Trojan Horse Report: "Aggressive Islamist Ethos" At Schools

18th July 2014

Please discuss.

A leaked report into the so-called "Trojan Horse" plot has found evidence there was an agenda to introduce "an intolerant and aggressive Islamist ethos" into some Birmingham schools.

The report, revealed in The Guardian, was ordered by the government after claims some Muslim groups were trying to take control in some schools.

The Department for Education has said it will not comment on the leaks.

Birmingham council has released its own report, disagreeing with Mr Clarke.


It says he found evidence of "sustained and co-ordinated agenda to impose upon children in a number of Birmingham schools the segregationist attitudes and practices of a hardline and politicised strain of Sunni Islam".

He also found evidence of a "co-ordinated, deliberate and sustained action to introduce an intolerant and aggressive Islamist ethos into some schools in the city".

The agenda would have confined "schoolchildren within an intolerant, inward-looking monoculture that would severely inhibit their participation in the life of modern Britain," the leaked report says.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-28349706

So after all the denials and down playing, it was true after all....

It was sort of true. And sort of not:

Birmingham's report, compiled by former head teacher Ian Kershaw, differed in its conclusions.

It said there was "no evidence of a conspiracy to promote an anti-British agenda, violent extremism or radicalisation in schools" in the east of the city.

Mr Kershaw did find "key individuals" promoting Islamic principles in schools and "noted a pattern of these individuals moving between schools".

He did not conclude whether the original "Trojan Horse" letter was a hoax, as has been claimed.

But he found evidence that the "five steps" outlined in the original letter as a means of destabilising school leadership were "present in a large number of the schools considered part of the investigation".

His report said evidence pointed to a group of "British male governors and teachers, predominantly of Pakistani heritage", which have formed in order to address perceived failings in some schools.

Mr Kershaw said the tactics employed by these groups were often "improper" and there was a "pattern" to their behaviour but it stopped short of a widespread plot.

He said that while there were “totally understandable” concerns among parents who were worried about finding a place, some people “have an ideological agenda, and it is generally one not shared by most people in Richmond”.


That was said about the proposal for ROMAN CATHOLIC schools two years ago.

Stop all faith schools. Schools are about education, not religion.

Tommy Monk wrote:So after all the denials and down playing, it was true after all....

Tbf, I think they were wise to take an approach likely to calm public fear until they were in a position to know exactly what they were dealing with.

lovedust wrote:

Tommy Monk wrote:So after all the denials and down playing, it was true after all....

Tbf, I think they were wise to take an approach likely to calm public fear until they were in a position to know exactly what they were dealing with.

"Hold this bomb, i mean potato - there's absolutely nothing to worry about."

Little Johnny was happy and calm as his head was blown off...

Yeah, nice one ld.

I don't give a stuff how widespread it is, the fact that it is happening at all is a disgrace this is Britain 2014 not Pakistan in the dark ages. Those is a position to act should do swiftly and decisively.

Is this another one we can put down to ignoring those who said it years ago?

Maybe if Baroness Warsi says it's true we'll give her an award for bringing it to our attention?

BigAndy9 wrote:

lovedust wrote:

Tbf, I think they were wise to take an approach likely to calm public fear until they were in a position to know exactly what they were dealing with.

"Hold this bomb, i mean potato - there's absolutely nothing to worry about."

Little Johnny was happy and calm as his head was blown off...

Yeah, nice one ld.

That is not the line you took with the teachers recently found with indecent images of children on their computers Andrew. Why am I somehow not surprised by your double standards.

lovedust wrote:

BigAndy9 wrote:


"Hold this bomb, i mean potato - there's absolutely nothing to worry about."

Little Johnny was happy and calm as his head was blown off...

Yeah, nice one ld.

That is not the line you took with the teachers recently found with indecent images of  children on their computers in the recent 660 police sweep, Andrew. Why am I somehow not surprised by your double standards.

Please explain.

Are the accused teachers a danger to children?

