We have two Church schools in the parish surviving today. However, in the course of our history the clergy here have been responsible for many schools over a very large part of what is now Greater Manchester.
All Saints' Newton Heath Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School
This has a long history, quite possibly as far back as 1650 (during the period of the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell). The oldest current document to which 'the Foundation' has to adhere is an indenture of 1821. There have been many changes in the provision of education, especially for children of families who could not afford to pay for it, with increasing involvement of the government, from the C19, with more regulation in the first half of C20. The Education Act 1944 provides the current framework for education and the provision of schools (other than independent schools) today.
The school and church now share the same historic footprint of land. The present school building, opened in 1964, is on the site of the old Rectory and its garden which adjoined the churchyard, a portion of which is used as a playground.
You can find out more about All Saints School here:
https://www.allsaintsnh-pri.manchester.sch.uk/
Our current headteacher is quite an historian, as you will read if you follow this link:
https://www.allsaintsnh-pri.manchester.sch.uk/our-proud-history
In its most recent OFSTED inspection, the school was rated Good.
St Wilfrid's (Newton Heath) Voluntary Controlled Church of England Primary School
The origins of the school predate. the church building, In the 19th century there was a bit of a revival in the Church of England, especially from the Evangelical and 'Tractarian' wings of the church. It was common for 'public schools' to found missions in the industrial cities of England, and St Wilfrid's is an example of this.
In its most recent OFSTED inspection, the school was rated Good.
A Sunday School was opened in Cross Street (later Crowbank Street) in the parish of All Saints, Newton Heath, on 8 April 1877, moving to Buckley Street (later Bexley Street), on 26 May 1878.
The rector of All Saints, Rev St Vincent Beechey, was the son of the founder of Rossall public school, near Fleetwood. In 1882 the headmaster of Rossall, Dr James, suggested making the Buckley Street Mission into a Rossall Mission and the following year Rev J E Mercer became the first Rossall Missioner at Newton Heath.
The Mission was dedicated to St Wilfrid on 15 November 1885.
Rossall continued to provide clergy for St Wilfrid's until at least the 1950s.
From 1890 efforts were made towards the building of a new church. The foundation stone was laid on 9 October 1909, and the new church was consecrated on 12 October 1910, St Wilfrid's Day.
A District was assigned from All Saints, Newton Heath, by Order in Council, 4 April 1906, (London Gazette, 10 April 1906).
In 1973 St Wilfrid's was united with the former parish of St Anne, Newton Heath, as the parish of St Wilfrid and St Anne, by Order in Council, 24 May 1973,(London Gazette, 31 May), St Wilfrid's becoming the parish church of the united benefice.
In 1996 the parish boundaries with St Luke, Lightbowne were altered, by adding part of the parish to St Luke's.
St Wilfrid's was made redundant on 1 December 1997, by Order in Council, 26 November, and the parish united with All Saints, Newton Heath, to form the new Benefice of Newton Heath, with All Saints as its parish church.
You can find out more about the present day school it here:
https://www.stwilfridsceprimary.co.uk/
What is the difference between and Aided and Controlled School?
There is no really simple and completely accurate answer to this question. The two terms reflect the degree to which the ecclesiastical parish had property interests in the buildings used for schooling and were responsible for funding it, often by educational trust funds.
Aided schools are those where historically there was ownership of the buildings and the funding of the provision of education. The Governing body will have a number of 'Foundation' governors who will always outnumber the governors in other categories by two. The Governing Body employs the head-teacher and staff, sets the admission criteria, and is directly responsible for more policy-making than Controlled Schools. The ownership of the buildings is reflected in the mixture of funding sources. Most of the income comes from the LA in the form of the annual capital allowance, with other sources of funds coming from 'Governors Funds' (if there are any) and the Diocesan Board of Education.
Controlled. On the whole, there is a much lower level ownership of the buildings by an ecclesiastical body. The head-teacher and staff are appointed by the LA, and the school follows the admissions policy set by the LA, and is funded in exactly the same way as a non-church school.
The governing body has a minority number of Foundation Governors.
Both types of school:
a) are required to maintain a distinctly Christian (and in these cases Anglican/Church of England) ethos so far as the law allows.
b) are subject to statutory inspection in addition to OFSTED, known as SIAMS (Statutory Inspection of Methodist and Anglican Schools. It is an overall inspection, but focuses more on the coming together of the Christian ethos of the school, the delivery of Religious Education and Worship.
In both types of school 'Foundation' governors are appointed in conjunction with the parish church and the diocese.
Often the parish priest (Vicar or Rector) is an ex officio Foundation Governor, as is the case here with both our church schools.