Lizzy Stubbington has a life-long passion outside her AGC Training teaching career

AGC Training tutor Lizzy Stubbington has had a life-long passion for the thoroughbred and has been in great demand, sharing her skills with international racehorse stables around the world.

AGC Training and many of their students will be counting their blessings with the return of Lizzy Stubbington.

Stubbington was the head tutor of a new Intensive Literacy and Numeracy (ILN) programme, Kupenga, launched in September last year.

Kupenga is a free course tailored for individual needs.

Not everybody learns at the same pace, nor in exactly the same manner, so AGC Training delivers the programme in a way that works for individual needs.

The Maori translation of kupenga is "net" or "fishing net", an appropriate name for this programme. The programme ensures graduates reach appropriate levels of reading, writing, speaking and maths, essential to living a good life.

Not everyone has always had the opportunity to learn effectively, in the way they need, and in a way that worked for them. And not having adequate skills in any of these areas can lead to low self-esteem, negatively impacting on a person's life.

That's where Stubbington steps in. She has the experience and skills required.

Stubbington fine-tuned her teaching techniques over seven years delivering a similar programme to inmates in the New Zealand prison system.

She has also developed special skills to cater to the needs of individuals through her passion for horses.

For much of her adult life, Stubbington has also worked with racehorses around the world where her natural affinity with the noble animal has been in great demand.

Last year before taking the job as a tutor for the Kupenga course, Stubbington had answered the call to travel to the United Arab Emirates to care for two thoroughbred racehorses campaigning in Dubai, including one invited to run in the world's richest race, the US$12 million ($18.5m) Dubai World Cup.

Since then she has returned from a second trip to Dubai cut short by the Covid-19 global pandemic and spent a month helping out in a Sydney stable while trainer Claire Cunningham was holidaying with her ex-pat Kiwi jockey partner Jason Collett.

And since rejoining the teaching ranks at AGC Training, Stubbington has been working with exiting students, focusing on their literacy and numeracy skills.

The Kupenga course resumes on June 22, running three days a week for eight weeks between 9.30am and 2.30pm. Free transport to and from classes for prospective students is available.