Parents' outrage as extremist US religious sect hand out creationist books and preach to kids at Scottish school

THE US Church of Christ which rubbishes evolution was allowed to minister pupils at East Kilbride's Kirktonholme Primary.

HORRIFIED parents fear an extremist religious sect has been trying to brainwash their kids after it was allowed to infiltrate a Scots primary school.

A head teacher invited the US Church of Christ, which rubbishes evolution and counts homosexuality as a sin, to minister to pupils.

The “missionaries” at the school include face-painted Jared Blakeman, pictured in a T-shirt with the slogan AIM – short for “Adventures in Mission”.

Many parents at 400-pupil Kirktonholme Primary in East Kilbride only realised their children were being exposed to the evangelical group’s agenda when kids brought home alarming books they had been handed at assembly.

The creationist books, defended by head teacher Sandra MacKenzie, denounce the theory of evolution and warn pupils that, without God, they risk being murdered in a harmful, disgusting world.

Parents have called for emergency talks with education chiefs, where they will demand the sect’s removal from the school.

One angry dad, Paul Sanderson, 33, told how his five-year-old son burst into tears when he took the books away.

He said: “I think it’s fair to call it brainwashing because when I took them from him he started crying.

“When I asked why he was crying, he said the man who gave them to him told him they were really, really important.”

The book row, which broke out this week, has brought the group’s presence at Kirktonholme into focus.

But the Record can reveal sinister undertones to their eight-year involvement at the school.

The Church of Christ have targeted Kirktonholme as a “mission” and have several members helping with classes and giving lessons in religion.

Church members like Blakeman – photographed as a scary Pirates of the Caribbean character – were allowed in to work as classroom assistants and help with homework and in other mainstream roles.

Parents were also furious to learn that cash raised by children which they thought was intended for school funds had been given to the sect to build a church nearby.

One of the church members, Evelyn Galvan Graciano, 22, from Mexico, describes Scotland as “a place full of darkness and emptiness that is in a big need of Jesus”.

And she has told pals she uses classes to get into the heads of Kirktonholme pupils. She said: “They all are very receptive and willing to listen and learn.

“Hopefully at least we can let the kids know who Jesus is. Maybe someday that seed we’ve planted can be grown by God.”

The Church of Christ, based in the US Deep South, believe the Bible predicts the future and is 100 per cent accurate. They have called Scotland “A Field Ripe for Harvest”.

Church leaders told their US flock in a video blog about their “work” at the school, and claimed that, out of a population of 5.1million, Scotland has only 700 practising Christians.

At an assembly at Kirktonholme on Monday, the sect handed each pupil two books, one called Exposing the Myth of Evolution and another titled How Do You Know God is Real?

Paul told the Record he could not believe their content.

He said: “They looked fair enough at a glance and one had a dinosaur on the front, but it didn’t take long to see they were spouting crazy, right-wing nonsense about how evolution never happened – real flat earth stuff.

“The second book talked in such threatening terms about other religions, and compared those who didn’t believe in God to those who carry out abortions.

“It was really creepy and alarming. I can’t believe these people could be allowed to infiltrate a school to this extent.”

Paul said he confronted MacKenzie about the books, but she stood her ground. He is refusing to let his children to be involved in any religious observance at the school until the issue is dealt with.

Other parents have made official complaints to South Lanarkshire Council about the books, and some have threatened to withdraw their children in protest.

One told us: “I could not believe a head teacher could sanction this crazy stuff. It’s sinister as hell. I don’t want any of these people anywhere near my children.”

In a letter to parents, MacKenzie defended the decision to distribute the books.

She admitted the Church of Christ was part of the school chaplaincy team. And she said of the books: “Whilst I appreciate that not every family in our school are practising Christians, I was only too happy to accept this generous gift on your behalf.

“I hope you will all accept it in the spirit with which it was offered.”

Both books were written by American Kyle Butt, whose other works include a book called Homosexuality – Sin, or Cultural Bad Habit?

His books are printed by Alabama-based Apologetics Press, who are closely affiliated to the Church of Christ.

