Initiative to launch Christian school in Norwich 

With two initiatives looking at setting up Christian schools in Norwich, Elizabeth Davey from Community Action Norwich, explains the vision and thinking behind the Bilney Classical Christian School.

Why a Christian school is needed
Compared with in 1983, when 66% of the population identified as Christian, in 2019, the statistics had decreased to 38%. This decline that we are seeing is generational. Christian parents only have a 50% chance of raising believing children.
 
Children average 30 hours a week in school, which influences the way they think and view life. In contrast, the church is often only given one hour a week for spiritual education. It is within these so called 'neutral' schools the most forceful secularisation of our children is taking place.

In effect, we are seeing Judges 2:10 played out amongst our children; 'When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.'
 
As Einstein famously said, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’ The reality is, something is not working, and to continue as if it were fine is detrimental to the spiritual health of our children and of this nation.
 
If, as Scripture clearly states, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,’ (Proverbs 1:7) then how can we expect our children to become wise apart from being instructed in the fear of the Lord? God has been expelled from the classroom and yet we continue to send our children to these institutions to be taught what to think and believe. Is it any surprise that if we send our children to Caesar to be educated, that they come back as Romans?
 
Christian Education is not indoctrination as the world might claim, but parents choosing how to raise and educate their children according to their beliefs, as commanded in Scripture to bring children up ‘in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.’ (Ephesians 6:4) The truth is that their worldview is being shaped wherever they are educated and the question we must ask ourselves is are we happy for them to develop a secular worldview (the result of which we are seeing in the mass exodus of young people from the faith) or do we want to equip our children with a biblical worldview through which they can engage all aspects of life?

Vision
We believe that the foundation to all knowledge is Christ. As such, any learning that is apart from Him is lacking to some extent. In Jesus we find all wisdom, truth and life.
 
Students
We aim to nurture and cultivate students as they mature from saplings through to mighty oaks. The oak tree is a relatable image here in the UK, with most trees reaching a height between 20-40m. Unknown to many, however, is that the root systems of mature trees can total hundreds of miles. We seek to produce men and women who are extensively rooted and established in Christ and the Word of God.

If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, what better goal is there than to see men and women whose lives are a display of His glory and splendour. As their roots go deep, the fruit that they bear will be the fruit of the Spirit.
 
Heritage
Our vision is to restore the Christian heritage of education in this city. Christians were at the forefront of excellence in education over a period of close to 1000 years. As standards of education decline, the gap has opened for Christians to once again restore the ancient ruins. By offering high standards of education we can show the emptiness of what the world has to offer.

Part of our vision to restore the places long devastated is to see places of Christian education restored to their original purpose. One such place is the Carrow School on Carrow Hill. Now divided into residential properties, our vision is to see this once Christian school returned to educating men and women in the diligent and careful teaching of the Sacred Scriptures.
 
Culture and curriculum
Imagine a culture that expects great things from its children. Too often, students are believed to be capable of too little and the result is poor achievements and low aspirations. But what if we had high expectations of them and encouraged them to achieve great things? Classical Christian Education (CCE) is a method of education that works alongside the student’s natural development by taking advantage of their natural inclinations through the stages of Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric, as laid out in the essay 'The Lost Tools of Learning' by Dorothy L. Sayers.
 
The Grammar stage makes use of the child’s desire and ability to learn things by rote (you notice how easily children pick up nursery rhymes). The information they learn at this stage need not be understood, the ability to analyse will be developed later.
 
The Logic stage directs the pre-teen desire to argue into critical thinking skills. As they want to push boundaries and question ideas, debate and research are encouraged and those facts they learnt previously can now be analysed and tested.
 
The Rhetoric stage encourages the student to be independent and expressive, and they are taught to think creatively and express themselves clearly and eloquently. At this stage, they will likely show special interest towards certain subjects, or even a desire to focus on a more vocational subject.
 
Throughout this curriculum, knowledge is not only encouraged, but also virtue. What use is it to raise a child who is knowledgeable, yet unkind and lacking in integrity? The curriculum teaches children to love ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable.’ (Philippians 4:8)
 
We plan to start with a small cohort, ages ranging between 6-8 and each year to grow with the new September intake, beginning September 2024.

Who is backing your plan/partners?
This is a faith venture. God has given us the vision and we believe that God will provide all we need. Several people who have caught the vision have begun to support this project through prayer and generous donations and we are deeply thankful for the faithfulness of those who have responded to God’s direction in this way.
 
For more information contact Elizabeth on: beth@communityactionnorwich.co.uk or visit:
www.newhopechristiancentre.co.uk/bilney-classical-christian-school