25-years-orange

Celebrating 25 years of The National Association of School-Based Teacher Training

Lovelace

In 2025 NASBTT is celebrating its 25th anniversary, a milestone that reflects a quarter of a century of dedication to championing school-based teacher training. This anniversary is not only an opportunity to celebrate our achievements, but also to look ahead with ambitious plans to continue driving excellence in teacher training and professional development.

Since its inception in 2000, NASBTT has been at the forefront of shaping the landscape of ITT, advocating for policies that empower educators and enhancing support for trainees, mentors and providers alike. Over the years, our initiatives have adapted to the evolving needs of the education system, with a focus on innovation, inclusivity, and collaboration.

To mark this occasion, we are running a programme of celebratory activities, in-person events, and opportunities to engage our members. Together, let’s make 2025 a year to remember, and reaffirm our commitment to the future of ITT.

ITT Timeline

What’s next? A look ahead

Reflections and insights - 25 years

NASBTT’s 25th Anniversary - Anna Richards, Chair of Trustees

I am proud to be the fourth Chair of Trustees for NASBTT. The fact that there have been only three previous chairs (Martin Thompson, Ian Williams and Ian Hollingsworth) in NASBTTs 25-year history speaks to the commitment and dedication of my predecessors. And actually, commitment and dedication are the words that spring to mind to describe the NASBTT team as a whole. Everyone who has worked for the organisation over its 25 years has embodied those characteristics as they have grown and driven the organisation to support our sector.

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Q&A with Martin Thompson Former Executive Director

With NASBTT celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025, we are publishing a series of articles from influential figures in the organisation’s history. We caught up with Martin Thompson, who was involved in the early days of NASBTT and served initially as Chair, a role later rebranded as Executive Director, until 2017, to discuss his memories of the early years and the evolution of the organisation into the voice of schools-led ITT.

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A look-back with former Chair Ian Hollingsworth

One of the great joys in my professional life has been the variety of challenges that have come my way, some planned and expected, but many of the most exciting, unplanned, unexpected and often daunting.

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A ‘deep dive’ into Ofsted and ITE with Kim Francis

How do we respond when we receive ‘the call’? For some, it’s an inner scream followed by panic – ‘not the right time’… ‘we’re not ready’. For others, it’s ‘at last . . . we’ve got this!’, as they reach for their well-rehearsed folders and plans and make (mostly) calm calls to set the ball rolling. For yet more others, the combative and competitive gene kicks in: ‘we will not settle for anything less than the top judgement’.

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Reflections from Jane Cole - the very first administrator for the then newly-fledged NASBTT organiation

As the very first administrator for the then newly-fledged NASBTT organisation it’s astounding to look back and see where it has come since those early days of manually collated lists of the original members on an Excel spreadsheet and me, at my desk, hand-making name badges for the inaugural conferences!

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The ‘early years’ with first Treasurer Alan Fowler

My own journey with NASBTT, from the outset, was grounded in my interest in ITT/ITE.

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Reflections with Jackie Atkin

I can clearly remember the day that Martin Thompson told me he had accepted the position of Chair for NASBTT. Inwardly, I groaned while trying to show my enthusiasm. Purely because I was only working part-time at The Pilgrim Partnership and at that stage, we were only a two-man band. From memory, I believe we had about 60 primary trainees and around 12 GTP trainees. Fortunately, we were in a position to expand on staffing and I became a full-time (term time only) member of staff. I can remember Martin and I designing letter headed paper for NASBTT with the strapline ‘the voice of teacher training’, and so the journey began.

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