MacKenzie invited the West Mains Church of Christ into Kirktonholme eight years ago. After initial contact by church minister Alex Gear, church leaders in Rogersville, Alabama, were told East Kilbride could provide fertile ground for the church’s doctrine.

Gear wrote to HQ last year to tell how the “outreach” was progressing. He said staff had “gone the extra mile” to make the group welcome – and told how pupils had raised money to build their church.

He wrote: “Many of you will know Kirktonholme Primary have been raising funds to help with our church building fund.

“Yesterday, just before the worship service finished, I was presented with a check for $350 from the children. They had been collecting change and saving it up for us.”

Gear also told in the letter how Kyle Butt had given him “absolutely fantastic material on creation and exposing the myth of evolution” to take back to Scotland

Gear confirmed to the Record: “Our mission team has been helping out in the school. Whatever the staff can use them for, they have done, on an outreach basis.

“We believe the teachings of the Bible, which tell us evolution is a myth. The Bible also states homosexuality is a sin.”

He denied trying to indoctrinate children, saying: “We have not been trying to make people change their minds about anything. We believe information in the books is accurate and not otherwise in the public domain.”

South Lanarkshire Council say they were only told on Monday about the religious leanings of volunteers at the school.

A spokesman said: “We have received complaints from a small number of parents at Kirktonholme Primary after books were given out at assembly.

"We have investigated, and the head teacher has been advised that the material should not have been distributed through the school.

“The books were gifted by West Mains Church of Christ, who spoke at an assembly and are part of the school chaplaincy team.

“The membership of the chaplaincy team is being considered, as is the role church groups play in school life.

“All our schools acknowledge the Christian tradition and encourage young people to engage with and explore a wide range of beliefs and religions.

“However, the theories explored in these books do not feature in mainstream teaching. It was not appropriate for them to be given to pupils in this way. Guidance on the distribution of commercial materials will be reviewed.”

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/parents-outrage-extremist-religious-sect-2254926

Creationism and the “conspiracy” of evolution: inside the UK's evangelical schools
Teaching creationism is unquestionably harmful, but should we be trying to ban it? Jonny Scaramanga, a former pupil at an evangelical school, examines how we are failing to hold such institutions to account.

ACE’s UK distributor, Christian Education Europe, does not disclose the locations of all its schools, but in 2009 claimed there were 59 in the UK. They list 29, but these are only the schools which choose to be listed. In 2008, it was reported that 2,000 British children were being educated this way.

In my first week at the ACE school, the principal preached a sermon called “Birds of a Feather Must Flock Together”. This 45 minute rant can be summarised in one sentence: “Don’t be friends with non-Christians”. So began three years in which I learned to view ‘unbelievers’ with a mixture of fear and contempt.

Creationism was central to this understanding. I was taught that evolution was a conspiracy; scientists knew they lacked evidence, but wouldn’t admit it because they hated God. Evolution was equated with atheism;“evolutionists” were fundamentally dishonest. Students in ACE are still taught this. These quotes come from the compulsory course which current students take instead of GCSE science.

From year 11 biology:

No branch of true science would make these kind of impossible claims without proof. Because evolutionists do not want to believe the only alternative—that the universe was created by God – they declare evolution is a fact and believe its impossible claims without any scientific proof!

From year 10 science:

A person who is not right with God must find reason, or justification, for not believing. So he readily accepts an indefensible theory like evolution – even if it will not hold water. That is his academic justification for unbelief.

There was a second way creationism was used to fend off outsiders. The school claimed that creationism proved the Bible was the Word of God. Biblical authority thus established beyond question, I was forced to live by such Scriptures as Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is he that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. . .” My only interaction with sinners was for evangelism.

There is a natural human tendency to fear the strange. Attending a school exclusively with other evangelicals turned the rest of the world into strangers. My knowledge of outsiders came from propaganda cartoons depicting non-Christians as evil and stupid. When I left that school at 15, I expected my new classmates to try to corrupt me. I told them to accept Jesus or face hell, and they lived up to my expectations.

