Written by a qualified teacher with classroom and educational leadership experience. Rethinking Mindsets is a Sydney, NSW-based online tutoring provider supporting families nationwide.

Parents looking for confidence at school help may notice their child hesitating over familiar work, seeking frequent reassurance or avoiding tasks they once approached willingly. For Defence families, these changes may follow a posting-related school move or unfamiliar classroom expectations. Students from veteran families may experience similar concerns without a recent relocation.

Confidence is one part of the picture. Understanding what the student finds difficult, what they already know and how they respond to guidance helps families and educators decide what to address. The aim is to support participation and independence while continuing to teach the academic knowledge and skills the student needs.

Look Closely at Where Confidence Changes

A student may feel confident discussing an idea but hesitate when asked to write about it. They might manage familiar mathematics questions yet become uncertain when the wording or format changes. These differences can reveal a need for further teaching, practice or clarification of expectations.

Parents may also notice repeated checking, difficulty beginning without reassurance or excessive time spent trying to make work perfect. Rather than assuming the student lacks confidence in everything, identify a recent example and ask which part felt unclear. Their teacher can help explain whether similar patterns appear in class and what academic support is already available.

After a school move, unfamiliar instructions or differences in curriculum sequencing may contribute to uncertainty. Our article on tutoring after changing schools explores how educators can respond to these specific learning needs.

Use Clear Teaching Alongside Encouragement

Encouragement can acknowledge a student’s effort, but an unclear task may also need a clearer explanation. An educator can model how to begin, explain why a strategy is useful and guide the student through practice. Checking understanding helps determine whether the student is ready to continue independently or needs further teaching.

For example, a student who repeatedly asks whether an answer is right may need to learn how to check it. A student who avoids writing may need help turning ideas into a plan before composing a response. These approaches give the student something practical to use when uncertainty returns.

At Rethinking Mindsets, experienced, qualified teachers plan sessions around individual academic needs and adapt teaching to reflect individual school expectations. Our approach to tutoring combines explicit teaching, modelling and guided practice with adjustments informed by professional judgement.

Keep Meaningful Challenge in the Learning

Supporting confidence does not require removing every difficult task. Educators consider whether the challenge is appropriate, whether the necessary foundations are understood and how much guidance the student needs. Some students need a concept explained again; others are ready to attempt the work with fewer prompts.

Manageable steps can make a demanding task easier to approach without reducing its academic purpose. An educator might model one example, guide the next and then ask the student to apply the strategy independently. The level of guidance should respond to what the student demonstrates rather than follow a fixed sequence for every learner.

Mistakes also provide information for teaching. Discussing where reasoning changed or which instruction was misunderstood gives the student a practical next step. The focus remains on understanding and applying learning, rather than completing work without errors.

Support Independence Within a Trusted Relationship

A consistent educator relationship provides time to understand a student’s strengths, responses to feedback and approach to unfamiliar work. Familiar routines can offer continuity when school expectations change. They also allow the educator to revisit strategies and check whether the student can use them with less assistance.

The aim is to help the student develop useful ways to respond to uncertainty. This may include rereading instructions, checking an example, explaining their reasoning or asking a specific question. Educators adjust prompting so that guidance remains available without becoming necessary before every step.

Parents can reinforce these strategies by asking what their child has already tried or which part needs explaining. Where reassurance-seeking remains frequent, discuss the pattern with the teacher or tutor. It may be necessary to reconsider the task demands, academic understanding or level of guidance.

Recognise Progress Without Predicting Outcomes

Useful changes may include a student attempting an unfamiliar question, explaining an idea more clearly or checking their work with less prompting. These observations can help guide teaching, but greater participation does not by itself confirm that academic gaps have been addressed. Educators should continue checking understanding alongside confidence and independence.

Progress varies between students and across tasks. Tutoring does not guarantee particular grades, restored confidence or a fixed timetable for improvement. Our article on learning progress after interruption explains how families can consider both academic learning and changes in participation.

Know Where Tutoring Fits

Where concerns relate closely to schoolwork, unfamiliar expectations or gaps in understanding, educator-led tutoring may be a useful part of the response. If anxiety about schoolwork persists, discuss what you are noticing with the school. Where concerns extend beyond learning or significantly affect everyday life, seek advice from an appropriate health professional as well.

RM prioritises student wellbeing alongside academic growth, confidence and independence, but tutoring is not counselling or treatment. For families using approved ADF EAS or DVA additional tuition funding, teaching responds to the academic needs identified within the approved arrangements. Confidence concerns do not by themselves establish funding eligibility.

Our Defence and veteran tutoring overview explains the services we provide for families with approved tutoring funding and families choosing private tutoring. Suitability and educator availability are considered before arrangements are made.