Our team

Lucie Cotterill - Director of Innovation
Lucie is the Director of Innovation and has been working at ih British School Reggio Calabria for over 20 years. In addition to her role with the school, she also works for IH World Organisation as the DoS Community Coordinator and is a tutor on the IH OTTI Certificate in online tutoring (COLT) and IH Diploma in Academic Management courses.

During her time at IH British School RC, she has undertaken various roles such as teacher, teacher trainer, Director of Studies (DOS) and other Academic Management roles. As a teacher, she has taught from VYL to adults and from beginner to C2, including exam preparation. In her current role, she is responsible for developing innovative strategies for improving all areas of the school, organising the content of the annual conference for local teachers, teaching, teacher training and managing the process of recruiting new teachers. In her free time, she likes walking, nature, music, brainteasers, good food and gazing lovingly across the Straits at Mount Etna. She is a regular speaker at national and international conferences.
>> Watch Lucie's testimonial
>> View one of her talks

Vincent Palombo - Senior Teacher &  Exam Coordinator

Vince has been teaching at ih BRITISH SCHOOL Reggio Calabria since 2011. He particularly enjoys working with teenagers and has helped hundreds of students to achieve exam success. He shares his expertise with his colleagues in his role as Senior Teacher and Exam Coordinator.

Lisa Phillips - Director of Studies - Teens and Adults & Teacher
Lisa Phillips is a drama and literature graduate from the University of Southern Queensland and has been working in the English Language Teaching field for over 20 years. From classroom origins as a teacher in Australia, Japan, South Korea, Hungary, Japan, Uruguay, Argentina and Malta, she now spends her time as a Director of Studies at ih British School Reggio Calabria in Southern Italy.

She is a CELTA tutor and teacher trainer on the International House Online Teacher Training Institute where she tutors the International House Certificate (IHC), Director of Studies course and the Certificate in Advanced Methodology amongst others. Lisa is also an IELTS Speaking Examiner, IH and Eaquals inspector, a Cambridge Younger Learner and Main suite examiner, moderator for OTTI courses and has written material for OTTI and Oxford University Press. She has presented at the IH Teacher’s Online conference for 12 years in a row and at many other conferences on a number of topics such as collocation, visual literacy, teaching and learning beliefs and increasing the level of sophistication in students’ writing, and has helped candidates to prepare for DELTA modules 1 and 3.
>> Watch Lisa's testimonial
>> Watch "Lisa's Low Tech Lowdown", presentated by Lisa at the 2020 IH Teacher's Online Conference.
>> Watch "The Underrated Value of Failure", presented by Lisa at IH TOC 2019.
>> Watch "From teacher to ........: Career Pathways in ELT", an online IH Webinar presented by Lisa in October 2019.

Shannon Thwaites – Director of Studies - External Courses & Teacher
Shannon has been in ELT for 8 years and, prior to coming to Reggio Calabria, had taught in Poland and on pre-sessional university courses in the UK. During her time in Reggio Calabria, she has taught a wide range of levels and ages, from very young learners to adults, and from beginner to advanced levels. She has taught in state schools, often with large classes, and has led teacher training sessions both locally and internationally. She is Director of Studies for External Courses at ih BRITISH SCHOOL Reggio Calabria, where she enjoys liaising with local teachers. In her free time, she likes cooking and travelling, and is an avid Harry Potter fan.

Jennifer Veit – Director of Studies - Young Learners
Jennifer hails from New York, where she worked as a primary school music teacher after earning her Masters degree in music education from the City University of New York at Hunter College. She now lives in Reggio, where she has worked for ih British School Reggio Calabria for the past 14 years. In her current role as Director of Studies for Young learners, she specializes in teaching children ages 2-12 and provides training and support to fellow teachers. In her time at the school, she has become a teacher trainer, Cambridge Speaking Examiner and IH CYLT Tutor. Jennifer has completed her Delta Module 3 and, most recently, the IH Teacher Trainer course. “I really enjoy teaching Italian children, as their energy and curiosity are endless. They have a real desire to communicate and express themselves, which motivates them to learn and inspires me to teach.”
>> Watch Jen speak about what it's like for young learners to study with IH British School RC.