Background History
In September 1987 a prayer group was established and several families in Gloucestershire began to home-school their children, getting together to share their skills and resources with one another. The vision was actively promoted within the church to which these families belonged, and the number of families involved quickly grew.
Initially doing combined activities during the afternoons it wasn’t long before the “parent co-operative” needed to hire premises as space became a problem. In 1988, after a year of meeting in a church hall for a couple of times each week, the Scout Headquarters in Tuffley, Gloucester, was then rented for four and a half days per week and the co-operative took on a more formal shape. It was still run and governed entirely by the parents.
In September 1991 the School was adopted as a ministry of Gloucester Christian Fellowship and over the years GCF gave generous support of many kinds to the work of the School.
From September 1992, a full-time teacher was employed to help co-ordinate the activities of the School.
In 1995, after a number of years of growth and development, the School, with just under fifty pupils, moved with the church to a large Georgian building in the centre of Gloucester, Judge’s Lodgings. This building was paid for and renovated extensively by members of the church, many of whom were also involved with the School. This was a period of great demand in terms of finance, time and effort, and it was also at this stage that the School was registered with the DFEE (now Department for Children, Schools and Families). 
Over the last ten years there has been an average of about 45 students in the School.
In September 2000, The School of the Lion, which now had a number of families from other churches involved, began a new phase in its life. An independent ministry was launched that could focus on the development and support of Christ-centred education. This ministry was subsequently registered as a company limited by guarantee and then as a charity, Christian Families Educating Together (CFET).
The School continued to maintain strong links and to rent the premises from Gloucester Christian Fellowship (renamed Gloucester Community Church in 2001). GCC still had a supportive role but had passed on the responsibility for the School to the parent community and the directors of the new charity.
In April 2004, Gloucester Community Church made the decision to sell the Judge’s Lodgings, and the search began for a new home for the School and base for the wider ministry of the charity. It proved a long and difficult search, but God was faithful, and in September 2005, the School began operating in a delightful rural setting on a site with excellent premises and amazing potential, Beauchamp House.
