We want to ensure future generations of Godly people rooted and established in their faith and with an unselfish, confident, and serving outlook on the world. We want to train the students to live out their faith with the strength of character and wisdom.
The vision of that school, to have leaders for the next generation, was set alight in Dr. and Mrs. Lewis during the time that their children attended that school, and Mrs. Lewis worked there. Dr. and Mrs. Lewis came to Manchester with happy experiences of ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) and a belief that it would make an excellent starting place for the school. Initially, they planned to replace this with a British curriculum.
For some time the Lower School and Junior School used a part ACE and part National curriculum, while the Senior School used a British curriculum alone and progressed to GCSE. We were delighted with our results. At GCSE students performed extremely well and were placed at several leading independent schools for 6th form. We were increasingly unhappy with the National Curriculum itself – not just the material, but the philosophy it was unwittingly imparting to the students, especially at GCSE. At this point, the NCSC (now ICCE) was set up by Christian Education Europe. (CEE, our curriculum provider. Visit them at www.christian-education.org). We began tentatively, taking one student right the way through to 18. This student far surpassed the success of our previous students, which resulted in recognition from the university (communicated verbally and recognized by scholarships and the highest placing in the year). This was achieved while strengthening her Christian commitment.
Accelerated Christian Education’s program is individualized and non-graded. It is designed to allow students to work at their level of achievement, which may vary from subject to subject. The core curriculum is an individualized, Biblically-based, character-building curriculum package. It is this curriculum that the reading programs (‘Preschool with Ace and Christi’, and ‘ABCs with Ace and Christi’) prepare students to enter. It is integrated with these “early years” programs to provide a quick start for beginning students. However, it will do much more than that. Accelerated Christian Education’s curriculum enables students to progress through high school, successfully preparing them for further and higher education and performance in the world of work.
The term “core” is used to distinguish the foundational courses from the enhancement courses in Accelerated Christian Education’s expanded curriculum. The core curriculum provides students with academics, skill-building, reading practice, character and wisdom training, and knowledge of God and His Word.
The Infant Learning Centre is the place for new readers. The students progress from the ABCs, once they have passed the Post Test, to the Infants. Here they grow in confidence with their reading and continue to build skills and develop wisdom. They have new reading and comprehension skills to learn in Science and Social Studies PACEs.
The Infants are developing in responsibility, learning to set their own goals and score their work with the assistance of the staff. They are also learning to take care of their property, to dress, and to clear up after themselves. They learn about their responsibility to other people and the world around them. They learn to have a good understanding of who they are, where they come from, and to develop self-control and self-esteem.
The Juniors are laying down foundations of knowledge, skills, and self-discipline for the future. They have a balance of individual and group work. One of their most crucial developments is learning to work independently and to play interdependently.
They work on their PACEs with an increased amount of responsibility and independence. They are constantly developing their communication skills through interactions with the teacher, with their class, during break times, and in quizzes, Oral and Book Reports. The afternoon lessons provide a wide selection of practical lessons that enrich the PACE work. Music, Art and Design Technology, French, and Practical Science are just some of these. The Juniors work in a variety of different settings with a range of group activities, also having their own space to concentrate at their desks.
The Seniors follow a higher, more complex level of the structured ACE program. Throughout the morning the students work on the theoretical side of their education and core curriculum and in the afternoon they concentrate on the practical and applying the theoretical. They present project work and participate in group work and discussions. They are honing the work-study skills that have been developed throughout the school.
Students are always focused on setting their own goals and being responsible for their work and achievement. They are actively involved in their education from the Lower School and the fruit of that is seen in the Senior Learning Centre.
