Central Bedfordshire College

Our aim is to inspire success through creative, critical, collaborative and caring thinking

Carolina and Divyesh are former Student Governors at Central Bedfordshire College. Their experience with the College led them to write the following.

“At Central Bedfordshire College, the teachers’ aim is that we learn to be self-confident, take pride in our work, and value others in the community. Then when the time comes, we’ll leave with great skills, qualifications and results. That’s why we put the four Cs at the heart of what we do at CBC: creative, critical, collaborative and caring thinking.

“We really encourage you to visit CBC – let us show you the facilities and the pride that is evident within our community. Read on to find out more about the four Cs.”

Creative thinking – we teach our students how to absorb new knowledge

Thinking creatively is when you are able to make connections between all the activities in which you are involved and use these in your study and future work to learn more effectively.

At CBC, you will learn a vocational or technical skill of your choosing, alongside Maths, English and IT. You’ll also take part in work experience programmes and tutorial and enrichment activities.
Thinking creatively means spotting the connections in these activities, and using these to learn well and produce a high standard of work.In your sessions at CBC, you’ll learn how to become a creative thinker – someone who can join up the dots. Creative thinking gives you the problem solving skills universities and employers are looking for.

Critical thinking – we teach our students how to be critical of ideas, not people

At CBC you’ll discover how to learn facts; how to analyse and evaluate what you learn; how to know when to challenge what you learn; and how to make decisions about what to do with the things you learn. In other words: we make sure you achieve your potential at college and beyond through helping you to harness your ability to think critically.

In your lessons, you’ll take part in discussions, forming points of view on current social, political or academic issues. You’ll listen critically to what your peers think, and develop your own opinions. You’ll learn how to apply your critical thinking to your learning while listening to and respecting one another’s views.

Critical thinking helps you to improve your work and also includes the way staff monitor students’ progress critically and systematically to provide reflective feedback and advice. You’ll learn how critical thinking helps you to face challenges, overcome problems when you are stuck, and be resilient when faced with obstacles.

Collaborative thinking – at CBC we understand the many complex reasons why students should learn to collaborate with one another

Collaborating with your peers helps you develop your thinking skills to a higher level. It increases your ability to retain knowledge and information and improves how you feel about yourself, making learning more enjoyable. Collaboration doesn’t just mean you learn together; it means you create ideas and give them meaning together.

Caring thinking – it matters to us that our students feel safe, and are able to study without fear of harassment

At CBC, we are a diverse community and welcome students from a wide range of ethnic and religious backgrounds, students with disabilities and learning difficulties, and students of different age groups. Our diversity is one of our main strengths.

In your sessions at CBC, you will listen to and share opinions on a range of social, political and academic topics with respect and appreciation for your peers’ points of view. At CBC, this is our way of building a strong and cohesive society now and in the future.

We are committed to providing a fully inclusive curriculum, designed to challenge our students to achieve the very best they can. We want you to feel excited about joining CBC and aim to ensure that any anxiety or fear you feel about starting your college journey is addressed. Our six week induction programme gives new students the time they need to get to know CBC and the people here, and to get a feel for the sense of pride our students have in CBC and in themselves.