Student Testimonials

"Heya melanie itz bri n john uzt 2 giv me physicz tutorin. I wld lyk 2 say fanku so much 4 it realli helped me. I cldnt hav done it wifout aheadstart!"

Brianna, January 2010
Year 12, Level 2 Physics

"I understand Algebra better after having Melanie as a tutor because she explained everything I needed to know in simple steps before continuing onto more complicated and merit excellence questions. I felt that after having tuition my marks were much better and I felt more confident in what I was doing."

Lucie, December 2008
Year 10, Mathematics

"[I enjoyed] how Mel went into a lot of detail and didn't give up until I was very comfortable with the subject. Also how Mel is more fun than teachers at school which makes the lessons more enjoyable."

Alice, December 2008
Year 12, Level 2 Chemistry, Mathematics & Physics

“Hi Melanie. Thank you for your amazing tutoring. I appreciated hugely.”

Laura, November 2014
Year 13, Statistics

"The feedback which I have received from my student has been extremely positive. He had Jason as a Maths Teacher, and I know that the one on one tution made all the difference to the confidence of my student. I would definitely recommend the agency they are easy to contact and very helpful. He will be using the services of your agency again in 2010. I am the guardian of this young man, and I know that from his comments he is extremely satisfied."

Paht’s guardian Margaret, December 2009
Year 12 Mathematics

“Anna was brilliant and knew A LOT about physics. As she knows the NCEA system, she was able to help me plan out how I would answer a question and where to start, something I find particularly difficult in physics.
Something I find annoying at school is that in physics they don't tell you why a theory is the case, we are just expected to remember. Anna was able to explain why more than my teacher.”

Emma, January 2016
Year 13, Physics

“Hi Melanie. Just to let you know I got merit in both concepts and distributions. Thanks again for all your help.”

Matthew, January 2016
Year 13, Statistics

"Thank you :) you’re an amazing tutor thanks so much."

Haley, November 2011
Year 13, Level 3 Biology & Statistics

"As a result of my tuition, answering different kinds of exams, 1) has improved my confidence, 2) has taught me easier ways to solve problems. And step by step I have found myself loving the subject, and test marks have improved successfully."

Donia Hend, December 2008
Year 13, Level 3 Chemistry & Calculus

"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

“[Tuition] allowed me to learn the different external topics again in my own pace and go through and focus on the concepts that needed more work which could not have be done in a classroom environment.
Melanie was able to clearly explain chemistry concepts so that it was easy to understand which meant that I was able to apply the newly learnt knowledge and concepts in the external.”

Amanda, January 2016
Year 13, Chemistry

“I learnt techniques on how to approach complex calculus questions, exam tips but mostly I learnt the methods required for answering questions. Calculus went from being the subject I struggled the most in compared to others and only getting achieved in the internal to me receiving the award for the top Calculus student in my class, getting all prelim exams at merit and passing all of my external papers.”

Alex, January 2016
Year 13, Calculus

"I would really like to thank AHeadStart tutoring as i had been to other tuition over other years and had felt that it didn't feel I had gained anything from this but form the tutoring and help you gave to me I felt I had grasped the subject better and it gave me more confidence in my ability which prepared me better for my exams."

Emily, December 2009
Year 13, Level 3 Physics

“I just want to personally say thank you for everything. I have now finished school and heading to my three year course this February. Not only did AHeadStart help me achieve in the subjects I was struggling in it helped me achieve great results in Level 1 and Level 2. I will never forget your service or what your tutors did for me and if I ever hear of anyone looking for a tutor I will highly recommend your service as I believe it is the best service ever!! Thank you!”

Mikayla, January 2016
Year 12, English & Mathematics

"I found the high level of knowledge from my tutor, and the use of past ncea examinations from my chosen subject, increased my ability to answer previously difficult questions in my chosen subject with ease."

Jackson, December 2009
Year 11, Level 1 Physical Science

“Just a note to thank you very much for all your help with supporting Daisy via Helena again this year. Daisy’s confidence and love of science due to Helena’s expert and engaging tuition has blossomed. From the Year 10 girl I called you about two years ago, starting to lose her understanding of concepts and needing support, to the confident Excellence level student we have now, has been a transformation. Daisy has always loved science and that love has grown ten-fold in the past two years. She managed to gain 100% Excellences in all her internals this year… not just for her 3 sciences but in all 6 subjects and is already way past the 50 Excellence credits needed for her Level 2 Excellence endorsement, and only 6 credits shy of gaining her second Gold Bar at St Margaret’s (70 E credits).

Many thanks once more. Please tell Helena that Daisy will be in touch with her when she gets her results in January!”

Daisy’s mother Lorelei, December 2015
Year 12, Level 2 Chemistry, Mathematics & Physics

"Hey Melanie I got excellence in level three with 63 e credits. Thanks for everything. Stats was really good with all e’s apart from confidence intervals but I am stoked. For everything else I got endorsed with merit. Overall it’s excellence though. Yay :)"

Shalini, January 2012
Year 13, Biology, Chemistry, Physics & Statistics

"[Tuition] gave me a better understanding of things. John made everything clear unlike my teacher. He continuously went over the questions I found hard so that he knew i could do them well and always explained the process really simply....thank you so much for all your help, John really helped me to understand everything it was such a big help and really made me feel great when I got back tests that I actually passed."

Kate, December 2009
Year 12, Level 2 Maths & Physics

"I repeated year 12 physics as I need it for Medical Imaging. I had already learnt the material, I just wasn't grasping ideas as well as I could have. Having tuition from Mel refreshed the topics and went into detail so that I had a clear idea of all of the concepts. I believe that getting tuition from Mel meant I could go into my exams with confidence and I am quite confident that I will get the grades I am looking for!"

Alice, December 2009
Year 13, Level 2 Physics

"Hi Melanie. You will be pleased to know that I passed all of my maths papers and even managed two merits for graphs and sequences. There is no doubt that these results stemmed from the tutoring you gave me so thanks again for your help."

Briar, January 2009
Year 12, Level 2 Mathematics

“The tutor was able to help me directly in certain areas of a subject that I struggled with, e.g. certain questions, which allowed me to learn what I needed to rather than go over the same things over and over again. The books with the past NCEA papers were extremely helpful and convenient and they played a good role in this. I find most other tutors, even private, are not very good compared to the tutoring I've had here.”

Richard, January 2014
Year 12, Level 2 Biology, Chemistry & Physics

"No doubt Saphron's ability to comprehend and understand Maths has led to a huge improvement in her School work. She has worked hard in class and both her confidence and understanding have now seen her work improve from a slightly below level student to her now becoming in the top 3% in her class, with a recommendation from her Teacher that she be moved forward going into next year. Maths Speed tests were also a mind block, but these are now completed quickly and accurately. Saphron's report is not due until next week but indications are that Teachers have been very impressed with her progression. We owe a lot of Saphron's improvements to Melanie with her programme certainly having a very positive effect on our child's learning."

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

“Hello Melanie. I just want to thank you for the excellent tutorials you provide.”

Ariam, July 2014
Year 13, Biology, Chemistry, Physics & Statistics

“Tuition with AHeadStart helped me in so many ways especially in the areas I knew I needed help in. Coming from being home schooled to doing NCEA Level 1 and Level 2 was a whole new experience for me. I had never sat major exams before or any internals. When I started I discovered I was quite behind so we started to look into tutoring lessons. Not only did Melanie help us through every stage, she allowed me to choose tutors that I felt comfortable with. My first year of tutoring was amazing, the tutors were so helpful and gave me the skills I needed for English and Mathematics (internals and externals).”

Mikayla, January 2016
Year 12, English & Mathematics