Thinking about getting started with Art of Smart?
Zoe and her son Jacob (Year 9) have been working with Art of Smart over the last 12 months for English and mentoring. We recently chatted to Zoe who shared her experiences in working with Art of Smart and the impact it’s had for Jacob!
Prior to getting started with Art of Smart, what help was your son Jacob needing?
Jacob has always been a very academic student so we were looking for some extension.
His English in Year 7 NAPLAN had gone backwards a bit from Year 5 and so we wanted to ensure he was building a strong foundation for English moving into his senior years of school.
How did you hear about Art of Smart?
We looked online and liked Art of Smart’s one-on-one holistic approach.
From looking at options for Jacob, we found that so many tutoring places just seemed about going to a classroom to work on a computer program to learn. This didn’t feel targeted for Jacob and we were looking for something individually suited.
Art of Smart wasn’t about learning from a computer program, but was tailored tutoring which was exactly what we were looking for!
Why did you ultimately choose Art of Smart?
We liked the reviews on Art of Smart and the more holistic approach that Art of Smart has! It’s not just about the syllabus but also mentoring students as well.
We didn’t want it to be about just answering questions. Art of Smart tutoring is targeted to whatever we thought Jacob needed.
What was the moment in working with Art of Smart that you knew you’d made the right decision? Why? What did we do?
We knew from Day 1 that we’d made the right decision!
I was really happy with how our tutor Keith approached his session with Jacob! He built a very good rapport with Jacob, and as lessons progressed he would let me know what was happening very quickly. So we were able to hit the ground running straight away!
If you don’t have rapport it doesn’t matter how good the person is at the subject and their knowledge – the student won’t listen. So you’ve got to have the rapport, and be able to direct where the student goes and give them ideas. Keith was absolutely fantastic at this!
What have we done to help Jacob? How does Jacob feel now?
Keith helped in English and then mentored Jacob, helping him with other subjects with planning and different ways he could study.
Keith has rebuilt Jacob’s confidence in his own abilities for English and given him some really good strategies to use. Now Jacob has a really good foundation to continue into his senior years of school.
He’s now got his self belief back!
He’s always done well in the past, but lost it along the way, so having Keith able to redirect him and build up that confidence again has been really positive. Evidence of this is that in Jacob’s Year 9 NAPLAN he got high Band 8 – so he doesn’t have to resit any tests!
What’s the best thing your tutor has done to support Jacob?
Getting Jacob to look at questions from a different perspective, breaking down what needs to be done, and helping Jacob have faith in his own ability to do it himself!
Are you looking for a tutor who could change your teenager’s life?
We pride ourselves on our inspirational coaches and mentors – just like Keith!
We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a large variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at our state of the art campus in Hornsby!
To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today!