Creationists teach that either every word of the Bible is completely true or none of it is. If you have doubts, that is the devil trying to deceive you. I knew if I doubted, I risked losing my faith, and then I would go to hell. This provides a powerful disincentive against thinking critically. In that sense, the education militates against real learning.

The same literal understanding of the Bible taught me that gay people were sinners, women should obey their husbands, and parents had a moral imperative to spank disobedient children. Creationism was the keystone that held these beliefs in place. If that was questioned, the entire edifice might fall. Teaching creationism is unquestionably harmful, but there are other avenues to try before we ban it.

If they are prohibited from teaching creationism, evangelical schools will not suddenly provide high quality instruction on natural selection. More likely, children would be withdrawn into fundamentalist homeschooling. Testimony from America is that this can be somewhat variable.

The scandal is that existing measures for quality assurance are not working. Ofsted inspections of ACE schools do not mention creationism at all, but frequently give generally glowing reports. Between 2007 and 2011, at least six Ofsted inspections of ACE schools were carried out by a Mr Stephen Dennett. At the same time, Dennett had a sideline as a freelance curriculum writer, and his name appears in the metadata of ACE curriculums as an author. He is also listed as a “consultant” to the board of the ACE-based International Certificate of Christian Education. I contacted Christian Education Europe, ACE’s UK distributors, asking them to comment on my concerns that Dennett’s Ofsted role had represented a conflict of interests, but to date they have not responded.

Compared with ACE, the Christian Schools Trust (CST) looks relatively moderate. Unlike ACE’s rigidly standardised curriculum, each CST school has its own policy on creation and evolution. There are still indicators that pupils in such schools are being misled, though. Research published in 2009 declared “the great majority of the schools teach their science from a creationist viewpoint”. The same survey found just 10 per cent of teenage CST pupils accepted the theory of evolution.

Dr Sylvia Baker, the academic who published this research, is a former teacher in a CST school. She insists the teaching of science is rigorous. “If you are seeking to imply that pupils in some CST schools are brainwashed into a simplistic ‘unscientific’ view of origins, you are sadly misinformed as excellent results in science subjects at GCSE have so often demonstrated,” she told me.

Together with the Muslim Schools Association, the CST has its own inspectorate, the BSI. The inspectorate was set up by the schools to “respect their distinctive ethos”. Since this ethos is the most contentious aspect of the schools, this strikes me as a wholly unwarranted privilege.

Organisations that ought to be holding these schools to account failing to protect the childrens’ interests. UK NARIC, the international qualifications comparison body, actually maintains that ACE-based qualifications are the equal of A-levels. The inspectorate ought to send a clear message to parents and staff at these schools that the current standard of instruction is unacceptable. We need scrutiny, not legislation.

http://www.newstatesman.com/education/2014/01/creationism-and-conspiracy-evolution-inside-uks-evangelical-schools


You are very naive if you don't realise that ALL faith schools brainwash children. Ban them all.

It happens in all faith schools.

lovedust wrote:Are the accused teachers a danger to children?

That's a leap I fear BA will be unable to make.

lovedust wrote:Are the accused teachers a danger to children?

If they teach hate and wrongs to children, then that is abuse, that is counter to British values and laws in this country.
Teaching children that Christians lie, which is teaching them to mistrust many people who are Christians in this country and Muslims wives must have sex with their husbands is denying a woman the rights of equality, in other words, they are being taught that even if they do not want sex, they must obey their husbands, is so wrong on any level.
This is why to me there should be no religious schools, no matter the faith, as most religious works especially the Abrahamic ones taken in a literal view are appalling when it comes to equal rights.
If anything these teachers guilty of this that have taught such abusive teaching should be arrested and stripped of their ability to teach children

Thanks Didge... I should have clarified: Andrew, do you consider the teachers recently found with indecent images of children on their computers to be a danger to children?

lovedust wrote:Thanks Didge... I should have clarified: Andrew, do you consider the teachers recently found with indecent images of children on their computers to be a danger to children?

I will answer this as well.


Yes, they are a danger.

lovedust wrote:Thanks Didge... I should have clarified: Andrew, do you consider the teachers recently found with indecent images of children on their computers to be a danger to children?

