Klaudia Bednárová, the founder and director of our language school, found herself in distinguished company as one of the nominees for Slovak Businesswoman of the Year and she was delighted to be awarded the title „TREND Entrepreneur of the Year award 2022“.
What is the TREND Entrepreneur of the Year award?
The TREND Businesswoman of the Year awards fall into six categories and for 25 years the magazine has been honouring a manager, an investor, a bank, an insurance company and a company of the year. This year, nominations also included an Entrepreneur of the year category and were compiled by TREND Weekly for the first time, with VISA as their supprting partner. Trend and VISA selected female directors or founders of small and medium-sized companies that either have an interesting story behind them, or are run as responsible and sustainable businesses, or those that are delivering technological and other innovations.
TREND readers comprised one third of the final vote and the gala evening and award ceremony took place on November 22nd in the SND building.
Different and Dynamic – the beginnings of The Bridge
Klaudia founded the Bridge in 2009, largely out of frustration when, as a teacher, she couldn’t find a school that shared her values and vision. “I wanted to be in a group of people from whom I could learn something and to have the opportunity to teach in a way that allowed my students to reach their goals. I simply wanted to be able to do things properly,” says Klaudia about the beginnings of The Bridge. “My friend Miša Vrábová and I started in a small space in Bratislava, just working on our knees without any investment and minimal capital,” she recalls.
Today, over forty lecturers from more than 12 countries around the world teach at The Bridge. Moving online opened up new opportunities for us to collaborate not only with colleagues who live in Bratislava, but also with foreign experts and teachers including university lecturers from both the UK and Japan. In today’s environment, it no longer matters if a teacher actually wants to move to Slovakia. What matters to us is the quality of the individual and their ability to actually teach.
Going the extra mile
Klaudia recognises that high quality teaching can only be maintained by a professional and engaging continual development programme. The quality of our teaching and teachers is recognised not only by the award of the internationally recognised EAQUALS accreditation but also by our satisfied students who constantly return to continue their studies
“Our aim is simply to be better today than we were yesterday. As a team, we have created an environment where we love to teach, and our students love to learn. We continually strive to create a community of people who are united by a common interest in personal growth and development. Our students don’t learn English just to ‘know’ it; they learn it so they can use it. “Language learning should not merely be a goal, it must be seen as a tool,” explains Klaudia about her vision. Therefore, in addition to regular courses, The Bridge also exposes the students to the joys of theater and Bridgin’ Drama, which includes participation by the school’s teachers, has been staging Slovak classics in English for several years.
A successful school produces successful students
“I greatly appreciate this award. We strive to make our school the best it can be and we were delighted that the jury were impressed. It is always motivating and satisfying to have ones’s work recognised,” says Klaudia, but immediately emphasizes that neither she nor The Bridge plan to rest on their laurels. “We want to be a school that is known for its results and successful students and our immediate plan is to expand our teacher training center. We want our teachers to improve, to keep up with the times and to be inspirational role models for our students,” explains Klaudia Bednárová about her plans for the future.
Congratulations on the award and here’s to many more successful years!