New Zealand Tutoring Association (NZTA) Newsletter
Welcome to the 2012 Newsletter for the New Zealand Tutoring Association. It has been a busy year and membership is slowly increasing. As you know the NZTA has been formed in recognition of the need to unify the tutoring industry nationally. It aims to represent tutors and tutoring organisations, act as a lobby group and raise the standard of tutoring in New Zealand. The NZTA’s aim is to provide the public with the confidence that the tutoring business they are dealing with is a professional and ethical provider.

1. Australian National Tuition Survey Findings
The Australian Tutoring Association (ATA) recently conducted a consumer survey. CEO Mohan Dhall said that “tuition is perceived to be of great benefit to students. Parents value the effect it has on their child’s confidence.”

• The average age at which children are first exposed to tuition is around 10 years old.
• 62.2% of students who take on tuition start tuition before they reach the age of 12 years.
• There is a spike in the use of tuition at ages 10 and 11 years and a second spike during years 10 and 11 (ages 16 and 17 years).
• 56% of surveyed parents spend over $51 per week for tuition
• Significantly, 21% of parents spend over $91 per week on tuition
• The preferred method of tuition is face-to-face and one -to-one (57%)
• Computers are mostly used for Mathematics and English. 54% of those who access free online content do so to access Mathematics programs
• 89% of parents said tuition increased the confidence of their child
• 95% of parents said tuition supported the individual needs of their child
• 83% said that tuition supported the schoolwork given to their child
• 89% of parents agreed that tuition should be tax deductible
• 92.7% said the mainstream education sector should recognise and work with private tutors

He said that “For the first time parents have been directly asked about their views on tuition, and the mainstream education sector should integrate their views into educational planning and policy-making. It is clear that parents want schools to work with private tutors.”

2. Education Gazette
One of the tasks for the NZTA is to educate both the public and school teachers about tutoring in New Zealand. At the last meeting of the board it was decided to advertise once again in the New Zealand Education Gazette, a magazine read by many education professionals throughout New Zealand.

Some teachers have traditionally seen tutoring organisations as an affront to their professionalism and ability to provide the level of education required for all students. Thankfully this perception has disappeared, or at least, reduced. Students now seek tutoring for a range of reasons such as: examination preparation, extension and enrichment work, additional support when in a competitive environment in order to achieve top results and those low achieving students needing extra help in areas they find difficult.

3. National Standards in our Schools
“The National Standards when used in conjunction with effective assessment practices will provide a way of informing students, parents, teachers, schools and the education system on how well things are going and what could be done better to improve learning for all students.”- Ministry of Education ‘National Standards’.
With the introduction of National Standards into primary and intermediate schools now well established, the issue of assessment in schools will continue to be a well discussed topic across a wide forum.
As we are aware schools have always assessed students in all curriculum areas and have used this assessment data to help them in grouping, planning and teaching the required learning outcomes to their students. The results of this assessment data though, has not been compared to a national standard/benchmark, nor has it had to be reported to a central agency (Ministry of Education).
Schools did though, report to the Ministry of Education, the results of the targets they have set in relation to their student learning outcomes but this is all.
There are similarities between the National Standards for Years 1-8 and NCEA for students in Years 11-13. Both have a set of bench marks that students need to reach to reflect their competency at that particular level.
As tuition providers we share a responsibility in helping our students achieve these milestones as they travel along their academic journey.

4. New Zealand Tutoring Association Website
Have you visited the NZTA website recently? You will find a list of all our members and their tutoring company’s contact details as well as links directly to the company’s website. It’s well worth a look to check you are there and to see what NZTA is all about. Potential and current clients can also be directed to the website to check out members’ credibility.

5. Membership Fees
The Board discussed the amount of the membership fee and it was overwhelmingly decided that $125 was a very reasonable fee for what was offered. The Board are committed to promote the NZTA in New Zealand and to do this must have funds available for advertising within the education sector and in the community. All five of the Board positions are voluntary and the meetings run on Saturday afternoons at no cost to members. All NZTA members are invited to attend the AGM in the middle of the year and have a say in how the association promotes itself.

6. Help Us Help You
All members need to make a concerted effort to use the logo in their print advertising and also make explicit reference on their websites. Better still would be to include a link to our website. (www.nztutoring.com)
Overt reference to the NZTA has numerous benefits to members:
• The logo gives assurance to consumers who may be tempted to look up the NZTA and see what membership requires of members. In this way it distinguishes members from non-members.
• The logo makes a public statement of accountability to the market. This is crucial in raising industry standards.
• The use of the logo symbolises pride in the application of the Code of Conduct.
• The logo can be a source of protection and provides members and consumers an industry-based mechanism for the resolution of conflicts.
Using the logo in your promotional material will begin to associate the NZTA with quality tuition.

7. NZTA Logo Stickers and Flyers
This year we are including a sheet of NZTA stickers to all our members. The NZTA logo can be applied to material that you wish the parents to see. The NZTA will also provide “waiting room” flyers that explain to parents what the NZTA is and how that is important when deciding on a tuition provider.