Hi ld - i'll point you towards this post:

Re: Passport official suspended over 'interrogation' of gay applicant
Post by BigAndy9 on Mon 14 Jul - 18:02

Cobra wrote:
Should never have been suspended.





Well it's normal practice in most industries to suspend - as long as a thorough investigation takes place and it is made clear if the allegations are found to be false or impossible to prove that he is innocent then i see no problem.

BigAndy9 wrote:

lovedust wrote:Thanks Didge... I should have clarified: Andrew, do you consider the teachers recently found with indecent images of children on their computers to be a danger to children?

Hi ld - i'll point you towards this post:

Re: Passport official suspended over 'interrogation' of gay applicant
Post by BigAndy9 on Mon 14 Jul - 18:02

Cobra wrote:
Should never have been suspended.





Well it's normal practice in most industries to suspend - as long as a thorough investigation takes place and it is made clear if the allegations are found to be false or impossible to prove that he is innocent then i see no problem.

I'd rather you answer the question I actually asked. You mocked my suggestion the investigators did the right thing by calming public fears until the investigation into the religious extremists was completed. How does that square with your view on the other thread that we should refrain from jumping to conclusions about the suspected paedophiles unless and until their guilt is established?

There is "clear evidence" of an Islamist takeover plot at Birmingham schools, a Government-led inquiry has found.

School groups and governors were involved in "coordinated, deliberate and sustained action" to instil an "intolerant and aggressive Islamist ethos" at some city schools, the report by the former head of the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Unit Peter Clarke has concluded.


http://news.sky.com/story/1305511/evidence-of-islamist-school-takeover-plot

Many religious schools are the same. Stop religious schools.

Life in a Christian 'fundamentalist' school

The Trojan Horse investigation has focused on an alleged plot to take over some Birmingham schools and run them according to Islamic principles. But while the role of Islam in education has come in for scrutiny, across the UK many students also follow a strict "fundamentalist" Christian curriculum.

For 29-year-old Jonny Scaramanga, who attended Victory Christian School in Bath until he was 14, the experience was "horrendous".

"At 8:15 I would arrive at my 'office' - a desk 2ft wide, with dividers 18 ins tall, designed to remove 'distractions'," he said.

"Every morning we had an opening exercise: reciting pledges of allegiance to Jesus Christ, God and the Bible. Next, we recited that month's scripture passage; we had to memorise around 10-15 Bible-verses each month."

He said the school adopted a "fundamentalist attitude" to religion, adding: "If you believed what they believed, you were Christian. If you believed anything else, you were not Christian."

The Accelerated Christian Education curriculum is based on a series of workbooks called PACEs (Packets of Accelerated Christian Education)

The school taught Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), a curriculum imported from the USA which is taught in about 50 independent schools across the UK.
Continue reading the main story
Accelerated Christian Education

ACE's philosophy is based on the Bible
Students are taught to "walk in Godly wisdom and character"
The curriculum serves both Christian schools and home schooling
It aims to "build in students" a "life-long passion to learn and grow spiritually"
The main method of learning is through workbooks in various subjects, reading supplied texts, filling-in-the- blanks questions, linking words with definitions, writing short essays, simple science experiments, solving mathematical problems, using computers and watching videos

Source: Christian Education Europe website

While the usual subjects are taught - English, Maths, Science, History and Geography among others - each is approached from a Biblical perspective.

Most controversial are its view that homosexuality is a "learned behaviour" and its teaching of creationism instead of evolution.

"The evolutionist needs some kind of a god with rules to explain what exists today, or he cannot explain it; and yet, he rejects such a god," one science text book states.

"It is more responsible and more reasonable to presuppose that God exists and then pick up the Bible and read 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth' (Genesis 1:1).

"Then you can see purpose in Creation, understand change, accept miracles, and know that His purpose has a goal."

"History was taught as 'His-story' - things happened because they were God's will," Mr Scaramanga said.

He said that at his school - which closed in 2000 - pupils had to learn and recount sections of Biblical scripture in order to pass any subject.

