In this edition of our VGN Member Spotlight, we speak with Chiara Polledri, an experienced invigilator who has been part of the VICTVS team for over eight years.

Chiara first joined us in 2017 after spotting an opportunity to put her language skills to good use, and she’s been a valued member ever since.  Alongside her work with VICTVS, Chiara also tutors children and young adults, including refugees from conflict-affected areas.

Chiara, have you had any particularly memorable cheating experiences while invigilating with us? 

I’ve had two major episodes of cheating, with the worst in 2019.  I saw a candidate using an additional mobile phone.  They tried to take pictures of the exam papers because at this time, there were still physical exam papers. I approached the candidate, I took his phone and his paper and I said, “the exam has finished for you because I saw what you were doing. This is against the rules,” etc.  I gave back his phone, and he started shouting at me.  

Some candidates say, “okay, I was being silly,” and they drop everything and leave, but it depends on the candidate’s personality – some deny it and overreact.  This man started shouting at me and saying “I was doing nothing.  You didn’t see!”

This man was much older than me, and it’s hard when you’re dealing with an adult who already has a professional career.  He threatened me by saying his wife is a lawyer and we’ll see each other in court!  

I immediately called VICTVS and was assisted by my regional manager, who was in contact with the client and the centre staff as well, and the candidate was invited to leave the building.  As my regional manager said, “they can’t do anything,” so you know you’re doing the right thing.  

Can you tell me more about your job tutoring when you’re not working at VICTVS? 

Before Covid, I started tutoring children and young adults.  I have always loved working with children, tutoring them, and assisting them with their homework.  There’s a relationship of trust here as well, as sometimes they share with me concerns about their personal life. 

Since Covid, I’ve had more tutoring jobs because many children have parents who work for hospitals and medical institutions.  These parents were calling me, asking me to tutor their children.  They were doing insane shifts, 12-14 hours, and sometimes they also had Covid infections, so I really felt like part of a great community while tutoring these children, as not only was I assisting them, but I was assisting their family.  

These children had online lessons from elementary schools.  They were supposed to print papers, do their homework, and scan the paper back to their teachers and professors – the process was extremely different from the past.  Here in Italy, technology was not really considered in school before Covid, so everything was so new.  

I continue tutoring when I’m less busy with VICTVS because I feel that children and teenagers need so much support.  Sometimes, both of their parents are working and they need someone to sit next to them and encourage them, boost their confidence. 

I’m not a psychologist, but with empathy you feel that you’re contributing to their growth as a student and as an individual, because you’re boosting their confidence so they can discover their worth.  This is why I would like to develop my professional qualities in tutoring children and get a psychology qualification so I can support them 360 degrees.  

I know you work with many refugee children – what kind of support do you aim to provide for them?

I have a few children coming from post-conflict and ongoing conflict areas, because we have many Ukrainian children living in Italy since the war began in 2022.  These children often need so much support with their Italian because their parents are maybe busy working and integrating into Italian society, finding a job and supporting their families. So this has been an aspect of my work in tutoring that has developed since the Ukraine war, and also with the conflict in North Africa. 

Throughout the years, I have experienced children that only speak Arabic because their families only speak Arabic.  Of course, children learn fast, so maybe by the end of one year of tutoring, they are fluent in Italian.

I also have to customize classes according to children’s personalities, because sometimes they are a little bit shy and you have to make them feel comfortable.  Sometimes they’re very lively, so we have to set a proper schedule so they can have some rest but also get them to focus on their homework.  It’s very nice when you set up a system that brings about results.

I noticed that the main problem when coming from post-conflict or ongoing conflict areas is trying to forget about the past, because we don’t know what they saw before leaving their countries and sometimes they have been traumatized.  Trying to distract them from what happened and helping them integrate themselves into a new society with different rules…it makes you feel like you’re part of something great.

What made you want to study languages and what languages can you speak? 

Apart from Italian, I can speak English, Spanish, French, and Chinese. 

I have loved language foreign languages from the very beginning because of my aunt – she’s a professor of English – and I also have relatives in the UK because my grandmother’s sister, she moved there from Italy to be a nurse after the second World War.

I started studying English from elementary school, and then I chose high school for foreign languages. Then I started studying English and Chinese at universities, and I also visited France and Spain so I’ve had the chance to boost my speaking skills.  I’ve studied in China as well. 

When you are not working at VICTVS and tutoring, what do you like to do with your spare time?  

I love hiking!  This has been a great passion of mine, especially since Covid.  

I hiked when I was a child because all of my family, they love walking on the hills and the mountains.  I’m more a mountain team than a seaside team!  But since Covid, when all the gyms were closed and we had all the restrictions, I rediscovered the amazing part of being in nature.  It really gives me so much joy, and I can relax and detach from everyday life, because sometimes – if exams or tutoring sessions are quite tough – I need to recharge myself.

Just walking in the woods, hiking, it really does help me to relax and have a lovely time with my family and friends, because I have so many friends that love hiking as well.  When I go hiking, I feel that not only is my body working better, but also my mind.  

What are some current goals that you are working towards?  

I want to achieve my degree in foreign languages and international relations, because I’ve postponed it through the years, but I would really like to complete it – I’m due to do that next year. 

And then I would like to specialise in psychology for children and get qualified to tutor children at a higher level, teach Italian and provide psychological support for children coming from post-conflict and ongoing conflict areas.  

I also love foreign languages, so another goal would be to learn German and Russian.  But I have to see if my brain can cope with this!