At BrainFOOD Education we are a group of teachers and industry professionals and, more importantly, we’re parents of school age children. We believe every child has the ability to excel at school, the challenge is a one size fits all school system doesn’t necessarily suit every learning style. At our inner west Tutoring Centre, we offer a range of class structures, teaching methods and tutor and teacher personalities so that we can customise every learning experience to get the right mix for your child. You definitely won’t find a large group class or students in front of computers.
We are firm believers in the power of small group tutoring (1-2 students) or one-on-one tutoring sessions that are highly tailored to individual needs, and while we do have computers available we always recommend pencil and paper when working in class.
What makes us different?
Low motivation at School?
Sometimes it’s as simple as connecting the right tutor or teacher with a student and everything starts to make sense. Other times we understand the need for professional intervention. Every student is unique and we like to think we can come up with a unique solution to suit your needs.
Too intimidated to ask questions at school?
Participate in one of our group tutorials for encouragement, academic guidance and positive peer interactions.
Suffers from Exam or Assignment Stress?
We’ve seen many excellent students freeze in front of an exam. Our classes include learning techniques to manage anxiety and take back control of exams.
Unable to commit to a weekly booking?
Join our homework club and use us as you need us in the lead up to exams and assessment due dates.
Organise & Prepare
We can help students build study plans, help organise exam notes, work through practice exams and many other activities to help get organised and prepared to excel at school. Our tutors are uniquely positioned to provide this advice as they use these methods to achieve excellence with their own results.
Cement The Basics
Ensuring our students are comfortable with the basics of each subject is a first priority. Students are encouraged to regularly revise and use these basic skills through exercises in class and at home.
Build Confidence
The best thing we can do for our students is build their confidence that they can achieve the results they want. Initially we set short term goals for an exam or assessment and work with students to improve results, demonstrating that good results are attainable with the right motivation. As the tutor-student relationship develops, confidence and motivation will continue to build.
Have Fun
Overall, our goal at Brainfood Education is to encourage our students to love learning. Finishing high school is merely a stepping stone in a lifetime journey of education. If we can help our students love the process as well as the results by using our tips, tricks and organisation, we consider our job well done.
For those who freeze at the idea of being in the spotlight we offer small group classes with a maximum of 2 in the class (1 Tutor per 2 Students), at a cost of $55 per 60min lesson for Years K-11, and $65 per 60min lesson for Year 12
If your child is overwhelmed in large classes at school and needs some personalised attention we offer private lessons at a cost of $70 per 60min lesson for years K-11, $80 per 60min lesson for year 12. All private lessons are customisable – 60, 90 and 120 min sessions can be accommodated. ** Qualified Teachers may attract a higher rate (price on request)
Prefer to receive your childs tutoring online? As of term 1, 2020 BrainFOOD Education has launched it’s Online tutoring platform, accesible via Windows, Mac or Android and iOS tablet device. Classes can be scheduled 24/7 dependant on tutor availability. Classes are real time and include shared workspaces and classes are recorded and stored in the students share drive. Find out more here
Alternatively, some of our students just need some casual help around exam time and for assignments and homework. Casual tutoring is available upon request, please contact us to discuss your childs needs.
We have chosen to temporarily suspend new home tutoring class registrations due to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This has been done for the safety of students, their families and tutors alike. We will resume home tutoring once it is deemed safe for all involved. Please note Online tutoring is avaulable as an alternative.
The lessons we learn at school have long term effects. Organisation, critical thinking, creative flair, time management and the discipline to finish what we start, are key to success in tertiary study and a future career. By teaching these concepts at an early age, along with memory techniques and tools to manage stress and anxiety, we are setting our children up to achieve the best they can. School is not the end of learning, and if we get the foundations right for our students we can bring back the love of learning, and inspire our next generation of leaders.
Class Resources
Subject Guides, Curriculum outlines, practice exams, workbooks, individual student whiteboards (A3 Size), pens, pencils, calculators etc. We have everything here to ensure your child simply needs to turn up to tutoring (we do encourage bringing assignments and exams if and when the need arises). Also it is important to note, we do not charge resource fees. The above are all part of the service we provide.
