Celebrating a Successful Joint Venture between Norton Park Hotel and Havant College

[21 November 2008]

A group of overseas staff from Norton Park Hotel, Winchester, have improved their English speaking and listening skills as a direct result of a very successful project between the hotel and Havant College, which runs an extensive business training operation with bespoke training in the workplace in partnership with Spring Training.

The group who come from Estonia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland were able to speak English before the course, but as a result of the successful completion of the course they are now at a more proficient level which helps them to communicate more effectively in the workplace. The staff work in evening management, on reception, in the kitchen, in house-keeping and as waiting staff in the busy restaurant and now feel more confident and professional when dealing with the hotel guests as well as when speaking with their colleagues.

The course was for 20 hours over ten weeks during May-July and took place in the stunning country location of Norton Park Hotel in their state of the art training rooms. All staff and managers at the hotel were very encouraging and supported the learners in their endeavours.

In August seven staff members took the prestigious Cambridge ESOL Speaking and Listening exams and the pass rate was 100%. During the presentation on Tuesday 25th November the candidates were presented with their beautiful and well-deserved certificates from the Cambridge ESOL examination board. Senior managers from both the hotel and Havant College were in attendance.

Agneta Powdrill, the group's teacher from Havant College was extremely pleased with the group’s achievement. &The staff worked incredibly hard during the course and managed to balance this with their busy working lives and various shifts. I am so proud of what they have achieved&.