Cathedral celebration of 200 years of Church schools

Cathedral celebration of 200 years of Church schools


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Published: 14 November 2011

To mark 200 years of church schools a service of celebration will be held in Manchester Cathedral on Tuesday 15 November, attended by children, teachers and governors from schools across Greater Manchester.

The cathedral will be full to capacity with representatives from Manchester Diocese’s 190 church schools as they join to celebrate in song, music and dance church schools that offer education with a Christian foundation to children, families and communities.

The service marks the founding in 1811 of the National Society, whose aim was to build a church school in every parish. Recognising that spiritual and moral education is just as important as learning a trade, the founding members of the National Society believed that the worship and instruction of the Church of England was the way to develop character in pupils.

The National Society established free education with a Christian foundation for the poor at a time when many children were still working in mines and factories. By 1851 there were 17,000 church schools in England, some 20 years before the introduction of state education.

Maurice Smith, Director of Education for Manchester Diocese, said, “We are delighted to welcome teachers governors and children from across Greater Manchester to the Cathedral for a wonderful celebration of our church schools. We will be giving thanks for the foresight of the founders of the National Society who dedicated themselves to providing free, Christian education for the poor. Today we can celebrate the achievements of our 190 church schools and commit ourselves confidently to their future.”

Manchester Diocese now provides education for over 50,000 children in Church of England schools, more CE school places than any other diocese in the country.


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