Those prophesying the end of school nativity plays for political reasons aren't taking into account Debbie Isitt's new five-star rated Christmas family movie, suggests one educational charity.
Set in Coventry, Nativity! centres round two primary schools - one Catholic state, one private - vying to stage the best play in town. The film gently explores themes of redemption, reconciliation and the deeper meaning of the season.
Starring Martin Freeman as a frustrated, under-achieving primary schoo…
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Added by Dave Roberts on November 25, 2009 at 8:20am —
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More than half of British adults think that intelligent design and creationism should be taught alongside evolution in school science lessons – a proportion higher than in the US. An Ipsos Mori survey questioned 11,768 adults from 10 countries on how the theory of evolution should be taught in school science lessons.
About 54% of the 973 polled Britons agreed with the view: "Evolutionary theories should be taught in science lessons in schools together with other possible perspectives, such as i…
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Added by Dave Roberts on November 23, 2009 at 11:36am —
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Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, has set out a devastating critique of the "oppressive" English education system accusing successive governments of prioritising test marks over children's spiritual or emotional happiness.
The school system is now so results-driven that children are in danger of being written off as failures at an early age, he warned in a speech at Lambeth Palace marking a major expansion of the church's academy programme. He claimed teachers had been undermined an…
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Added by Dave Roberts on November 23, 2009 at 11:32am —
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Into The Bible is a very useful RE resource for Key Stage 2 from Scripture Union. Do check it out and make know to any contacts. Great way of connecting church and school and helping with RE in this way.
http://www.scriptureunion.org.uk/YourCommunity/Schools/Resources/IntotheBible/23786.id Continue
Added by Dave Roberts on November 23, 2009 at 11:26am —
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Over the last 15 years I have been involved with Slough Baptist Church based on an initiative for local primary schools that has been very well received. My heart is to see it develop wider and I wanted to let you know about it for your information and action if you think appropriate.
The idea is that a local primary school visits a local Church for a morning or afternoon to focus on Christmas. The aim: To provide a warm welcome to the children and staff who attend and to communicate the story…
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Added by Dave Roberts on November 4, 2009 at 2:59pm —
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Lots of us have been doing harvest assemblies this week in our primary and secondary schools. Here’s one I came across that shows a different approach to a harvest assembly. It’s designed for KS1 and KS2 (P1-P7 in Scotland) by Spinnaker and takes a refreshing look at harvest.
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Added by Dave Roberts on October 2, 2009 at 6:00pm —
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Research by The Daily Telegraph shows schools in a third of local authorities have already moved to a standard year – creating a fixed two-week break irrespective of the Easter weekend.
Teachers and education officials insist the system is vital to help schools’ long-term planning. They also claim the more regular holiday allows parents to plan trips and book time off work. But religious leaders criticised the move, saying tradition was being sacrificed “for the sake of convenience”.
It comes…
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Added by Dave Roberts on October 1, 2009 at 6:22am —
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In its first ever Educational Review, the Church in Wales claims that its schools “perform strongly” across the country, with Key Stage 2 results in core subjects “consistently above” the Welsh average.
The review, released by the Church’s Governing Body today, examined data from the independent Fischer Family Trust.
It refutes claims by critics that faith schools are selective, concluding that almost 80 per cent of the Church’s 168 schools serve the children in their locality “without regard…
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Added by Dave Roberts on September 21, 2009 at 3:43pm —
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TRAINING IN SCHOOLS WORK
Schools work is an increasingly significant area of youth and children’s ministry. This residential course is designed for those new to schools work as well as those with some experience or who are working in schools as a part of a wider role as church-based youth or children’s workers – both paid and unpaid. It is suitable for people working in primary or secondary schools. As well as thinking about the theological underpinning of schools work there will be practical se…
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Added by Dave Roberts on September 3, 2009 at 6:15am —
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Jennie Cain, who was told to stay away from her job for nearly four months before receiving a written warning over the affair, has lodged a complaint with Exeter employment tribunal. She alleges that she and her five-year-old daughter were discriminated against and harassed because of their religion and that the school was “anti-Christian”. Mrs Cain’s clash with Landscore Primary School, in Crediton, Devon, was first reported by The Daily Telegraph in February.…
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Added by Dave Roberts on August 28, 2009 at 2:04pm —
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Stats from the DCSF last month showed how many children had reached early learning goals as a baseline before the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage from September 2008, and revealed a gender gap with girls outperforming boys. One in four boys couldn't write their own name compared with 15% of girls, and one in five couldn't count to ten. Girls were also found to be more creative than boys, whereas boys had a slightly better 'knowledge and understanding of the world' with 54% abl…
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Added by Dave Roberts on August 28, 2009 at 9:37am —
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A survey has found 24 Catholic primary schools in the North West and the Midlands teach a minority of churchgoing children. Fewer than one in 10 children are Catholic at one school in Birmingham, while the Church is ending its involvement with a similar establishment in Blackburn.
