Last month, the VP Bali Family had a very important lesson outside of our English classes! This time, our founder, Kimberley, got to play coach when a few young members of our trainees needed a pointers to help pass an upcoming swimming test at their local school. While passing this test is mandatory for all students at the school, there are no classes in or out of the pool to help students learn about swimming. After our last class of the week, the team got to work, with Kimberley leading the pack in the pool through different exercises like paddling and learning to relax and float.

The fact that our trainees needed swimming lessons just for the sake of passing of an test represented something much bigger in our eyes: the idea that education was an end goal, instead of a journey. It was an example of the Indonesia’s focus on checking benchmarks, rather than personal development through learning lifelong skills.

When there’s a difference between traditional methods and the creative learning techniques we use at VP Bali, we try to provide fun opportunities for our students and staff to learn what they don’t in their formal school. Not only opportunities for better education, but also for safer working environments, fair salaries, and community development.

Our goal is to help our students grow into a changing society without losing the traditions and values that make their culture so unique and beautiful.
Our vision of education as a journey, not an end goal, is seen every day through the fun activities we use during our after school English classes. While we follow an ESL curriculum, we constantly aim for fun and innovative ways for our students to stay attentive, focused, and most of all have fun. We want our English classes to be something they look forward to every day after their normal school hours.
After four years of growth, VP Bali’s mission is no longer to just improve English skills in Bali’s youth. We want our students and local staff to take home what they gain from the classroom, to bring these valuable skills and life lessons into their everyday lives. Even as a small organization, days like this when our students and local staff get to learn outside of the classroom, not just for the sake of passing a test, is what makes our community of learning so special.