The International Teaching & Training Centre (ITTC) in Bournemouth has seen 5,520 graduates go on to teach in communities across the world over 28 years to date.
Now a new chapter is being written following the official launch of its headquarters at 91 Wimborne Road, Winton, following a 14-month building project. The launch party was attended by leading experts and authors in the field of teaching English as a foreign language. As well as Dr Watkins from Portsmouth, the list included Bournemouth-based authors Guy Wellman and Terry and Anna Phillips and representatives from many of the language schools in Bournemouth.
Also at the party were the planning consultants, architects and builders behind the project. Congratulating ITTC, guest speaker Dr Peter Watkins, the principal lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Portsmouth’s School of Languages and Area Studies, said: “Teachers from more than 60 countries have come to ITTC over the years to train and share good practice when they go home. “Now there is a spacious purpose-built facility to inspire new teachers and help practising teachers improve their professional skills. “This is a wonderful new facility with space for learning, reflection and fun and it is a testament to ITTC that they have dedicated such a terrific building to teacher education.” Dr Watkins, the author of a number of textbooks on teacher education, added: “This is a sizeable investment and the building is absolutely conducive to learning.”
Clive Barrow, managing director of ITTC and sister school BEET Language Centre, which is located nearby in Nortoft Road, Charminster, told guests: “This dedicated teacher training facility is a £1m investment for the future in exactly the right place.
“Bournemouth has long been recognised as the bedrock of English language teaching worldwide. There is tremendous talent here. Many leading teachers and authors have worked from here to influence teaching and teacher training in many countries.”
Originally a private house, the building became a doctor’s surgery, a school for foreign students and then a charity helping refugees to integrate into local life before being purchased by ITTC in 2011. Dating back to 1898, the ITTC premises were stripped back before being extended and refurbished. The training centre includes high-tech classrooms which have interactive white boards backed with learning software and links to computer screens, video learning packages and the internet. Teachers are also able to print out what they write on the boards. Rated as exceeding expectations overall and “outstanding” in its teaching in a recent inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, the ITTC facility is now home to one of the largest private teacher training centres in England, outside of London.
ITTC’s teaching expertise is also supplied through the local association of language schools, RALSA, to the 23 accredited language schools in the Bournemouth area.
Bournemouth welcomes an estimated 30,000 students each year, contributing £210m to the local economy.
Mr Barrow also said: “Our students virtually walk into jobs because ITTC is validated by the world-renowned University of Cambridge for its internationally-recognised English language teaching qualifications, providing a first-class route into the profession.
“Bournemouth is very much a centre of educational excellence for international students and something we should all celebrate, bringing money into the local economy and securing valuable local jobs.
“We are proud to play an enabling role in Brand Bournemouth, as well as helping teachers around the world empower children and adults through something too many of us perhaps take for granted – education.”