"All of the content you learn with ACE has the religious message inherent within it," he said.

"The politics coverage will say 'this is what God thinks about social security' and the science coverage will say 'this is what God says about chemistry'."

When he was 12, Mr Scaramanga took part in the BBC Video Nation project and filmed himself talking about praying in tongues - a form of worship which occurs when someone apparently receives the Holy Spirit, enabling them to speak in another language.

He has since posted the video on YouTube and says the video now makes him want to "cringe" and "throw-up".

Some former pupils of the system have questioned whether it gave them the skills needed for adulthood

He left in 1999 after becoming frustrated that ACE was "depriving him of educational and social opportunities". He went on to take GCSEs at the Methodist Kingswood School in Bath.
Continue reading the main story
ACE evolution teaching

The ACE curriculum's approach to evolution is particularly controversial.

A biology textbook states: "As astonishing as it may seem, many evolutionists theorize that fish evolved into amphibians and amphibians into reptiles...

"However, the fossil record does not have the evidence of transitional forms...

"From a Biblical perspective this is no surprise...

"God created each type of fish, amphibian, and reptile as separate, unique animals."

"I started to have my mind prised open a bit, but I was still a creationist until I was probably around 20 years old," he said.

"It was a gradual process... and it was towards the end of my degree when I really started to question things."

He said it took him years to "get over" ACE, which he believes left him unprepared for life.

"My ACE school taught me that dating was to be avoided and all physical contact was a bad idea until you'd found the one God planned for you to marry," Mr Scaramanga said.

"I felt that I'd missed out on early experiences of flirting with the opposite sex, so I was always playing catch-up.

"Through my degree I drank phenomenal amounts to try and make up for the lack of social skills I had."

Mr Scaramanga, who is studying for a PhD looking at the experiences of ex-ACE students, now campaigns against the ACE curriculum and writes the blog Leaving Fundamentalism.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27681560


That particular school closed, but there are still many more ACE schools.

http://www.christian-education.org/christian-education/curriculum/ace-curriculum/

Stop ALL religious schools.

victorisnotamused wrote:There is "clear evidence" of an Islamist takeover plot at Birmingham schools, a Government-led inquiry has found.

School groups and governors were involved in "coordinated, deliberate and sustained action" to instil an "intolerant and aggressive Islamist ethos" at some city schools, the report by the former head of the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Unit Peter Clarke has concluded.


http://news.sky.com/story/1305511/evidence-of-islamist-school-takeover-plot

Yes it looks like BA was completely right this was an orchestrated and organised attempt to undermine western beliefs and practises.
The "Park View Brotherhood", a group of all-male teachers at the school, made homophobic, sexist, anti-Western and offensive comments on a social media forum.
They insulted British service personnel, encouraged segregation in the school, and voiced scepticism about the truth of reports of the murder of soldier Lee Rigby and the Boston bombings.

What a disgrace

Sassy wrote:Many religious schools are the same.   Stop religious schools.

Life in a Christian 'fundamentalist' school

The Trojan Horse investigation has focused on an alleged plot to take over some Birmingham schools and run them according to Islamic principles. But while the role of Islam in education has come in for scrutiny, across the UK many students also follow a strict "fundamentalist" Christian curriculum.

For 29-year-old Jonny Scaramanga, who attended Victory Christian School in Bath until he was 14, the experience was "horrendous".

"At 8:15 I would arrive at my 'office' - a desk 2ft wide, with dividers 18 ins tall, designed to remove 'distractions'," he said.

"Every morning we had an opening exercise: reciting pledges of allegiance to Jesus Christ, God and the Bible. Next, we recited that month's scripture passage; we had to memorise around 10-15 Bible-verses each month."

He said the school adopted a "fundamentalist attitude" to religion, adding: "If you believed what they believed, you were Christian. If you believed anything else, you were not Christian."