Overall, Catholics make up 73.34 per cent of pupils at the 2,300 schools linked to the denomination across England and Wales. But The Tablet, a weekly Catholic magazine, found that in Oldham, Blackburn, Wolverhampton…
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Added by Dave Roberts on August 27, 2009 at 1:10pm —
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The Archbishop of Wales has warned that allowing 16-year-olds to opt out of prayer in assembly could lead to the marginalisation of religion in schools.
Writing in the Times Educational Supplement, Dr Barry Morgan said letting sixth-formers withdraw from collective worship could leave them “narrowly focused on personal attainment”.
"Collective worship has been branded as something that young people grow out of by the age of 16, at precisely the time when it might be the best way of feeding bot…
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Added by Dave Roberts on August 14, 2009 at 5:56am —
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Almost every Jewish school in the country has been plunged into chaos after the Court of Appeal found one school in north London racially discriminated against a boy. He was rejected because his mother was not born Jewish. Legal experts said the case would leave schools operating similar admissions policies open to appeals from parents.
They insisted it would not directly affect England's 6,700 Anglican and Roman Catholic schools. But it will inevitably focus attention on the admissions arrange…
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Added by Dave Roberts on July 22, 2009 at 10:39am —
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Children who take part in learning sessions designed to engage their parents as well, show improved communication, confidence and interpersonal skills, according to an Ofsted report. The inspectorate visited 36 family learning classes in schools, children's centres and a library, and found that, following the sessions, children were said to be settling better in class and had improved relationships with teachers and other children. Inspectors found family learning could also lead to qualificatio…
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Added by Dave Roberts on July 20, 2009 at 9:18am —
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Sex education is set to become part of the National Curriculum from September 2011 under plans to make personal, social and health education (PSHE) compulsory in schools. It is hoped the move will help tackle teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among young people.
But CYP Now has learned that a consultation due to end next Friday (24 July), will raise concerns that sex education will have minimal impact unless the lessons are made compulsory.
Sir Alasdair Macdonald's review o…
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Added by Dave Roberts on July 17, 2009 at 5:34pm —
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Orison is an interactive, spiritual experience which exists to encourage people of all ages to consider questions of spirituality and to engage with God through creative, hands-on prayer activities by working in conjunction with the National Curriculum Guidelines for Religious Education. The material is developed and run by two qualified teachers, one primary and one secondary, as part of the Grassroots Trust, a registered charity through which Orison is funded by voluntary donations. Orison in…
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Added by Dave Roberts on July 14, 2009 at 1:32pm —
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We have been asked to do a Y10 lesson looking at the literalist and non-literalist Christian views of the Genesis creation story. Has anyone done a similar lesson, have any resources or ideas for this?
Thanks
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Added by Dave Roberts on July 3, 2009 at 10:54am —
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An Eastbourne based group is seeking to support Family Education Trust (http://www.famyouth.org.uk/) and their publication "Too much too soon", and be part of a response to a public consultation.
The Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) has launched a 12 week public consultation on its plans for PSHE, including sex and relationships education. The consultation is being managed by the Qualification and Curriculum Authority.
They are keen to hear from PARENTS and from FAITH groups…
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Added by Dave Roberts on July 3, 2009 at 9:01am —
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Former prime minister Tony Blair today launched a new global education programme designed to put children from different faiths in contact with each other to aid understanding.
Mr Blair said he believed that religious differences played a part in many international conflicts. "If you look round the different parts of the world and you look at conflicts, I would say a very large percentage of them have a religious dimension or a faith dimension to them," said Mr Blair at the launch at the London…
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Added by Dave Roberts on June 23, 2009 at 10:55am —
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Nativity plays not dead yet?
