Penguin Tutoring Blog

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.

After reading an article in the local Rosebank Gazette about the amazing success achieved by Mandla Nhlengthwa, a former street child, Penguin Tutoring Co was inspired to reach out and assist this impressive young man to realise his dreams of obtaining a BEd degree at Wits university.

Eight years ago, Mandla drifted onto the streets of Johannesburg from KwaZulu Natal. Life was difficult and dangerous, and after two years on the street,  he joined Twilight Children in Hillbrow. Here he met Father Laszlo Karpati , head of the Yithuba Lami Street Children ministry

Yithuba Lami means ” It is my chance“.  The programme  focuses on the rehabilitation of street children, unemployed youth on the street and sexually exploited children. The activities of the project are organized around the following modules:  Street Outreach, Drop-in Centre, Centre for the protection of Human Rights of the child, Bridging School and  the Dinaledi House  Shelter, which is home to the children and young adults  in Rossmore.

Yithuba Lami applies as a methodology the “pedagogy of presence”. They  are on the street, in squatter camps, in juvenile prisons and places of safety. They maintain strong contact with the children’s  families and if possible extend the rehabilitation program to the family too.

Mandla’s courage and determination are an inspiration to all around him. He was elected President in his Matric year and has been appointed  a House Father at the shelter, looking after the younger residents over the weekends. He believes “You can certainly turn things around. Many people use their bad backgrounds to run away from a better life. Show your courage, it is there inside you”

Penguin Tutoring Co believes strongly in giving back to the community, and has set up a fund for “Learners in Need” as part of their Corporate social responsibility project.  Unused lessons from clients are held in a trust for a worthy cause such as this.  We have appointed one of our Maths tutors and Mandla gets specialised one-on-one tuition every week. We look forward to hearing more of his success!

We are proud to announce the arrival of the brand new Penguin! After weeks of being ‘on ice’ and eagerly but nervously anticipated, the new baby is here.

After intense consultations with our Marketing team, the new face of Penguin was launched at the beginning of the year to reflect the ethos of our Company. Forward thinking, crisp, professional, clean and slick.

Following on this, the next phase in the re-branding exercise was to pay attention to all your suggestions and requests for a smoother, easier system. We listened to you, our tutors, clients and administrators and we hope we have managed to get to all your great ideas.

We moved onto the new Penguin system early this morning and we hope you like it. As with all new things, there will be some glitches and minor mishaps but we would like to assure you that they will be ironed out as quickly as we can get to them. Please assist us in making the transition as smooth as possible and log all your comments in an email to  2010@penguintutoring.co.za

We’re still expecting a few sleepless nights with the new baby, but see a happy future ahead for all of us.

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.

With the long summer holiday behind us and memories of  family fun fading into the distant past,  parents are looking forward to a return to normality on Wednesday 13th January when the new school year begins.

For the little people about to enter Grade 1 for the first time, this will be an exciting, overwhelming and memorable day. New school uniforms hang in the cupboard, shiny shoes are placed in eager readiness on the floor and a smart new school suitcase awaits the freshly packed lunch box in the morning.

Parents can help make the transition as smooth and painless as ­possible with a little preparation. We’ve put together a few tips:

• Have a dress rehearsal with the uniform so that they are comfortable with how it all works - buttons, zips, laces.
• Get an early start on the first day and go to bed early the night before.
• Prepare a good breakfast and pack a healthy lunch. An interesting lunchbox goes a long way to brightening up the first day.
• Drop them off or walk them to school for the first few days.  Go hand in hand and don’t linger after you’ve said “Goodbye”.
• Help break the ice by introducing yourself to another parent outside the class. This way, the children have an instant ally at break-time.
• Make sure your child knows their full name, surname and ­address; home telephone number and parents’ full names and surnames.
• Encourage them to talk about what they have learned when they come back from school. Listen to their stories, but don’t take them too seriously, unless the same complaints still surface a week later.
• Keep your emotions under control! Floods of tears from their parents, may convey the message that school is a really fearful place.
• Don’t go on a stationery spending spree.  Basics like a pen, pencil, eraser, ruler, sharpener and some coloured pencils should be enough for the first day.
• Alert the school and the teacher if your child has any medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma or if they have problems with hearing or sight.
• Make your child blend in.  Don’t make your child stand out in any way initially.
• Prepare for the book-covering exercise. Buy enough paper, plastic and sticky tape.

