Manchester Central Library
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Manchester Central Library Manchester School Records Access Arrangements p.2 Manchester Education Committee pp. 3-4 Survival and Transfer of Records p.5 Document Descriptions pp.6-7 Schools Name Index pp. 7-29 Revised April 2015 1 Access Arrangements Archives and Special Collections Search Room Ground Floor Manchester Central Library St Peter’s Square Manchester M2 5PD Tel: 0161 234 1979 Email: [email protected] Opening hours: Monday-Wednesday: 9am to 5pm Thursday: 9am to 8pm Friday and Saturday: 9am to 5pm It is essential to make an appointment to view original archives held onsite at least one working day in advance. Please use this web form to make an appointment to see archives and local history items. More information on most collections can be found at our online catalogue GMLives.org.uk. Some archive collections are stored off-site and we require 2 weeks notice – these are marked in the catalogue. Surviving admission registers c.1870-c.1916 for Manchester schools are now available as part of the Manchester Collection on findmypast.co.uk. Free access is available at any Manchester City Council library. The collection is completely free to use from any Manchester City Council library computer. Access to the index is free from any computer but access to images from home is by credit or subscription. The majority of pre-1925 admission registers have been microfilmed and these can be accessed at Manchester Central Library – no prior booking required. 2 Manchester Education Committee Prior to 1870 school provision was provided on an ad hoc basis by religious, voluntary institutions and private fee paying schools. Britain was very slow to introduce state controlled education in comparison to the rest of Europe. The 1870 Education Act was not meant to introduce sweeping changes to the established system rather it was meant to monitor the provision of education in each area and if necessary build and maintain schools from the rates where there was provision shortfall. The country was divided in 2500 School Districts and Manchester School Board was established in 1870 with local rate payers elected members onto the School Board. The 1870 Act allowed for women to be voted onto the School Boards and in Manchester Lydia Becker was voted on the School Board where she served from 1870 until her death in 1890. Lydia as a suffragist took a strong interest in improving the education of girls in the city. Becker criticised the domestic education of girls in Manchester's schools saying 'If she had her way, every boy in Manchester would be taught to mend his own socks and cook his own chops'. The large number of voluntary schools that existed in Manchester in 1870 were largely pronounced efficient by HMIs and it was not until 1875 that the School Board took over its first two schools - Sharp Street Ragged School and St. Matthew's School, Byrom Street [M66/14]. The School Boards first new school was built on Every Street in 1876 [M66/29]. By the end of 1902 the School Board had built 40 new schools, taken over a further 26 and supervised 89 non-provided schools. Under its first chairman, Herbert Birley, the School Board was also involved in the provision of education over and above elementary level. By 1903 there were 6 Higher Grade and Science Schools with the largest and most esteemed being the Central School, which opened in Deansgate in 1884. The School Board began an exhibition fund in 1875 to enable poorer children to attend Higher Grade Schools and in 1891 it was decided that any child passing standard VI would be eligible for support. Further education provision was made for working people to study in the evenings with Evening Continuation Schools, Science and Art Evening Schools and Commercial Evening Schools. The cause of Women's education was also espoused and eight Evening Institutions for Women and Girls were built between 1891 and 1902. 3 The voluntary schools largely represented Christian denominations but there were insufficient school places for the increasing Jewish population. A Jewish school was opened by the School Board at Southall Street, Strangeways [M66/82] and as the community increased a second school was built at Waterloo Road, Cheetham [M66/91]. Two schools were established for children with special educational needs at Embden Street [M66/28] and Hague Street, Newton Heath [M66/122] through the influence of Mary Deny who had been elected to the School Board in 1896. In later years these specialist departments were set up else where and were often known as ESN [Educationally Sub-Normal] Schools or later special schools. The quality of teaching in Manchester schools was improved by the creation of Pupil- Teacher Centres. It is common in log books to find references to the visit and placement of student/pupil teachers. Manchester City Council has been a Local Education Authority since 1903, when under the 1902 Education Act it became responsible for the provision of elementary education in the City. The Act also charged local authorities with the development of education other than elementary. The Education Committee, appointed by the City Council and composed of council members and co-opted persons, assumed the functions of the existing School Board and the Council's existing Technical Instruction Committee on the 1 July 1903. It was to supervise the running of the Board School, and to a lesser extent, the running of the existing voluntary schools. The transition from School Board to education Committee was smooth. The Education committee took over the ethos of the School Board, particularly in the provision of secondary schooling with Lady Sheena Simon, Director of the Education Committee as one of the chief advocates of free secondary education in the 1930s. In addition the Education Committee continued to provide for a variety of educational needs. Delicate or sick children were often catered for in schools outside the City, for example Mobberley Open Air School [M66/46] and Abergele Sanatorium School [M66/2]. The Education Committee presided over various reorganistions of schools in Manchester. Breaks in the series of records are found in 1910, when Higher Elementary Schools were reorganised as Central Schools and again when schools were reorganised following the publication of the Hadow Report in 1926. Whereas previously children had often received their compulsory education between the ages of 5 and 14 in a single school the report envisaged separate schools for children over 11. Changes to the nature of secondary schools following the 1944 Education Act, however, are not indicated by a new series of records. Circular 10/65, which encouraged LEAs to move to non-selective secondary education, was followed in Manchester with the creation of comprehensive schools. 4 After local government reorganisation in 1974 the City of Manchester became a Metropolitan District of Greater Manchester County. The Education officer of the District kept the same jurisdiction as the former City Council's Chief Education Officer. The Greater Manchester County was abolished in 1986 and the Education Department of Manchester City Council continued to have overall responsibility for the organisation of schools in the area. The Education Acts of 1980s saw some LEA responsibilities for the management of schools devolve to governors and head teachers. As a result new classes of records, such as annual reports and financial statements, were created. 5 Survival and transferral of records There has never been a legal requirement for schools to permanently retain non- current records. Administrative Memorandum No. 531, 1956 stated that admission registers, attendance registers and punishment books should be kept for three years after completion and that log books should be kept for the duration of the school's existence. If a school is still currently operational it should still hold its own records. At the Greater Manchester County Record Office (with Manchester Archives) we hold records of closed Manchester schools. Although it is common practice for head teachers to transfer records to the Chief Education Officer on the closure of the school, this has not always been the case in the past. The Education Department has passed all the records that it has received to us. For contact details of schools currently operating in Manchester see: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/directory/84/school_finder Unfortunately no admission records survive for the various teacher training colleges administered by the Manchester Education Committee. Manchester Central Library has prospectuses of the Elizabeth Gaskell College, 1960-61, 1966-1977 (347.942733 MAN (207) and a pamphlet on the history of the college, 1971 (f374.09273 EL1). They also hold Alfred Harris Body's 'Silver Jubilee: the Story of Didsbury College', 1970 (370.734273 Bo). 6 Document Descriptions Log Books: The keeping of a school log book or diary was first instituted in 1862. The log book was to be kept by the Headmaster or mistress of the school and was to contain details of events at the school especially those worthy of permanent record in the life of a school. What is recorded in a log book and the amount of detail given is very much dependent on the particular head teacher at the time. In general the log book normally records the appointment and absences of teachers, visits made to the school by such people as the HMI inspectors, student teachers etc, school trips and outings, changes in curriculum, school building or school name etc. It is very rare that individual children are mentioned by name. Where children are mentioned it is generally because a child has either excelled, won an award or scholarship etc or they have been sent to the head for discipline matters, those who have ended up in court for juvenile offences etc.