About Us

To start, we "think" differently. We recognize that not all students learn in the same way. Just as we have different senses for taking in information about the outside world, learners have different ways of taking in information. There are many different learning styles and we need to be supportive of all of them.

At City College Stratford, classes/workplace are learner centred and at times learner directed. While we work with learners as a group, we ensure that they are comfortable with the material by supporting their learning style.

Learners are encouraged to experiment and fail; we don't penalize them for making mistakes. People usually learn more from mistakes than successes. If we take away the fear of failure and encourage its use as a learning tool, learners will naturally reach for greater and greater achievements instead of only attempting what they already know they can succeed at.

PILLARS OF EDUCATION

Global Citizenry: We believe that the next generation must be globally educated and the best way to do that is to live, learn and work together.

Entrepreneurship: We believe that entrepreneurship is a fundamental way to develop and implement new ideas both as a business owner and as an employee within an organization. Entrepreneurship is about thinking creatively and critically and being able to act with the tools of enterprise.

Environmental Sustainability: We believe that the earth is our home and needs to be respected and maintained and enhanced. We will learn how to do this together with ideas from around the world.

Technology: We believe that technology is a tool that can create positive change by connecting people and ideas from many cultures, disciplines, and philosophies. Learning how to use technology responsibly and creatively is critical for change.

EDUCATIONAL APPROACH

Multiple learning styles: Every person learns differently so we determine the best approach for each person through initial and ongoing assessments

Experiential learning: Learning by doing is one of the most effective ways to discover and retain knowledge so we set up many opportunities for students to experience the curriculum first hand.

Experimentation: Discovery is essential to developing thinking capacity. We encourage students to come up with ideas, research and experiment. This is where new knowledge is discovered and failed experiments become opportunities for learning and trying again.

Critical thinking: Being able to question what we learn is the basis of innovation. Students are asked to question what they learn, and answer their own questions through research, discussion, experimentation and analysis. They are asked to come up with problems to solve and then to solve them.

Group and individual: Learning is achieved through self reflection and group discussion. Both will be used in order to develop internal and external communication skills.

Practitioner supported: We believe that learning from people who are practicing in their field is an excellent way to connect theory to reality – these are our City College Stratford Points. We connect our students with real life work environment such as care home, retail, business admin, hospitality and entrepreneurs so that they start to learn what is needed in the working environment and begin building bridges with potential mentors.

Qualified and experienced Tutor/Assessor/Lecturer: We only hire the Tutor/Assessor/Lecturer that is the best fit for our model of learning. They are skilled in working with multiple learning styles and in communicating with youth. They are supportive of student centred learning and are credentialed teachers.

We are part of a movement to Change Education Paradigms!

We work with Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) as Sub-Contractor and various funded Projects in classroom or workplace based qualifications.