Roving reporter, Carys Bradford, interviews our very own Paulo.

Paulo Oliveira, known fondly to us all simply as Paulo, is our Front of House Manager. He has been at College for eight years and we hope he will be here for many more years to come. Paulo is originally from Portugal and enjoys walking or listening to music in his free time.

Quick Fire Q&A

What is your favourite food?
Octopus. In Portugal, we have octopus in several of our main dishes, and my favourite is baked octopus with potatoes, olive oil and other condiments.

What do you do to relax?
I like to go on walks and put my headphones on to just relax. I like that you can go for so many walks without even leaving Cheltenham.

What are the differences between the Algarve and Cheltenham?
There is a lot of green here, lots of trees and parks but the Algarve, where I come from, is very dry and has a lot less greenery.

Less than five minutes into our conversation, it was clear to see Paulo’s passion for his job. I was curious as to what this entailed, and he explained that it encompassed coordinating the kitchen, dealing with queues and people, helping at match teas, and ensuring both staff and pupils are fed with enjoyable meals in a timely fashion.

I couldn’t help but wonder at the logistics of such an operation, and Paulo confirmed my guess that it must be difficult to manage the task. ‘I do find it challenging’, he answered, ‘especially at night when we often have four different types of food.’

College will often hold ‘Theme’ nights at dinner, and these involve decorations and appropriately themed food. They are very enjoyable for pupils, but I’d never considered how much effort it took to organise these events, particularly when it seems very calm and coordinated from the counter. Paulo added, ‘I do like to see when a pupil walks past with a tray saying, ‘Oh thank you, I really enjoyed that, thank you’ because I want the good and the bad feedback’.

I wanted to know more about the relationships he develops with pupils. He often knows them by name and will ask them things like ‘How was your day?’ or ‘Did the exam go well?’. Paulo agreed that the pupils form a massive part of his work and that it is just as important to him to see each pupil as an individual as well as the collective body, adding ‘it is amazing’ to be able to offer a listening ear to pupils. Paulo revealed to me that he had taken part in mental health first aid training over the past year, and this gives him additional tools with which to assist pupils and staff.

His empathetic and friendly approach is obvious to anyone who sees him, and he confirmed that he aims to be kind and compassionate to all people. Paulo is Catholic, and he agreed that messages given by his faith, such as caring for others, form a large part of his outlook on life. Both he and his eight-year-old daughter pray every night, and his faith is important to him though he ‘welcome(s) and respect(s) people of all faiths’. Speaking of his daughter led us to discussing his aim to instill in her the values of understanding, empathy and, above all, ‘to try to be kind every day. Be kind’. Whilst he acknowledged that some skills like reading body language can be taught, understanding people also ‘stems from a natural urge to help people’. Some of Paulo’s main values are kindness, community, and compassion, which goes a long way to explain both his propensity for and his proficiency in the hospitality industry.

Over the course of our interview, I learned many things about Paulo that I didn’t know; his fondness for octopus, his daughter’s age, his religion. But I was also able to confirm something about Paulo through the interview, and that is his determination to provide exemplary, quality service whilst also showing an incredible commitment to both pupils and staff. Every single one of our pupils has met or seen Paulo, and every single one would agree that Paulo is a credit and an asset to our school.