So you have decided that we might be able to help you - or your mate!
Before we can do anything sensible for someone, however, we need to see and talk to that person needing our help; so come along if you are reading this or bring your mate along to see us.
Our rooms are to be found off the small courtyard behind the rear of the Square Edge building.
- If you are coming in the day time you can walk right through the Square Edge building from the SW corner of the Square itself. You should see our sign ahead of you after getting out of the building - come along in and have a cup of coffee!
- Whether you come during the day or in the evening you could alternatively come along Jersey Lane which runs next door to the Gull garage at the top of Fitzherbert Avenue. Go right along the lane and you will find the tiny yard - look to your left and you will see our sign!
There is no need to be scared - or even worried - when you come along. Our job is to help not to frighten!
Modern Apprenticeship Scheme
The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) set up a pilot scheme to provide literacy help to apprentices in this modern world. The objective is to help those who need to read and understand more technical material, whether learning to build houses, repair motor cars - or to look after the elderly - as part of post-school training. This is a good way to get the help you might need.
Talk to your trainer and point to the special Modern Apprenticeship Scheme web site. Getting into this scheme is done through your particular Industry Training Organisation and Literacy Aotearoa. Get involved in helping yourself to learn more easily!
Matching
The first thing we try to do when someone does come along asking for help is to find out what they want to learn, why they want to learn and what they already know. This is the most important first step in trying to match a course to the individual needing help. Note, too, that this cannot sensibly be done on the telephone or by some other person - the 'mate'.
The job of working out what will match your (mate's) needs is not one which can be done instantly either. It takes some time for us to be sure. You should make sure that you have - or your mate has - a couple of hours available for the whole process of matching a course to individual needs.
Matching, by the way, is very rarely done by selecting a particular course out of a bag which just happens to match someone's needs. Since the vast majority of our work is done by tutors working on a one-to-one basis with a student, while the planned outcome may be the same as for others, the way of getting there is unlikely to be the same for every individual.
Occasionally, when a group of new students have closely similar backgrounds and needs then we do run small group courses (three or four people) but this will only be done where the people concerned are suited to working in a group!
Initial Session
After matching with a tutor (whether in a group or not), there comes the first session when you and the tutor have to get to know each other. This could involve - depending on you and the tutor - what is known as a VAK test. Don't worry, it is not about passing or failing anything - certainly not at the beginning. What this test tries to do is find out how you learn best; whether Visually - by seeing things done, Auditory - by hearing things such as questions/answers, explanations - even 'lectures' - or Kinesthetically - by doing things yourself.
Once this initial getting to know each other phase is over then it is usual to work out a plan of what you hope to achieve by when and you will get some idea of how you should be able to get there. Any such plan is, of course, going to be changed as you learn more and more.
Tutorials
Most of your tutorial sessions involve going over work you have been doing since the last session, learning some new material and being given appropriate home-work to do before the next session. It is most important that you make sure that your tutor knows when you find something difficult or have not understood what has been said. This is your responsibility, since we don't want to run some sort of test every time you turn up!
Learning should be fun!
If you are not enjoying learning then something is wrong and you had better get it sorted out quickly unless your tutor has already spotted something is not quite right. If you enjoy learning and you enjoy your tutorials then you will learn readily - "No fun - no learn!" Equally, however, "No pain - no gain!"
Always be prepared to think about what you are doing - whether it be some word game, a crossword or something else. You are, after all, an adult and understanding how and why something should be written or said is just as important as being able to write it or say it!
Timing
Almost all of our tutors and almost all of our students have other things to do apart from tutoring/learning - such as "work" for instance! This means that we are very much aware of the need for flexibility in timing too. Unless you are going to study as part of a group it is quite common for tutorials to occur at different times - even on different days - in a week, the next meeting being arranged between tutor and tutee before the end of a session.
Similarly, we can - up to a point - shorten the total elapsed time for a course, but only presuming satisfactory progress can be kept up by 'compressing' the course. The human brain can only cope with a certain number of new ideas in a given period of time!
