| Description | In 1891, the Severn Street and Priory Joint Teachers' Meeting appointed a 'Committee with responsibility for Children's Classes' to encourage a closer relationship between the various Children's First Day Schools offering Bible classes which had been established around the city over the previous decade. The original committee included Walter Barrow, Richard Littleboy and Wilfred Littleboy, Alfred Southalll, Sarah Cadbury, Barrow Cadbury, John W. Hoyland, Rachael Price. Later members included Geraldine Cadbury, J. H. Lloyd, Florence Barrow, W. A. Albright, Henry Lloyd Wilson, John Henry Barlow and Oliver Morland. The first President, appointed in 1896, was William White (see SF/2/1/1/13/12).
The first Sunday Schools to be part of Severn Street and Priory Children's First Day School Union (known as Friends Sunday School Union from 1913) were those at Severn Street, Bristol Street Board School, Staniforth Hall, Farm Street, Moseley Road, Stirchley Street Board School, Selly Oak and Northfield Institute. Of these, the schools at Severn Street and Bristol Street Board School had been set up with the support of Friends (in particular George Cadbury) who were involved with the Friends First Day Schools for adults at these locations. Other Children's First Day Schools were the result of the work of the Christian Society which provided meetings for worship for Adult School scholars and their families, and which recognised that there was support among members for classes to be provided for children. The oldest of the Children's Sunday Schools was Stirchley Street Afternoon School which was opened in 1880 by members of the Christian Society and scholars of Class IX of Severn Street Adults First Day School (see SF/2/1/1/16/3/1 for histories of the schools). Teachers at all of the Children's Sunday Schools were scholars of the Adult First Day Schools.
From its inception, the Union attempted to create some form of standardisation across the schools. Each Children's Class was required to have a President who had to be an Adult School teacher, and a Superintendent who had to be a member of the Adult School. Management of each school was undertaken by the President, Vice-President, officers and teachers. The Union also organised Annual Conferences to which all Children's School teachers were invited. Subjects covered included: 'the choice and preparation of the Bible lesson', 'a model lesson', temperance, peace, Friends' Foreign Mission work, 'Christianity from a Friend's point of view', 'Sunday School teaching from a mother's point of view', 'the relation of the class to the teacher', the model Sunday School, Sunday School reform. The first Conference in 1891 was attended by 100 teachers. The 1907 Conference was attended by c. 260 teachers. In later years, the Union provided additional educational opportunities for teachers with talks and lectures on issues related to teaching and young people. There were also social gatherings and garden parties for teachers organised by Friends in the summer, and in November 1893, a gathering of the c. 3000 children attending the Sunday Schools in the Union was organised at the Town Hall. At the Annual Meeting, reports on the year's progress and activities were read from each of the schools.
By 1895, there were 8 Sunday Schools in the Severn Street and Priory Children's First Day School Union, with 3000 child members, 98 male teachers and 120 female teachers. In 1908, this had risen to 20 Sunday Schools with 5440 members, of whom 4328 children regularly attended and there were 427 teachers. In 1930, there were Friends Sunday Schools at Alcester Street, Bordesley Green, Bournville, Dogpool, Farm Street, Gooch Street, Greet, Hall Green, Hay Green, Hay Mills, Hospital Street, Little Bromwich, Moseley Road, Northfield, Raddlebarn Road, Selly Oak, Severn Street, Smethwick, Soho, Staniforth Street, Stirchley, Coventry and Hartshill. In the years after World War Two, the number of Sunday Schools declined and by 1992 numbers had dwindled across the remaining schools, and Union meetings were sparsely attended. The annual report for that year acknowledged that parents of the 1990s rarely wanted their children to attend Sunday School, and only Kings Heath, Moseley Road, Stirchley and Hartshill Sunday Schools were still active, with a total between them of 33 children registered for classes with 15 teachers. The Friends Sunday School Union was laid down in 1993 due to insufficient numbers. |