Creationist school gets outstanding report, according to the BBC News, 26 April 2006. Emmanuel College in Gateshead, a school which allows students to discuss evidence for creation, is one of only 12 secondary schools in the UK to have received three consecutive top ratings from Oftsted – a British education authority. The school not only produced good academic results but was praised for the “excellent behaviour and very high levels of attendance” and that “students feel safe and secure and, while expected to conform to the college’s rules and expectations, are encouraged to express freely their own views and articulate personal feelings.” The college’s head teacher, Jonathan Winch, commented: “Visitors to the college often ask what our secret is and inspectors pretty much put their finger on it when they wrote: ‘The specific Christian ethos of the college ensures that the students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development lies at the heart of all that it does’.”
Editorial Comment: Many secular schools are despairing over behaviour problems and lack of motivation to learn, especially in the sciences, yet they refuse to take notice of what schools like Emmanuel College are doing to make such a success. The difference is not just being able to discuss creation, but the benefit of teaching students man was created in God’s image as part of the Christian ethos. Teaching them that they are unique creations and the world is an orderly place filled with amazing design, gives students a reason for using their minds, exploring the world and relating to other people in a respectful way. In the ordinary secular school students learn they have evolved, and therefore they are just one more animal. The world around them is merely the result of chance random processes. No wonder they lose interest in learning in a disciplined way and just want to please themselves in a “survival of the fittest” world. (Ref. teaching, philosophy, sociology)
Evidence News 10th May 2006