Melbourne's West · Sunshine 3020

Primary School Tutoring in Sunshine

Maths, reading, writing and spelling for Prep to Year 6, built on a free Skills Check and taught by patient tutors who know the Victorian Curriculum. Online for Sunshine families, or 20 minutes away at our Truganina centre.

Start the free Skills Check →   📞 03 9509 3293

📍 17/47 Apex Drive, Truganina VIC 3029👩‍🏫 Local tutors, valid WWCC⭐ 5.0 · 34 Google reviews

Sunshine families ask us the same two questions about Primary School: is my child actually behind, and what will you do about it? The first is answered by our free Skills Check, the second by this page. We are a local centre at 17/47 Apex Drive, Truganina VIC 3029, rated 5.0 on Google, tutoring Prep to Year 6 in person and online.

How we tutor Primary School (Prep–Year 6)

Primary school is where the foundations for everything later are laid, and it is also where gaps are easiest to fix. A Year 3 student who is shaky on place value can be brought up to speed in a term; the same gap in Year 8 takes far longer because it has been built on. Our primary tutoring starts with a free online Skills Check, pitched at the top of the child's year level, so the tutor can see which of the year's skills are secure and which earlier skills need attention.

For maths, the Victorian Curriculum in the primary years is mostly about number: counting and partitioning, then addition and subtraction with regrouping, then multiplication, division and fractions, then decimals, percentages and the beginnings of algebraic thinking in Year 6. We spend a lot of time on number facts and mental strategies, because a child who has to count on their fingers cannot think about the problem in front of them. Measurement, shape, data and chance are covered each term in step with the school.

For English, the early years are about phonics and fluent reading; from Year 3 the emphasis shifts to comprehension (inferring, summarising, finding evidence), spelling patterns, grammar and writing. Our tutors hear the child read every session in the early years and teach writing explicitly in the middle and upper years: how to plan, how to build a paragraph, how to vary sentences, how to edit. NAPLAN in Years 3 and 5 is prepared for within the program rather than as a separate cram.

Primary sessions run for an hour and are broken into short segments, because attention spans are short. A typical hour might include ten minutes of number facts or reading aloud, twenty minutes of teaching on the current focus, twenty minutes of practice with the tutor watching, and ten minutes of a game or a quick check. Homework is small and specific, usually ten minutes a night, and you get a progress note after every session.

Small-group sessions (three to five children of similar age and level) are popular for primary because the cost is lower and children enjoy working with others. One-to-one is better for reading in Prep to Year 2, for children who are well behind, or for children who are anxious. Both run at our Truganina centre and online; for Prep to Year 2 we generally recommend the centre.

Primary School tutoring for Sunshine families

Sunshine is a long-established, diverse suburb where many of our students speak a language other than English at home. Sunshine families are typically twenty minutes from the centre, so most choose online tutoring; our tutors are used to working with EAL students and we slow down on vocabulary and worded problems rather than assuming the language is fine.

Sunshine to our Truganina centre at 17/47 Apex Drive, Truganina VIC 3029 is about 20 minutes by car, via the Western Ring Road and Boundary Road. For Sunshine we usually suggest online tutoring for weekly sessions, with in-person blocks at the centre in the holidays.

Schools our Sunshine students come from

Students from Sunshine College, Sunshine Primary School, Sunshine Heights Primary School, Sunshine North Primary School and Victoria University Secondary College come to us for Primary School, which means the tutor usually recognises the school's sequence and the way it tests.

We also see Primary School students from neighbouring Sunshine West, Sunshine North, Deer Park and Braybrook.

Start the free Skills Check →   Book a free consultation   Call 03 9509 3293

Curriculum topics we cover in Primary School

Every Sunshine student's program is built from the Skills Check result, drawn from these year-by-year topics. If your child's school is on a different sequence, the tutor follows the school and uses this list to check nothing has been skipped.

Prep · Maths

  • Counting to 20
  • Numbers & quantity
  • Simple patterns
  • 2D shapes
  • Comparing size & length

Year 1 · Maths

  • Numbers to 100
  • Addition & subtraction to 20
  • Skip counting
  • Halves
  • Telling time

Year 2 · Maths

  • Numbers to 1000
  • Addition & subtraction
  • Intro multiplication & division
  • Halves & quarters
  • Money
  • Time

Year 3 · Maths

  • Place value to 10,000
  • Addition & subtraction with regrouping
  • Multiplication & division facts
  • Fractions
  • Measurement

Year 4 · Maths

  • Place value
  • Multiplication & division
  • Fractions & decimals
  • Area & perimeter
  • Angles
  • Money & time

Year 5 · Maths

  • Place value
  • Fractions
  • Decimals
  • Percentages
  • Measurement
  • Geometry

Year 6 · Maths

  • Fraction & decimal operations
  • Percentages
  • Ratio & rates
  • Integers
  • Algebraic thinking
  • Area, volume & angles

Year 3 · English

  • Reading & comprehension
  • Phonics & spelling
  • Writing & grammar
  • Speaking & listening

Year 5 · English

  • Reading & comprehension
  • Phonics & spelling
  • Writing & grammar
  • Speaking & listening

Year 6 · English

  • Reading & comprehension
  • Phonics & spelling
  • Writing & grammar
  • Speaking & listening

What primary tutoring covers

How it works

1
Free Skills Check. Your child does the free online Skills Check (10–15 minutes) pitched at the top of their year level. You get a topic-by-topic report the same day.
2
Free consultation. We call you for a free consultation, go through the result together and suggest a starting point and a format. Nothing is charged until you decide to go ahead.
3
Targeted sessions. Sessions begin with a matched Primary School tutor who already teaches other Sunshine students, with a plain-English progress note to you after every session.

Pricing

One-to-one tutoring is $35–$45 an hour depending on the year level; small groups of up to five are from $25 an hour. Plans are monthly, you choose how many sessions a week, and you can cancel any time. The Skills Check and the consultation are free. Online and in-person sessions cost the same.

Frequently asked questions

What age can a child start tutoring?

We take students from Prep. Early sessions are short, playful and focused on reading and number, and are almost always one-to-one.

How do I know if my child needs tutoring?

The free Skills Check is the quickest way to find out. It takes ten to fifteen minutes online and shows, topic by topic, where your child sits against their year level. A tutor then talks it through with you at no cost.

Do you do both maths and English in one session?

For younger students, often yes: a session can be split. From Year 4 we usually recommend separate sessions if both subjects need work, so each gets proper time.

Will tutoring clash with what the school is teaching?

No. We teach to the same Victorian Curriculum and use the same methods and language for things like partitioning and regrouping, so the child hears one consistent message.

How much does primary tutoring cost?

Small groups from $25 an hour; one-to-one from $35 an hour for primary. The Skills Check and the consultation are free, and there is no lock-in contract.

Start the free Primary School Skills Check →   Book a free consultation   Call 03 9509 3293

More tutoring pages