Alun Ebenezer, headmaster of Fulham Boys School, gives a clarion call to Christians
Nelson Mandela said: ‘Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world’.
While I wouldn’t completely go along with the late Mr Mandela, I agree that education is powerful in shaping the way we think, behave and believe.
Indeed it is because education is so influential that many Christians are anxious about sending their children to state schools. They are particularly worried about the ungodly influences that will surround their children as society moves further away from God.
Bunker mentality?
The Bible makes clear that parents are primarily responsible for educating their children. On 26 occasions the book of Proverbs calls fathers to instruct their children, and on 13 occasions it calls mothers to do the same.
However, since family life seems to have broken down in Britain today, schools and other agencies are often required to play the role the family once did. We can argue that this shouldn’t be the case, but it is the reality with which we are faced today. As a result, many Christians are quite downcast and see no option other than to retreat from the world.
But Christians should never have that bunker mentality. While these days are not easy, we cannot feel sorry for ourselves, nor simply comment on the state of the nation, wishing we lived in better days. We are called to stand up and stand out for Christ at ‘such a time as this’. Current education policy (particularly the need for more ‘outstanding’ schools) means that this is potentially a very exciting time. For it is a time when Christians can set up independent government-funded schools. At The Fulham Boys School (FBS) we have grasped this nettle.
Imparting values and gospel
FBS is built upon Christian values, as revealed in the Bible and as demonstrated by Christ. These values have an impact on every area of our school life. They have an impact on learning, behaviour, pastoral care, and pupil and staff welfare. Teachers regularly draw attention to the Christian values of the school, which tie in with the government’s emphasis on promoting ‘British values’.
But these values alone don’t make a school Christian. What really makes FBS a school built on the Christian faith is that we proclaim the message of the Bible and present the boys with the claims of Christ. This is done explicitly in our assemblies. As well as a talk by the chaplain, the Bible is read, hymns are sung (with real gusto!) and we pray. Many boys (and staff) may well reject Christ and show no interest in him, but it is important that all are introduced to him during their time at FBS. Eight members of staff at the school who are not Christians are reading Christian books. On the school gate three boys – a Muslim, a boy from a Christian home, and an atheist – were discussing penal substitution!
Teaching critical thinking
So how do we get away with being so unashamedly biblical? In short, it comes down to ‘how’ we teach, as well as ‘what’ we teach. We never hide or dumb down the fact we are a school built upon the Christian faith. We expose our boys to what Christians believe, but encourage them to evaluate it. We don’t force them to believe it. We have created an environment that encourages thinking and questioning. We would urge other schools to do the same.
Ofsted inspection
There is absolutely no place in schools for brainwashing or extremist views to be forced upon young people. Schools should be transparent with nothing to hide or be ashamed of. Jesus taught openly, and (far from brainwashing) asked over 150 questions, always encouraging people to question and think. He had nothing to hide and urged his followers not to teach secretly, but openly. The Apostle Paul, said that he was ‘not ashamed’ of the Christian message (Romans 1.16). If what we are teaching children cannot be ‘inspected’ then we shouldn’t be teaching it. Indeed, it is the core purpose of schools to make students think and question. And as long as it is done in a balanced way, it should, therefore, be expected that a school should expose young people to the claims of the Bible.
Winston Churchill said: ‘True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous and conflicting information.’ The current bias against Creation, for example, flies in the face of this. No student or teacher should feel inferior for holding the view that ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’. In May 2017, Ofsted commented: ‘Debate and discussion are encouraged through an active Christian Union, which the pupils told inspectors they value very much’
Encouraging excellence
As well as encouraging our pupils to think and question, as a Christian school we have a duty and responsibility to be excellent. The reason why many schools with a religious designation have failed is because, quite frankly, they weren’t good enough.
They set up a school simply as a vehicle to promote their faith. At FBS we have pledged to be one of the best schools in the country – state or private – in the next ten years. To be outstanding we have to have outstanding teachers so we only appoint teachers who are outstanding or have the potential to be outstanding. Not all our teachers are Christians (only about a third). As a Christian headmaster, my responsibility is to appoint the best teachers.
Getting involved
I hope you are reading this thinking how can we get more schools like this? Well this is the exciting bit. The government have approached us to set up more schools. We see this as an amazing opportunity and hope to have schools across London and the rest of the country over the next few years. The schools will be part of a Trust called The Charles Spurgeon Schools. While the Trust will do much of what is required to establish and look after these schools, to make it happen, other things and people are needed, hence this ‘clarion call’. These include:
• Members from local churches to form a group (this could be from a collection of churches as well as including non-Christians) to be founders and governors of the local school. The team needs to be professional and credible and must include the following skill set: Architect, Legal, Finance, Marketing, Public Relations, Primary School Liaison/Community, Education. I am sure there are such people in our churches.
• A wide group of volunteers to assist with building evidence of demand (as distinct from need) for a school. This network – often parents – will be the school’s ambassadors on the ground, getting the community excited about it, and gathering evidence of support.
• God to raise up talented teachers to enter the profession
• Prayer!
If you are interested, please get in touch [a.ebenezer@fulhamboysschool.org.uk]. In March 2018 we are planning a half-day conference in London for parents, teachers, church leaders, church members, any interested parties, to go through all of this in more detail. Look out for more information on this event.
For such a time as this…
Education in Britain at the moment is in the melting pot, as in fact is society as a whole, and we have been put in this situation for such a time as this. This is a great opportunity and surely one we should take. Imagine lots of schools, with thousands of young people and their families, up and down our land, founded on the Christian faith, hearing the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ, exposed to the teaching of the Bible, open to all, committed to excellence and capable of standing up to the most intense scrutiny.
Under God, who knows what may be achieved. They may even be used to turn this nation upside down!
