Christian Schools - anyone send/sent kids to one?

[horseymum]

There are plans to start a Christian school in our area and wonderered what people thought about them. It will be run by evangelical Christians, broadly following the National Curriculum but Christ-centred. DS1 is only 2 just now so we don't have to make any decisions yet but just interested to know good or bad experiences of sending children to a christian school. (not a C of E one)It will aim not to isolate children from the world but build chharacter and godliness to enable them to deal with it. Not decided yet if this is what we want, we only know that we are quite concerned about what they get taught in schools as well as behaviour issues etc, particularly at High School.

Dd is 2 as well and dh and I have the same concerns about what our daughter will be taught so we have decided to home school her. We have some friends who home school their 3 teenage children (they took them out of secondary school a year ago) and follow a Christian cirriculum which is based on Chritst's characteristics and biblical principals atc.

I don't know whether this is an option for you,whether you want to or not I just wanted to encourage you that I absolutely think it's worth considering a Christian school.

I know that the network of churches dh was a member of ran a Christian school in NW England. It was tiny, but the exam results were great and it suddenly got a huge waiting list. Not sure everyone on the waiting list quite understood the ethos of the school though!

There are plans for one near(ish) here too, but it would be fee paying which rules it out for us anyway.

I'm very very happy with our local primary, but a little worried about our (only) local secondary - mainly because of it's reputation as having a massive drug problem - like many rural secondaries.

The school I went to was a Christian school, but not in the sense that you and I are thinking of in this thread, in that our headmaster was evangelical and we had "proper" Bible teaching at assembly etc. Again that was independent so ruled out for us and our budget. I loved it though and although the faith issue was present, it was never forced.

However in a Christian school in this context, much as I would no doubt agree with the ethos and basis of faith behind it, I would be concerned about how sheltered an upbringing it could create. It's all very well being taught about other belief (or non belief) systems, but another thing to encounter them and be intellectually challenged by them daily.

I became a Christian as a teenager, so I would like to know that my children had made the decision for themselves rather than feeling obligated because of pressure from their school or parents. Living in an exclusively Christian community isn't real life. And real life can seem all the more tempting if it's seen from a distance. It's often the minister's kids who rebel the most IME

Just pondering out loud really. I can see why people feel the need, but personally I would rather children from christian homes were given opportunities to respond through camps, clubs, events, friendship or church, rather than part of school.

There have been some concerns about a small number of the Christian academies, where creationism is taught as an equally scientifically valid theory as evolution. I would personally be concerned about Christian mythology being taught as scientific fact. It would probably be worth you finding out more about the individuals or consortium behind the school - in some cases academy sponsors have a great deal of power. And 'evangelical Christian' covers such a broad range, from relatively mainstream Christianity through to real fundamentalism.

Evolution's just a theory too

My teen neice and nephew go to an independent christian school, and have done since they started pre-school (it's all on one campus kinda thing). All of the teachers thee, and most families, are committed christians, and christianity does form the basis for everything there.

I've watched and thought and concluded that whilst it is brilliant for my sis's dc, it's not a choice I would make (although I am a christian too). My niece and nephew are so respectful, so lovely and confident. Nephew has just started GSCEs and is doing phenomenally well. So it is great for them, as long as they handle the transition from this very shelterd life to university.

So why not me? Well, it is a bit sheltered. I'd rather that my dc went to a school where they learn to be friends with all types of children from all sorts of backgrounds. Yes there's the risk that they fall in with "the wrong crowd" but if they learn to handle different kinds of people from a young age (with your help) then it's much more likely that they'll grow up being able to handle themselves in the big bad world.

I'm not saying that christian scholing is a bad thing. It's an individual choice.

I went to a Christian school, and given the choice again, I never would have gone and I don't think my parents would have sent me. Naturally, you only encounter a very narrow group of people (with very very narrow views), and it was a very oppressive environment. The other problem was that the school (and the church it was based around) started getting involved in some pretty nutty stuff, like annointing people with olive oil during assemblies, people falling over "overcome" by the "Holy Spirit", all sorts of bizarre behaviour, and if you questioned it, you told that you weren't a good believer or that you were too concerned with the flesh. Also, we were taught by some pretty dodgy people. My maths teacher when I was 12 was hired because he was a good youth pastor, not a good maths teacher. My marks dropped from As to Cs (as did other students), but instead I was disciplined for being lazy.

For those of us who weren't totally involved in the church and the school it was a total nightmare. The whole experience put me off Christianity for life, and I can't even walk near a church without getting freaked out.

Nah. It was an evangelical Christian school. Sorry, should've made that clear before freaking a whole bunch of people out.

hiya horseymum, just wondered in what area the evangelical school is hoping to be set up. I am very concerned about the influences and peer pressure that is put on children from an early age. We need more Christian schools, as society is becoming more secularly, and embracing immoral practices.

My friends sent their child (now 18) to a independant Christian school and it hasn't made the slightest difference, she is the most obnoxious teen I know and it wou;d not surprise me if she is pregnant having gone off the rails when she was 15.

