Key People

Sandy Blair – Owner and Founder

“I’m here to make a difference in the lives of Geelong students. I support parents and nurture their child throughout their schooling. I help children believe in themselves, achieve their goals and be the best they can be.”

Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) Bachelor of Education (Secondary)

Director and qualified primary and secondary teacher, Sandy Blair, has served the Geelong community in education for 35 years. She has owned education centres in Geelong and on the surf coast for 28 years. In 2016, with her husband Kieran Thomson, she established Learning Works Education Centre. Prior to this, Sandy and Kieran had owned and operated Kip McGrath Education Centres in Geelong, Belmont and Ocean Grove for 26 years. Sandy worked in local high schools teaching English before moving her focus to more tailored and specialised education in tutoring centres. She has taught all year levels from prep to VCE. She has a special interest in reading and numeracy development in the early primary years and is accomplished at working with children with Asperger’s syndrome, who have communication difficulties. In her many years helping students, Sandy has developed in dealing with, and catering to, children with learning difficulties including short-term auditory memory (STAM) and attention difficulties (ADD). She has a particular interest in assisting students with written expression and primary and secondary mathematics, using strategies developed independently. She is passionate about helping students build their confidence and helping them to develop their skills.

Sandy is passionate about working collaboratively with families to support children in developing their literacy confidence, skills and knowledge. 

Sandy continually attends courses to expand her knowledge and to ensure our teaching staff are following best practice. Sandy has completed training in Little Learners Love Literacy, Sounds Write, Ron Yoshimoto Orton Gillingham, Spalding and has trained with the Australian Dyslexia Association undertaking training in MSL (Institute for Multisensory Structured Language Education).