ACTS Christianity pack for UK schools

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ACTS Christianity pack for UK schools

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ACTS Christianity pack for UK schools

Country/Region: United Kingdom, Europe

Watch the ACTS introductory video.

Christianity is being rapidly squeezed out of many Western schools by an agenda that is hostile to Christian teachings and values.

Secondary schools won the right to opt out of the legal requirement to provide a daily act of worship that is “broadly Christian” in character. (October 2010)

Education Secretary Michael Gove warned that state schools in Birmingham have been targeted by Islamic extremists trying to infiltrate the education system. (November 2010)

Church of England schools in Blackburn received Muslim Council of Britain “Books for Schools” packs as part of a dawa project to reach 23,000 primary schools. (December 2010)

A London RE teacher was beaten up by a Muslim gang for “teaching other religions to our sisters”. (July 2010)

Ministers recommended that children as young as five learn about minority faiths. (2009)

A five-year-old girl was left in tears after being reprimanded for talking about Jesus to friends in class. (2008)

Two schoolboys were given detention for refusing to say Islamic prayers in an RE lesson. (January 2010)

Assisting Christianity Teaching in Schools

Many people, including teachers, have highlighted the need for better materials for teaching Christianity in schools. Many churches and individual Christians are already working with schools in their local communities. To help meet this need and support Christians who are actively involved, a school pack about Christianity (ACTS – Assisting Christianity Teaching in Schools) is now available for individuals or churches to sponsor and donate as a gift to their local schools. The main pack is aimed at Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11), whilst a bonus pack for Key Stage 1 or lower Key Stage 2 is also available.

ACTS is one step towards reaching out to schools and equipping them with material that will make a difference. It is intended to motivate the churches to support schools in their communities in the teaching of Christianity as part of the RE syllabus at primary level. It also provides an opportunity for churches and individual Christians to invest in material that will assist teachers in their presentation of Christianity and introduce Christian reference and reading books into the school libraries.

This pack consists of four key areas:

Basics of Christianity
Bible Reference
Character Development
Life and Teachings of Jesus

Basics of Christianity

“Christianity Unpacked” from RE:Quest provides children with a clear understanding of the main themes of the Bible and the core beliefs of Christians. Interactive presentation slides and printable material answer the question, “What’s it like to be a Christian?”, explain how special celebration days are related to core beliefs, and express how the life and teachings of Jesus are central to life as a Christian.

Bible Reference

This section of the pack provides material that will support and aid the delivery of “Basics of Christianity” and illustrate and explain teaching about the Bible. A dynamic collection of educational resources will be a valuable investment for any school library. “Bible Reference” include items such as New Testament and Old Testament guides, a Bible atlas, a Bible encyclopaedia, factual books about the life of Jesus, a Bible history timeline, a selection of posters and more.

Bible
Bible Storybook
Bible Reference Pack: (Life in Bible Times, Bible Atlas, The Life of Jesus, New Testament Intro, The Jerusalem Temple, Old Testament Intro, The Story of the Bible, Bible Facts and Figures, The Tabernacle, The World of the Bible, Bible Guide)
Kids’ Bible Facts
Kids’ Guide to God’s Creation
Jesus Encyclopaedia
A wooden standing cross
Posters and Wall Charts: A historical timeline wall chart, Lord’s Prayer Poster A1, Ten Commandments Poster A1, I am a Christian Poster A1, Creation Poster A2, Bible Map Poster set
A Christmas Journey
Easter Journey

Character Development

School libraries are in need of wholesome, character-instilling material. This is why “Character Development” focuses on carefully selected children’s fiction and biography. In addition, the pack contains beautifully illustrated Bible character stories and activity workbooks focusing on six British heroes of faith.

Handbooks: The Big Book of Faith Questions My 1st Book of Prayers My 1st Book of Christian Values
Biography: Kaka: Toward the Goal
Big Bible Challenge
Footsteps of the Past set: William Wilberforce, William Carey, C S Lewis, William Tyndale, John Bunyan, William Booth
Fiction: I Want to Be an Airline Pilot, Deepest Darkness, The Birthday Shoes
Selection of story books: (Moses, David, Paul)
The True Story of Noah's Ark

Life and Teachings of Jesus

Ofsted criticised some primary schools last year for taking Jesus’ teaching and miracles out of context. Christians must insist that the life and teachings of Jesus Christ are clearly presented within RE. Therefore the “Life and Teachings of Jesus” section explains the Gospels, including Jesus’ miracles, parables, teachings, fulfilment of prophecy, life, death and resurrection. It also shows how Jesus’ character is the model for Christian living.

The Jesus Files
Selection of Jesus reading books
DVDs: The Miracle Maker, The Story Keepers Teaching Resource Pack

Also included:

A blank certificate for the donor to present to the school
Overview of ACTS for the donor, including an introduction, an overview of the resources and advice on how to form relationships with the local school
Overview of ACTS for the school, an outline of the curriculum, a teacher’s cross-reference guide and a feedback sheet to assist in the development of ACTS

Also available: Lower Primary Bonus Pack

My Big Handy Bible
Lord’s Prayer Explained for
Children
Corrie Ten Boom
Hudson Taylor
Amy Carmichael
David Livingstone
George Muller
Bible Story Selection: (Adam & Eve, Joseph, Ruth, David, Daniel, Jesus and the Fishermen, Jesus and the Prayer, Jesus and the Miracle)
Paul’s Life and Journeys
Bible Timeline Posters
Stories Jesus Told

* Individual items are subject to availability and will be replaced with nearest equivalent if necessary. We reserve the right to change contents.

Further reports confirm the sidelining of Christianity

Recent reports on the teaching of religious education refer to compulsory visits to mosques and the building at one school of an RE classroom facing Mecca. These and other accounts raise serious questions about the elevation of Islam and secular humanism and the sidelining of Christianity in education.

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, writing in Standpoint magazine, has urged Education Secretary Michael Gove to restore the teaching of Christianity in Britain’s schools, saying that Christianity was the most significant link in the story of Britain.

In 2010 Ofsted, the inspectorate for schools in England, found that the quality of RE lessons at many primary schools was “not good enough”.

They drew attention to the marginalisation of the Christian faith and particularly the silencing of Christian pupils, stating:

Often their experience was ignored and they had limited opportunity to share their understanding. This sometimes contrasted sharply with the more careful attention paid to the experiences of pupils from other religious traditions.