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Tailored Lessons
for VCE English
Interactive English lessons designed to take your Creative, Persuasive, Text Response, Framework of Ideas and Argument Analysis skills to the next level, anytime, anywhere.
Meet Bob, Head of English
Empower Your Team with Expert-Led Courses
Raw 50 VCE English 3/4
11+ years tutoring experience transforming student results
Consistent track record of helping students reach 40+ Raw Score in VCE English 3/4
Bob is familiar with a wide range of public, independent and selective schools in how they teach English, from Years 7 to 12
Bob's focus is on demystifying how English feedback is provided, providing a data-driven approach that helps students get the most out of their hard work
A Personal Message from Bob
This is why we do what we do
Hello!
This is Bob. I want you to know that I've personally worked with more than 220 students in English from Years 5 to 12, across a range of public and private schools in Victoria. English is not just a subject, it is a journey, one that requires a tutor who learns to work with you and your school teachers.
Unfortunately, from personal experience, it is not enough just to be a good writer and to have the best essays, I am here to help with both that and the other, less-discussed side of English... How to work with teachers, how to get on their good side, and more importantly, how we work to build discipline in your writing.
I've had experiences at Mac.Robertson Girls School, Melbourne High School, John Monash Science School, Glen Waverley Secondary College, Haileybury College, St Kevins College, Scotch College, Waverley Christian College, Wesley College, Presbyterian Ladies College, Nossal High School, Mount Waverley Secondary College, Highvale Secondary College, Brentwood Secondary College and plenty of other schools where students in the SAME CLASS (obviously the same teacher, unless you go to John Monash, and you have the dual teacher situation) have vastly contrasting experiences of the same English subject!
Believe me, I have stories, many stories about how my students have dealt with seemingly hopeless situations, where we have come back to get a score we can be proud of (even a situation where a student was told their by their school teacher that their Argument Analysis AND Framework of Ideas essay would be 6 out of 10 at best just 13 days before the exam, and they went on to receive a perfect 50 Raw in VCE English).
One of the saddest stories I've heard is about a student who was told by their teacher that they are better off spending 40 minutes (usually it's 60 minutes) on their Argument Analysis essay on the exam, as they're not likely to get about a 7 out of 10 anyway, so what's the point. This is not only bad advice, but also extremely demoralising for students who just want to work as hard they can to do the best they can.
English, although extremely subjective, is not impossible.
There is a method to the madness, and I believe I can help students see through the dense, dark fog of unintelligible feedback from teachers and lack of writing direction.
I look forward to reviewing your waitlist applications, and helping as many students as I can personally!
- Bob Zhu
Cheat Sheet
My philosophy on learning English essay-writing is simple.
I firmly believe that the top students can improve incrementally, rather than hoping that their performance on a mid-term test or end of year exam itself is the best reflection of their ability.
For me, one of the largest inconsistencies in English is how schools tend to fail at providing clear, transparent and repeatable feedback for students who want to improve.
I don't believe that students have an easy way to trace improvements over time at school, nor are they offered a set opportunity to revisit their writing after a test, which means that all of the potential areas of improvement are not addressed.
What ends up happening is an inability for students to actually improve in English over their school years. I've seen poor habits carried over from young ages that are left unnoticed until Year 12, which by then, is too late to remedy appropriately.