Cathedral celebration of 200 years of Church schools

To mark 200 years of church schools a service of celebration has been held at Manchester Cathedral.

The cathedral was full to capacity for the service on Tuesday night with representatives from Manchester Diocese’s 190 church schools, as they joined to celebrate in song, music and dance church schools that offer education with a Christian foundation to children, families and communities.

The choir of St Michael’s CE Primary School in Bamford participated in the service and The Bishop of Middleton, the Rt Revd Mark Davies preached.

The service marked the founding of the National Society in 1811, whose aim was to build a church school in every parish.

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.

“Today we can celebrate the achievements of our 190 church schools and commit ourselves confidently to their future.”