I have 3, a 17,14 and 5 yr old and they all went (the youngest still is at) to our local C of E where most if not all the teaching staff is Christian. The eldest two are at 6th form and C of E High but are not Christian but the 14 yr old has Christian assembly as it is part of the Manchester Diocese.

I took the older two to church while they were younger but they made their own decisions, I cannot make them go. The youngest comes at the moment but I suppose he will also drift away, I can only do my best. I don't think they should be forced to go.

I go to a church which runs a Christian primary school, and wishes to expand in that area. We also have 2 other similar schools in the area. All 3 are independent.

My dcs do not go to any of these, which was a slightly controversial decision as we are in leadership. The main danger that I see in these schools is that their primary objective is to be a Christian school. It tends to mean that their Christian nature, however expressed, takes precedence over everything else, including the needs of the children, staff and parents, as well as the wider community.

I would ask questions about the how the staff are recruited, trained and retained and managed and check that you are happy not just with the character of the staff but their ability to teach in its very broadest sense, including desiging and delivering the curriculum to a wide range of abilities. How does the school manage different abilities within classes and how are educational and behavioral needs managed. I would also suggest that you look around a range of both state and other private schools to see what facilities are available You can also check on what other schools do in terms of nurturing and character-building.

On the positive side the schools seem to have an incredibly strong family atmosphere with very easy integration for the youngest. The downside is that there is a huge jump from the primary school to the very good CofE secondary schools in terms of campus size and class size as well as expectations.

I wouldn't call those things abusive (er, cos they're things I teach my children) but I agree with justa that those are good questions to ask.

Agreed, justa - which is why I said they were good questions to ask, and also why we cut out the middle-man and HE

I think that the other thing to keep an eye on is that if the school is just starting up then you won't have much of a track record to go on. And looking at our church school the applicants that you tend to get for starting school in years other than reception are those who have had some level of difficulty within other (often state) schools.

Oh yes, Justa. One of our main reasons for HE is our 'ethos' of education is different to the school model anyway.
Every parent is responsible for the education of their children - the vast majority delegate it to a school, we prefer to be much more hands on, so that 'education' is something that is part and parcel of the day-to-day, rather than 'something you do at school'.

The 'faith' element of things is just one of our motivations. We do have friends who send their children to Christian schools and we did consider it, but in all honesty, the only faith school I'd be happy with would be a nice, normal CofE primary like I went to. Our friends children come home having spent lessons learning to 'speak in tongues' and get 'prophecies' for one another, and that would be totally unacceptable to us.

Although I'm not a Christian I did send my dd to one. There were several reasons for this, among them was bullying by other children and her teacher. She was interested in the Christian faith and I wanted to encourage it.

It was the worse thing I ever did

She completely went off Christianity. She learned that women were second class citizens, while boys seemed to get away with anything girls were corrected on every thing. Including when she said someone had stolen her pencils and was reprimanded for making such an accusation. Yet when one of the boys handed them over - all broken - the teacher said nothing. 'he apologised for accidently breaking them'. What all 8 of them?

When she started wearing a training bra and the boys picked on her she told the teacher. The teacher told her to stop wearing the training bra and getting the boys into trouble. I wrote to the HT on that one asking for advice. IE what were the guidelines, were they based on age, cupsize or the maturity of her male peers.

I think the final straw for me and her was when the parents got up a petition to have her removed because she had the audacity to say humans were animals belonging to the mammal family.

Sadly my daughter learned early on that while individual christians can be wonderful people as a group they can be small minded and intollerant of others.

A friends daughter who went to a CofE school was booted out of the door as soon as she finished her exams for getting pregnant. Up till that point she was being encouraged to go to sixth form, but any offer was immediately withdrawn as soon as they found out.

Personally I think it was the best thing to happen to her. She travels for two hours to get to college one day a week and works in a hair salon four days. She is a great mum and works hard to provide for her child and to get a skill so she can support herself and her daughter. It is much harder on her but I honestly believe she is much better off where she is now.

In both cases while based around a church and Christian ethos they accept children who are not christian or go to church. In my case I actually paid for the privelage of my daughter losing her faith

The second one we went to view when dd was looking for a secondary school. I was not impressed with the way they spoke to parents, let alone the children.

I am sure there are good ones, but personally I'm not impressed by them.

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Yes, really enjoying this thread for the non-inflammatory accusations of child abuse. I do love a rationalist materialist.

Hang on, hang on, I'm a RC and my children went to a CoE school. NONE of us were EVER taught anything about creationism. We all learned about evolution.

Check your facts, Trolleydolly!

And child abuse?????? Think very carefully before you use expressions like that.

Hang on, hang on, I'm a RC and my children went to a CoE school. NONE of us were EVER taught anything about creationism. We all learned about evolution.

Check your facts, Trolleydolly!

And child abuse?????? Think very carefully before you use expressions like that.

Message withdrawn