About Us

Head Office Team

Summer School Head Office is based at Upper Dicker, the village in the Sussex countryside where the Summer School story began. Today there are seven people working at head Office year-round to organise our successful summer programmes:

Steve Wood, Principal

After many years of seasonal involvement with St Bede’s, Steve took up his current position as Principal of Summer School in September 2005. A graduate of French with a Master’s in Teaching French and a PGCE in Modern Languages, Steve is responsible for every aspect of managing the Summer School. Although a huge responsibility, he very much enjoys his role which draws perfectly on his past professional experiences and combines his flair for business and passion for languages. Steve lives with his wife in Eastbourne and when not busy running Summer School, enjoys travelling, keeping up to date with the latest technology and going to the gym.

Yolanda Chimeno, Assistant Principal (Commercial)

Yolanda is highly qualified in the fields of education and psychology, having earned a BSc in Education and Psychology, a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology and having completed the theoretical modules towards a PhD in Educational Psychology and Didactics. She previously worked as Director of Studies and Teacher Trainer at a large language school in San Sebastian, Spain. After 2 years of seasonal involvement with St Bede's as Welfare Manager, Yolanda took up a full-time position in January 2008. As Assistant Principal (Commercial), she has strategic responsibility for the commercial and admissions side of the Summer School business and also advises on many academic, personnel and welfare issues.

Lu Whale, Assistant Principal (Staff)

Lu’s background is in the Hospitality sector in Human Resources, Training and Recruitment function. She has recently completed her Masters degree in Personnel & Development, dissertation subject being Employee Engagement. In her current role of Assistant Principal (Staff), Lu’s main accountabilities are to undertake, organise and be responsible for all key operations relating to the recruitment, training and management of seasonal staff. Lu’s favourite sport is skiing, which she is not able to do as often as she used to, so will ‘settle’ for cycling along the ‘Cuckoo Trail’. She also loves cooking, but definitely prefers eating, especially when the food is cooked for her!

Justine Gillie, Assistant Principal (Operations)

Justine joined Summer School in January 2010. She is a law graduate and trained as a computer programmer before running IT projects for local authorities and then for a global financial company in the South of England. As Assistant Principal (Operations), Justine has strategic responsibility for all key operational and logistical aspects of the Summer School. Justine has a long-standing interest in modern language learning and has undertaken some TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) training. She likes visiting theatres and galleries and exploring the beautiful Sussex countryside with her family.

Philip Coates, Executive Assistant to the Principal

Philip has previously worked in banking, auditing and events management and has a degree in Banking and Finance. As Executive Assistant to the Principal, his role is to provide an administrative, secretarial and organisational service to the Principal to ensure the smooth running of the Principal's office. He also assists the Admissions Team in peak times. Philip is married with two children and in his free time, the family enjoys walking and cycling round the wonderful East Sussex countryside and coastline, competing on the Wii and generally spending time together. Philip also enjoys watching movies and ‘trying’ to keep fit.

Abigail Jones, Senior Administrator

Abigail is Senior Administrator and handles enquiries and bookings from both agents and families. She has a degree in French and Spanish and has worked as PA/Administrator in a wide range of organisations including international household removals, a Swiss holiday centre for children, oil exploration, a university college and most recently, a national children’s charity. Abigail loves living on the seafront and enjoys walking and roller-skating with her family and watching foreign language films.

Danny Kenward, Recruitment Coordinator

Danny started his career in the Accounts department for an independent freight forwarding company and he worked his way up to becoming the HR and Commercial Manager. His duties included all HR apsects for the company, from recruitment to payroll, along with looking after the fleet vehicles and property compliance and maintenance for all their UK sites. As Recuitment Coordinator at St Bede's, he is looking to recruit the best people for the right roles, whilst also taking care of all the administrative work relating to the recruitment process. Danny's passions are Music (he plays the guitar and a little piano) and when he gets time, he also enjoys playing football and watching films. Dannys is married with two young children, with whom he loves spending as much time as he can.