Penguin Tutoring Blog

Parents of Matrics are going to need some extra help and guidance over the next few weeks.The Prelims have been postponed by the Gauteng Department of Education due to the ongoing educators strike. Exams were scheduled to start on the 3rd September, but will now take place during the week of 20th September. The papers will be written in the afternoons and catch-up sessions will take place in the mornings.

The Department of Education has been distributing Study Guides to affected schools and parents and learners are urged to download past papers from these websites;
www.thutong.doe.gov.za Click on “Support for Matrics “  or  www.education.gpg.gov.za Click on “Matric exam material ”
The DoE will also put up self explanatory guidelines on how to study, and set up study groups. Lessons will be broadcast through radio and television through the Department of Basic Education.

We at Penguin Tutoring Co are concerned about the strike and its far reaching negative impact on the future of these young people. We have tutors available in all areas to assist you. Log onto our website www.penguintutoring.co.za and ask for help now.

Excitement is mounting as the famed Cape Argus Cycle Tour draws closer. A contingent of Penguins from Johannesburg will be tackling the gruelling race on Sunday March 14th, together with35 000 other cyclists tackling the 109km route around Cape Town.

Traditionally staged on the second Sunday of March, this is the biggest one day sporting event in the country and fast becoming a major international draw card – Lance Armstrong joins the starting line up this year.  Foreign entries topped 2 000,  and increase every year, a boon for business and tourism in the Western Cape.

Charities are also big winners at the Cycle Tour. Over R3-million was donated to the race’s two official charities, the Pedal Power Association and the Rotary Club of Claremont in Cape Town.

Last years’ windy conditions made the race the toughest in 20 years. This year conditions did not look too promising, with a feisty south-easter expected to blow at between 40km and 50km/h. Highs of about 25 C are expected in the city, dropping to about 22 C around Slangkop and 19 C at Cape Point.

Good luck to all the brave souls out there - have fun, wear yellow and support Lance’s Livestrong Campaign.

Penguin Tutoring is the leading provider of specialist academic tutors in the country. Our professional management and extensive tutor database will ensure that your children get everything they need and more out of their extra lessons.

Penguin Tutors - Heading for the Beach!

Matric exams are almost over, schools and universities are emptying and 2009 is drawing to a close! Those familiar signs of exam panic on the faces of South African students have been replaced with tans and care free smiles! There can be no mistake now…it’s finally holiday season!

Our tutors have worked exceptionally hard this year, with some incredibly rewarding results. Long term friendships have been forged and the company has grown enormously but most importantly, hundreds of  learners, from Cape Town and The Winelands, to Johannesburg and Pretoria, to Durban and Pietermaritzburg, will be going into the next academic year feeling confident and enthusiastic, all because of the superior work of our tutors!

We would like to say an enormous thank you to every one of our tutors and wish them a fantastic holiday! With all the amazing choices our country has to offer for a good getaway, we can’t know what all of our tutors will be doing. But I think you can guess where most of our Pretoria and Johannesburg tutors will be going…just like these gorgeous African Penguins, they’ll be joining that wonderful summer pilgrimage to the beach!

Happy Summer Holidays!

Penguin Tutoring Cape Town personalises the placement of a screened and trained tutor, matched to your child’s needs, and provides inspirational extra lessons and tutoring for them in the comfort of your own home. Visit www.penguintutoring.co.za to find out more.

When his son was battling with Grade 9 Maths, the client approached Penguin Tutoring for help, not necessarily to get him up to an A symbol immediately, but rather to cement a strong foundation that might stop him from struggling in later years.

But in the space of only four months, his son has become an A Maths student and has shot to the top of the class!

An even greater sense of satisfaction came upon going through the June exam paper with their tutor, who found an extra 10% that the teacher had missed!

Now, our young learner is sharing his knowledge and new found passion for Maths with his class mates and is now confidently assisting the teacher to explain concepts to his classmates who are struggling to understand!

It just goes to show that not only does good tutoring improve understanding of subjects like Maths or Science, it does wonders for a child’s self confidence as well!

Visit www.penguintutoring.co.za for more information about what we can do for your child!

Graz Schmid runs Penguin Tutoring in Cape Town

Graz Schmid hails from a strong Italian upbringing although born on the South Coast of KZN.  Schooling was followed by a year at the then Natal Technikon. She has been employed in secretarial roles and Human Resources for over 30 years across industries that have varied from life insurance to IT and Petroleum.

Graz joined the team in February 2009 and has taken over the Cape Town Franchise as of October 2009.

Her passion lies in working with young people – scholars & tutors alike – to see them develop and grow into young adults. Relationships are very important and thus working with clients also makes it a pleasure to go to work every day.

Graz’ s greatest personal ambition is to travel by ship to Antartica (in the summer months!) This has been on the cards since 2005 before getting involved so closely with the Penguin Team.  Now this desire is that much stronger!She has been married to Alfred for 16 years.  Together they raised Simon who is now married to Justine and they have given Graz & Alfred the two most wonderful grandchildren Olivia & Dominic.

For the past 15 years in the corporate environment, the staff gave Graz the title of “their Mom at Work”.  This has been further refined to “nurturing penguin” which is part of Graz’s Penguin Signature.

Contact Graz at graz@penguintutoring.co.za for any information about extra lessons in Cape Town.

In an interesting story released today:

Washington - Scientists looking for lost penguins stumbled upon an effective method: Follow their excrement from space.

In remote Antarctica, about one-and-a-half times bigger than the United States, researchers have been unable to figure out just where colonies of emperor penguins live and if their population is in peril.

It is harder still because emperor penguins, featured in the film March of the Penguins, breed on sea ice, which scientists say will shrink significantly in the future because of global warming.

Because the large penguins stay on the same ice for months, their excrement stains make them stand out from space.

Scientists at the British Antarctic Survey found this out by accident when they were looking at satellite images of their bases.

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