Investment in Students
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
What characterises CGS students?
Our students are tomorrow’s world shapers. Our purpose at CGS is to provide a holistic education that ensures they meet and contribute positively as highly effective global citizens. We recognise that investment in students is an investment in the future. We want our students to be academically successful, but this in itself is not sufficient to make them strong players in the wider world. The World Economic Forum, for example, lists ten skills that employers want from their employees: in 2023, it reported that analytical thinking and innovation, and active learning and learning strategies top the list of skills employers see as central over the next five years; equally critical are skills in self-management such as resilience, stress-tolerance, and flexibility. These skills are part of CGS’s agenda for developing outstanding students. In focusing on these wider skills, CGS seeks to develop students with social and moral values and beliefs which lead to responsible and caring individuals, self-awareness, compassion, and intellectual curiosity.
Dominic Tomalin, Principal, CATS Cambridge
How does CGS achieve this?
CGS expects its students to be committed to achieving the highest academic standards available to each student and to become the best version of themselves. To achieve this, CGS encourages its students to demonstrate three characteristics of effective learners:
- to become leaders of their own learning – that is, actively participate in all learning experiences offered to them
- to exhibit motivation and self-discipline,
- to be determined to pursue their academic aims and goals
(Oak Meadow, 2019).
Benson Ferrari, Headmaster, St Michael’s School
Success is expected of every student. Our schools will provide an environment that values every student’s talents and which will enable students to realise those abilities in every field of life.
Maria Coulter, Head, Bournemouth Collegiate School
We are committed to developing character education and resilience as a key learning characteristic. Students are expected to exhibit a growth mindset (Dweck, 2017); be organised; be persistent; learn from mistakes and move on; and exhibit flexibility and self-management.
We also work with our students to develop critical engagement: to question and probe existing areas of knowledge; to engage energetically and with purpose with the world around them; and to think independently, seeking to develop an informed voice.
Dominic Tomalin, Principal, CATS Cambridge
CGS wants its students to be world leaders and, importantly, world leaders who have values and beliefs, who are socially, morally, and spiritually strong, and who show compassion, kindness, tolerance, and understanding.
Jason Lewis, Headmaster, Bosworth Independent School
In addition, CGS can offer access to some of the world’s best cultural experiences, an integral part of students’ wider learning. CGS offers this cultural experience as an integral part of our students’ education, celebrating diversity, recognising that the most profound learning is often achieved through dialogue with each other and their surroundings.
“The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done.”
Jean Piaget
Our Education Philosophy
We have an unrelenting focus on the skills and knowledge our students really need from education to live and thrive in a complex and ambiguous world. Regardless of the CGS school, students benefit from our well-honed philosophy, which centres around investment in five key areas: students, teachers, curriculum (what to teach), pedagogy (how to teach), and boarding.
Investment in Students
Empowering students to become leaders of their own learning
Investment in Teachers
Professional development for teachers at every stage of their career
Investment in Curriculum
Creating a curriculum to help learners be the best that they can be
Investment in Pedagogy
Tailoring pedagogies to meet our students’ individual needs
Investment in Boarding
Creating a home away from home for boarders
