VES Team End of Week Update | Spotlight on Front of House

Dear wonderful VES team,

Hope you are well - and thank you for a really strong week together at VES. It has been one of those weeks where the school has felt full of life: busy classes, warm welcomes, students taking good next steps, creche running, youth drop-in happening, and so much being carried with kindness and grace.

Refugee Week Lunch & Music — This Tuesday 16th June

This Tuesday, straight after classes, Bluetouch and VES are hosting a simple lunch and some musical performances to mark Refugee Week. We would love you to come!

12:00pm @ Active Communities Hub, CentraleFree lunchLive music / performancesAll welcome

No pressure at all - but it should be a lovely occasion, and you are warmly welcome whether Tuesday is normally your VES day or not.

Spotlight this week: Front of House

This week I want to give a particular shout out to our brilliant Front of House team. At VES, “Front of House” is never just admin. It is one of the main places where our vision and values become visible. Before a student sits in a class, speaks to a teacher, or opens a worksheet, they are welcomed, noticed, remembered, helped, and gently encouraged towards good next steps. The whole tone of their VES journey is set.

We often say that VES is “more than a language school” — and Front of House is one of the places where that becomes real. It helps turn a busy English school into a warm, clear, safe, dignifying community. So this week I want to celebrate the "FofH" team.

​Mary Gander has been doing a stellar job twice a week - welcoming students, holding the admin, spotting practical needs, solving problems, and helping the whole school run much better than it would without her.

On Tuesday, when I was unexpectedly unable to be there, Jan P and Liz M held the fort beautifully. I’ve had several reports back saying it worked better without me there .

Riham has started helping over the last couple of weeks and has done amazingly well. Daniela has been helping behind the scenes with grants preparation, which is hugely helpful as we look ahead to the next stage of VES. And from now until the end of term, Hannah Merriman will be stepping in as House Manager on some mornings, which is another real gift.

As VES grows, this front-of-house/admin/operations piece matters more and more. It is often the difference between a morning feeling chaotic and a morning feeling calm, clear and welcoming. Having such a strong team in place also means I can take half a step back from some immediate morning-to-morning logistics in order to keep working on grants, facilities, and planning for the next academic year.  Please cheer on the Front of House team when you see them!

VES Dashboard — Week at a Glance

● 19 classes delivered across 4 days
● Plus 3 creche sessions and 1 youth drop-in
● 273 student sessions enabled
● 66 team sessions given
● Weekly participation number: 388
● +87% increase on this time last year

Behind each of those numbers is a person being welcomed, taught, encouraged, and helped to take good next steps.