during the year.”

Olivia’s mother Kerry, January 2016
Year 7, 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

"Hi Melanie. Taylor got all of her biology credits (23) and has been accepted into Otago polytech for the bachelor of nursing :-)"

Taylor’s mother Yvonne, January 2014
Year 13, Biology

“I felt the help Anna received was invaluable and has made a positive contribution to her general development in both maturity , conscious application of concepts grasped and reflective appraisal of own work. Extremely rewarding to see and of immense worth to Anna and her self-esteem.”

Anna’s mother, January 2016
Year 12, Biology & Mathematics

“Grace came out buzzing from her first session with Kyle, the 1-1 format really works for her and she was very happy. She walked in the door and went straight to her room to start some of her homework for the week!! So we are very happy thank you. I think this is going to be really beneficial for her so thanks again :-)”

Grace’s mother Pam, August 2015
Year 11, Mathematics

"Thanks so much for the progress report. I am thrilled with the progress Harry has made in this area. He seems much more confident when doing his English homework. He also can now see the benefits from this extra tuition with his results at school."

Harry’s mother Jane, May 2012
Year 11, Level 1 English

"Thank you for your professional assistance this year, Taylor has worked well with Daniel and it should put him in good stead for next year."

Taylor’s mother Erith, November 2014
Year 13, Calculus & Physics

"Henry seems to be enjoying meeting up with Cameron and think that the match is a pretty good fit. I like the looks of the spreadsheets they are doing, especially the "changing modifiers" one, as this is what Henry tends to do in his writing (and his speech when he is describing an event/experience). Cameron said "it's all there, he just needs to slow down" which is exactly what his teachers are saying, so Cameron is working on some techniques to help him slow down and produce better quality work."

Henry’s mother Maree, August 2015
Year 5, English

“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

“Tuition for my daughter helped her so much, it was the best decision we made for her in helping her achieve her goals.

Going from home-schooling to suddenly gaining credits for Level 1 and Level 2 was hard, the work load increased and gave her quite the shock. She was very determined though and with the help of her tutors she not only went from struggling in English and Maths but to succeeding in every internal and external she did.

Her tutors were just amazing, they helped her have confidence in what they taught her but most of all they supported her every step of the way giving her an understanding and skills to work through her work.

Was worth every cent especially when we saw for ourselves how much she was improving and how she would go from sitting there confused, asking us as parents for help to understand, to sitting there confidently working through her work knowing what she was doing. She went from getting 'achieved' to 'merit's and for English all 'excellences' for the past two years.

I also found tuition around exam times fantastic, helping her go over all the past exams helped her so much and I believe by doing so it helped her understand what was expected of her in her exams.”

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