“The big shift has been to move from teacher-led learning —the sage on the stage — to student-centered learning, where the teacher’s role is to be the guide on the side,” explains CATS Cambridge Principal Stuart Wilson.
Long known for its 800+-year-old university namesake, the city of Cambridge of today is often described as Europe’s equivalent of Silicon Valley, a center for science and research. Just a short bicycle ride away from the university’s history-steeped campus is a much newer and also celebrated school: CATS College Cambridge, where the city’s inspirational setting is the backdrop for an innovative, forward-facing high school program for international students.
One of the best educational facilities in the United Kingdom, CATS Cambridge has attracted thousands of students from all over the world who aspire to progress to prestigious UK universities and meaningful futures in a globally connected world. Today, 420 students from 60 nations are enrolled, ranging in age from 14 to mid-20s.
The CATS Cambridge faculty and staff strive to combine exceptionally high-quality teaching with a deep understanding of each student’s individual needs. With a focus on both academic and personal development, the school offers students a supportive yet challenging learning environment, allowing them to thrive within the classroom and beyond. Central to CAT’s mission is a student-centered, active approach to learning.
“There are many different ways and styles of learning, and that’s doubly true at CATS where our students come from all over the world,” says CATS Cambridge Principal Stuart Wilson. “Our students aren’t just learning subjects. They’re learning to learn. For many, that’s the key. So we try to create situations that get students thinking, get them talking to each other, get them working with each other. If they’re just listening to a teacher, they’re not thinking.”
Recognizing the critical interdependency of pedagogy, technology and the spatial environment for successful active learning, in 2013 CATS Cambridge began planning for a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility. The overarching intent was to create an inspiring, innovative learning environment that would spur each student’s success. “We wanted a building that would genuinely express how we felt about teaching,” says Wilson. “There’s nothing worse than a situation where we want to accomplish something but have to compromise what we want to do.”
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