Chatteris History

1990-1993: The Founding of Chatteris

The Chatteris programme began in 1990 when Mrs. Margaret Kwee and Mrs. Evelyn Fergusson, now trustees of the Foundation, started working as volunteers, chatting in their spare time to a small number of Hong Kong students. As the importance of these chat sessions grew, so too did the reputation of their work. Later that year, the Chatteris Educational Foundation was established.

The Foundation’s work soon spread to more and more schools across Hong Kong wanting native-English-speakers to help provide new opportunities for their students. Eventually demand became too great and the original volunteers were unable to commit the time the schools wanted and needed.

1994-2002: Working with GAP Activity Projects in UK

In 1994 Gap Activity Projects was contacted in the UK.  Chatteris recruited several eighteen-year-old school leavers to join the Chatteris programme in Hong Kong. These pioneering young people, the first English Language Teaching Assistants (ELTAs), were shared among several schools. As more schools realised the potentials of having their students interact with young native-English-speakers, the scope of the programme rapidly increased leading to today’s Chatteris English Development Programme. In the 2002-2003 academic year there were 80 ELTAs working in Hong Kong schools. During the first 10 years, ELTAs were placed in secondary schools only. By 1999, there was a shift to the primary schools.

 

2003- 2007: Transition to Working with University Graduates and More Services to Schools and the Community

In 2003, with school's demands and expectations changing, Chatteris established a range of other services including consultancy, English Enhancement Programmes, the English Language Environment Enrichment Programme and a new position - the Chatteris Graduate English Language Teaching Assistant (GELTA). GELTAs were recent university graduates, either native speakers of English or with native-level English competence that retain all the excellent qualities of ELTAs, but with support from the Chatteris Project Management Team can work at a capacity similar to that of a Native-speaking English Teacher (NET). 

2007- Present: Chatteris International Graduate Programme

From September 2006, under the Chatteris International Graduate Programme, all applicants coming to teach in Hong Kong with Chatteris were, and continue to be, those who wish to develop personally and professionally within an international environment for the benefit of students.

From 2007, Chatteris embarked on a partnership with the Vocational Training Council. At present almost 50% of CNETs are placed in post-secondary campuses all over Hong Kong while 35% of CNETs are in primary schools and 15% in secondary.

The Chatteris Educational Foundation is now an international community enterprise. It brings together members of the local Hong Kong community with international university graduates to develop and work in collaboration across schools in Hong Kong for the benefit of students. As an educational foundation, Chatteris has evolved to respond and meet the market needs of the Hong Kong schools, students and community. As a result, the programme has developed considerably since it was founded in 1990. Currently the university graduates who join the Chatteris team every year are called Chatteris Native-speaking English Tutors (CNETs) and the Foundation intends to focus on enhancing professional skills and training to better serve students and schools now and in the coming years. More career and management development support will also be available to the CNETs, especially for those who intend to develop their first career in TESL or Social/Community enterprises.