By Youness Rhout – July 2021
Very soon here at Queens English Language School we will be celebrating 21 years of providing quality teaching and support to students looking to learn the English language. Over the course of 21 years any workplace would experience many changes and one person who would have seen it all is founder and principal Maria - Vittoria Telo. I spoke to Maria - Vittoria to find out just what goes into keeping a school running for 21 years.
Maria - Vittoria said “There was a lot to learn about the job over time with all the unpredictable things that can happen but there has always been an upward trend as time went on. We quickly realised that we couldn’t dwell on any mistakes made and wanted to see them as a failure but as a time to reflect and learn. This role has enabled me to meet some great people from students who have built on our teachings to venture into the world, to teachers, who with the collaboration of our different knowledge, resources and skillsets were able to continue their careers abroad."
“While our lives were put on hold during the Covid outbreak, I didn’t allow it to do the same with the school. We moved online and continued offering students the same level of teaching and support they received in classrooms while also picking up on personal and professional skills which we had because we knew just how rapidly everything was changed in a short space of time."
Our belief in offering an exemplary service is what kept us going and brought us closer to our students. We regularly kept in touch and would arrange online sessions to have a chat with each other. We understand the relationship we have with our students is built on personal and professional needs and it was lovely to see them also being there for each other.”
“The future of the school will definitely be brighter and we will continue to grow, we plan on moving into a new premises which will allow us to serve our local area better and provide better facilities for our students to make use of. We look forward to welcoming international students back now and integrating a variety of different cultures and backgrounds within our classes.”
I also spoke to students Carmen and Janibel to see what they made of the school. Carmen said “I’ve managed to lean a lot and meet people from all over the world and I’m confident what I learn here will help me find a job in England. I’m a lot more confident with the English language now and I put that down to Maria - Vittoria's learning techniques, she’s always very patient and makes it simple to ask for help.”
Janibel said “Lessons here make me constantly practise my English which helps me massively and means I’ve picked up so much in a short space of time. The teaching methods are catered to our own different individual needs and it makes it so much easier to progress. I plan on finding a job abroad with the English I’m taught and can definitely see why the school has had numerous students over the past 21 years.”