Good luck! You are about to embark on an exciting,  challenging and enormously fulfilling journey with your child. Enjoy every day of it.

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.
Today sees the release of the Matric results for 620 000 candidates who wrote the 2009 National Senior Certificate examination across the country. For most of these young people, this marks the beginning of a new exciting future as they get ready to start their Tertiary education. For those who have not achieved their goal - its never too late to try again.

Nelson Mandela once said; “It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine-worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm-workers can become president of a country.”

We congratulate every one of these bright, wonderful, talented young people. We wish them success in their endeavours. “The future lies ahead of you.  Live your dreams and make the most of what you have.”

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 is the leading provider of extra lessons in Pretoria and all over South Africa. Each of our specialised tutors  is screened and trained to offer your child the best possible academic support, right in the comfort of your own home.

Emile Thiele has been inspiring learners through Penguin Tutoring since Feb 2009. He has completed over 140 lessons for Penguin and he tutors in Centurion, Pretoria. Here he shares his memories of his first experience as an English tutor.

I helped my first client Christi with preparation for her Grade 12 English Examination. She was studying through Damelin part time at the time, while pursuing a professional tennis career.

Over time, we formed a great friendship, and worked unbelievably well together as we immersed ourselves in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’.

It was not long before I noticed how Christi had started opening her mind to poetry and literature in a new and exciting way, and it was inspiring to see her elation and amazement with the subject matter grow day by day.

I was so pleased when Christi phoned me up and informed me that she had walked out of her final English examination with a smile on her face. She was a fantastic first student, and I firmly believe that she will one day reach great heights, as she showed such a tremendous amount of potential and dedication.

Each learner is different but with each tutoring challenge comes great friendships and the same amazing level of reward. I really love working for Penguin Tutoring!

- Thanks Emile, for your dedication and professionalism! You’re an inspiration to your learners in Pretoria and to all of us!

Emile, tutoring Xoliswa Mazomba, another of his learners with Penguin Tutoring!

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Penguin Tutoring is the leading provider of extra lessons in South Africa. We have branches all over the country with academic  tutors waiting to help our country’s learners achieve the success they deserve.

Kathu  Nndwammbi is one of our tutors in Johannesburg. He has completed 19 lessons for Penguin Tutoring to date. This is his story.

I joined Penguin Tutoring early in the year and have accomplished a lot since that day.

I have had five client contracts so far and I have really enjoyed my time as a tutor for this company. Tutoring has so many rewards, not only for the scholars but for my own self worth as a tutor. I personally look forward to every session with my learners, as I work hard to develop a professional yet social and fun learning environment with them.

As a student myself, I understand how helpful additional lessons and consultations can be and how important they are to the confidence necessary to approach the relevant subject with the will to do well.

Over my short period at Penguin Tutoring, I have managed to assist scholars and students achieve grades that, at first, seemed out of reach. It is always a good feeling to see the remarkable contributions that you as a tutor can make in the accomplishments of these pupils.

Penguin Tutoring is the leading provider of extra lessons in South Africa. Our specialist tutors are standing by, ready to help your child achieve academic success with private lessons conducted in the comfort of your own home.

Dewald du Plessis has been a tutor in Pretoria for two years. He has completed 87 lessons for Penguin Tutoring.

Proudly Penguin - Dewald has been a Penguin Tutor for over 2 years!

His first client was a matric Maths student who had been struggling with marks of around 30%. During the original assessment, Dewald asked her what she wanted to achieve for Maths and she said she had hoped to matriculate with a mark of 70%.

This would be tough, because she only had two weeks left before her finals! But, Dewald recalls, “70% was quite attainable because she was hard working and willing.”

So, with the patience and dedication that we expect from all of our tutors, Dewald sat for as many lessons as possible until they had covered all the work.

“In the end, she got 69%, which I was really proud of, considering she had been doing so badly throughout the year.”

Dewald’s advice: “The biggest challenge as a tutor is to motivate your client to do well and succeed. Remember that where there is a will, there is always a way!”