Frequently Asked Questions

Our next term starts Monday 13 July 2026. Get in touch to secure your child's spot — places are limited, so it's worth reaching out early.

The program follows the standard Victorian school terms. Each term is approximately 10 weeks of sessions.

This comes up a lot. Groups of 3-5 children are small enough that most children settle quickly — especially once they realise the other kids are working through the same things. We're experienced at helping anxious children feel safe in the room.

Most families notice meaningful change within the first term — in both skills and confidence. We track progress throughout and share that with you, so you're never left wondering how things are going.

Reading is a language skill. It requires the brain to map the sound structure of spoken language onto written symbols — and when a child is struggling, the reason is almost always sitting inside the language system. Speech pathologists are specifically trained in how spoken and written language work, what can go wrong, and how to rebuild it. That training is what makes structured literacy instruction effective for children who've found reading difficult.

Yes. Structured literacy is the approach most strongly recommended for children with dyslexia, and it's exactly what Hello Learners is built on. The same explicit, systematic teaching also supports children with dysgraphia, language disorder, and auditory or visual processing difficulties — as well as any child who's simply finding reading, writing or spelling harder than they should. You don't need a diagnosis to join; our screening assessment tells us how best to support your child within the group.

Hello Learners is for children from three years old (pre-prep) through to Grade 6. Before your child starts, we do a short screening assessment to see exactly where they're at, then place them in a small group with other children working at a similar level — so the teaching is always pitched right for them.

Groups are small — just 3 to 5 children. That's deliberate: small enough that every child gets plenty of attention and a turn in every activity, while still giving them the encouragement of learning alongside others working on the very same things.

Sessions run in person at our clinic in North Melbourne (Hello Kids Therapy Hub), after school, once a week through the term. We work with families across the inner west, including Kensington, Footscray, Parkville, Brunswick, Carlton, Ascot Vale, Moonee Ponds, Maribyrnong and Yarraville.

Hello Learners is booked as a full term rather than session by session, because each week builds on the last — the small group moves through the reading code together in a set sequence, and the learning only works when it's continuous. For that reason we're not able to offer makeup sessions or refunds for missed weeks. If your child does need to miss a session, just let us know and we'll send home a homework pack with activities covering what the group worked on, so your child can keep up and slot straight back in the following week.

You're kept in the loop after every single session. You'll get a short email telling you what we covered and exactly how to practise it at home, so you can support your child between sessions — and we track your child's progress across the term and share it with you, so you're never left wondering how things are going.

Getting started is simpler than you'd think — no referral, no diagnosis and no long waiting list. Send us a message and we'll have a chat, then book a short screening assessment so one of our speech pathologists can see exactly where your child is at. From there we match them with a small group at the right level, and they begin weekly sessions when the term starts.

Hello Learners is $89 per session, invoiced by the term (each term is around 10 weeks). That covers your child's weekly small-group session, all the materials they use, and a short email after every session showing you what we covered and how to practise at home. We book by the term; if paying up front is tricky, we can also arrange a monthly payment plan.

No. Because Hello Learners is an educational program rather than a therapy service, it isn't claimable through Medicare, private health insurance or NDIS — it's offered as a private program at $89 per session. If your child has individual therapy needs, our one-on-one speech pathology sessions are a separate service that may be eligible for Medicare or private health rebates, and we're happy to talk that through.

No — you only pay for the weeks that are left. If your child joins once the term is already underway, we simply arrange a session for each of the remaining weeks of the school term, so you're never charged for weeks that have already passed.

Yes — you can start at any point during the school term, as long as there's a place in a group at the right level for your child. Children who were with us the previous term simply continue on for the full term as usual.

We work to a term schedule rather than week to week, so enrolling is a commitment for the full term. Your child has a regular weekly appointment — the same day and time, held just for them for the whole term — and we plan their learning for the term before it begins. Because of that, we're not able to offer skipped or rescheduled sessions, and payment covers every session in the term regardless of attendance, including when a child is away unwell. It isn't only an administrative thing: consistent weekly attendance is what makes the biggest difference to a child's progress, and frequent gaps break the continuity the teaching depends on.

We hold your child's existing day and time for the following term. We assume they'll be continuing — most children need support across more than a single term — so we keep their slot reserved unless you let us know otherwise. If you'd like to change the time or stop, just get in touch and we'll sort it out.