The School of the Lion was an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

based in

Churcham Churcham is a small village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean District of Gloucestershire in England, located west of Gloucester. It has a population of 655.Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. The school was founded in by 1987 by a group of Gloucestershire-based parents and taught male and female students aged 4 to 19. The school closed in December 2013. At the time of its last Ofsed inspection in 2010, it had 14 pupils.

History

The school began in 1987 as a "parent co-operative", meeting in the afternoon in the homes of the families involved. The following year the school moved to Murray Hall in

Tuffley Tuffley is a suburb in the city of Gloucester and one of the fifteen wards of the English city of Gloucester. The ward, which is non-parished and situated near Robinswood Hill toward the south of the city, has services including schools, shops ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, a Scout Hall which was rented for four and a half days a week. After years of considerable growth the school moved to a new premises in

city centre, the Judge's Lodgings in 1995. The building remained home to the school until 2005, when it relocated to Beauchamp House in Churcham, just outside Gloucester.

Education

The School of the Lion used the

Accelerated Christian Education Accelerated Christian Education is an American company which produces the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE, styled by the company as A.C.E.) school curriculum structured around a literal interpretation of the Bible and which teaches other ac ...

curriculum rather than the UK's

national curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with Federated stat ...

. The qualifications gained through this system are accredited by the International Certificate for Christian Education (ICCE) Board as a similar standard to

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

, AS-level and

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

. The curriculum uses individual workbooks (called PACEs) for each unit of work. At the end of each unit the student takes a test on which they must achieve a score of 80% or higher in order to advance to the next unit. The school was separated into two learning centres based on the age and ability of students. Each learning centre had a supervisor, who provided academic assistance and motivation for students, and a monitor who performed administration tasks. The School of the Lion was affiliated with

Christian Education Europe Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

, the central body for schools using the ACE curriculum in Europe. Older students competed in the European Student Convention. This yearly event is organised by CEE and features events in various categories including academics, art, drama, music and sport.

Inspections

The School of the Lion was inspected by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

in June 2010. The school was judged to be satisfactory or good in all areas, with pupil behaviour being recorded as outstanding.http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxedu_reports/download/(id)/122618/(as)/130279_353815.pdf

References

External links

The School of the Lion websiteBeauchamp House websiteISBI entry for The School of the LionChurcham Village website - a joint project between senior school students and a local companyOfsted page for School of the LionChristian Education Europe
{{DEFAULTSORT:School of the Lion, The 1988 establishments in England Defunct schools in Gloucestershire Educational institutions established in 1988 2013 disestablishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 2013