The Accelerated Christian Education curriculum is based on a series of workbooks called PACEs (Packets of Accelerated Christian Education)

The school taught Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), a curriculum imported from the USA which is taught in about 50 independent schools across the UK.
Continue reading the main story
Accelerated Christian Education

   ACE's philosophy is based on the Bible
   Students are taught to "walk in Godly wisdom and character"
   The curriculum serves both Christian schools and home schooling
   It aims to "build in students" a "life-long passion to learn and grow spiritually"
   The main method of learning is through workbooks in various subjects, reading supplied texts, filling-in-the- blanks questions, linking words with definitions, writing short essays, simple science experiments, solving mathematical problems, using computers and watching videos

Source: Christian Education Europe website

While the usual subjects are taught - English, Maths, Science, History and Geography among others - each is approached from a Biblical perspective.

Most controversial are its view that homosexuality is a "learned behaviour" and its teaching of creationism instead of evolution.

"The evolutionist needs some kind of a god with rules to explain what exists today, or he cannot explain it; and yet, he rejects such a god," one science text book states.

"It is more responsible and more reasonable to presuppose that God exists and then pick up the Bible and read 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth' (Genesis 1:1).

"Then you can see purpose in Creation, understand change, accept miracles, and know that His purpose has a goal."

"History was taught as 'His-story' - things happened because they were God's will," Mr Scaramanga said.

He said that at his school - which closed in 2000 - pupils had to learn and recount sections of Biblical scripture in order to pass any subject.

"All of the content you learn with ACE has the religious message inherent within it," he said.

"The politics coverage will say 'this is what God thinks about social security' and the science coverage will say 'this is what God says about chemistry'."

When he was 12, Mr Scaramanga took part in the BBC Video Nation project and filmed himself talking about praying in tongues - a form of worship which occurs when someone apparently receives the Holy Spirit, enabling them to speak in another language.

He has since posted the video on YouTube and says the video now makes him want to "cringe" and "throw-up".

Some former pupils of the system have questioned whether it gave them the skills needed for adulthood

He left in 1999 after becoming frustrated that ACE was "depriving him of educational and social opportunities". He went on to take GCSEs at the Methodist Kingswood School in Bath.
Continue reading the main story
ACE evolution teaching

The ACE curriculum's approach to evolution is particularly controversial.

A biology textbook states: "As astonishing as it may seem, many evolutionists theorize that fish evolved into amphibians and amphibians into reptiles...

"However, the fossil record does not have the evidence of transitional forms...

"From a Biblical perspective this is no surprise...

"God created each type of fish, amphibian, and reptile as separate, unique animals."

"I started to have my mind prised open a bit, but I was still a creationist until I was probably around 20 years old," he said.

"It was a gradual process... and it was towards the end of my degree when I really started to question things."

He said it took him years to "get over" ACE, which he believes left him unprepared for life.

"My ACE school taught me that dating was to be avoided and all physical contact was a bad idea until you'd found the one God planned for you to marry," Mr Scaramanga said.

"I felt that I'd missed out on early experiences of flirting with the opposite sex, so I was always playing catch-up.

"Through my degree I drank phenomenal amounts to try and make up for the lack of social skills I had."

Mr Scaramanga, who is studying for a PhD looking at the experiences of ex-ACE students, now campaigns against the ACE curriculum and writes the blog Leaving Fundamentalism.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27681560


That particular school closed, but there are still many more ACE schools.

http://www.christian-education.org/christian-education/curriculum/ace-curriculum/

Stop ALL religious schools.

nothing wrong if you are a Christian you worship Jesus and he is the sole focus .

I only wish he was the sole focus. Then Christians would butt the hell out of other people's lives, drop out of society, get off the internet and go pray all day in monasteries or convents ...

Ben_Reilly wrote:I only wish he was the sole focus. Then Christians would butt the hell out of other people's lives, drop out of society, get off the internet and go pray all day in monasteries or convents ...

+1 have a   

Ben_Reilly wrote:I only wish he was the sole focus. Then Christians would butt the hell out of other people's lives, drop out of society, get off the internet and go pray all day in monasteries or convents ...

Bloody hell
you can hardly equate the Sally Army rattling the collection tins and preaching temperance to fanatics who have declared holy war on us