Multiple Classrooms & Large Open Spaces
Our Classrooms were built to comfortably accommodate small to medium sized class groups in mind (2-4 students). When we do receive requests from study groups to use our premises we use our large open apce which will comfortably seat 20+ students with laptops etc. This area is also used as communal space for students just wanting to do homework while waiting for classes to start, or waiting to be picked up. We also invite parents to use this space (coffee and tea available) while waiting for their childrens class to end. Parent’s may also be roped in to reading a book to their other children while waiting, we see this happening a lot (we have a large collection of childrens books available for this exact event).
Running Late for Pickup?
Give us a call (02) 8789 2123 and let us know. We will always stay back to ensure your child isn’t waiting on the street for you to arrive. Your child is always welcome to wait upstairs in our communal areas and management will always be present to ensure a safe pickup.
Early For Class?
Not a problem. Our offices are always staffed at least one hour prior to classes commencing for the day, your child is more than welcome to come upstairs and wait in our large open space and do homework, have a snack, relax or browse the internet etc. Buses sometimes run early (rarely!) but your child is always welcome. We won’t ask them to wait outside or in the stairwell. Please come in and make yourself at home.
Our custom-built inner west tutoring centre in Five Dock is centrally located to provide tutoring and education services for students across the Inner West of Sydney. Located above Alfred Imaging on Great North Road, we have a safe pickup and drop off point and side street access (Rodd Road) for our students and ease of parking.
Not sure what you need? Call us on (02) 8789 2123 or email us your questions
Interested in a free trial lesson? Register here and we’ll book you in.
Staffing
Our offices are always staffed by both tutors and an older management team. Each staff member and tutor has a current working with children check. We provide a safe work and study environment for everyone involved with BrainFOOD Education.
Technology
While generally not used in class, each classroom has a computer, ranging from touchscreen windows 10 Pcs to large Apple Imac’s and the odd Linux desktop PC for the advanced computer studies users. All computers and tablets have access to google docs and can be used by students to retrieve homework assignments and exams and print out what is required for lessons and assignments.
Eating on Premises
A lot of our classes run at 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30 time slots, these are optimal hungry times for students. So yes we are perfectly fine with snacks and meals being brought in as long as they are eaten in the kitchen or open area and the leftovers (if any) are put in one of the 14 rubbish bins (yes, 14 really!) on premises. Hungry kids don’t learn, we would rather your child have a snack instead of spending a whole tutoring lesson thinking about food. Mum & Dad, for you we also have coffee and tea so please feel free to help yourselves.
Security and Bathrooms
It may sound trivial but yes we have multiple bathrooms. Security is a big concern of ours (we’re parents too) so when designing our premises we made sure the entrance to the bathrooms are in sight of our staffed areas. Managers are trained to keep an eye on all student and staff traffic so we know where our staff and students are at all times. If you have a younger child a manager will always walk your child down to street level for pick up unless advised otherwise.
Many families have recently reached out for help with Remote Learning.
Lockdown is over, but many family’s circumstances have changed, so we are still able to provide remote learning if needed.
Its apparent this new lockdown isn’t going away anytime soon, and we parents are all struggling with helping our children with daily school tasks. Whether it is because of time constraints, working from home, multiple children at home (we have 3!) or just simply not having looked at maths for 20+ years, we are all in the same boat. How do we make sure our kids aren’t falling behind?
On top of our regular tutoring sessions, we are now also running shorter, more frequent classes on Zoom during school hours to help complete schoolwork and review any new Math’s & English concepts being taught while in lockdown.
We have found either a 1 x 60-minute session per week, or 2 x 30-minute sessions per week seem to work best. As an added bonus as parents, it means we can take a short break to focus on some of our own time sensitive tasks.
A few more details
If you would like to discuss Remote Learning Help with us please don’t hesitate to contact us or give us a call on +02 8789 2123