Sunday school
Overview
 
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education
Religious education
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion and its varied aspects —its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles...

 pursued on Sundays by various denominations.
The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham
St. Mary's Church, Nottingham
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest religious foundation in the City of Nottingham, England, the largest church after the Roman Catholic Cathedral and the largest mediæval building in Nottingham....

. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball
Hannah Ball
Hannah Ball was an English Wesleyan methodist and pioneer of the Sunday school.-Life:Ball was born on 13 March 1734. When John Wesley and other methodist preachers visited High Wycombe, where she lived for most of her life, she was attracted by their teaching. In 1766 she began to keep a diary,...

, a native of High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...

 in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

, who founded a school there in 1769. However, the founding of Sunday schools is more commonly associated with the work of Robert Raikes
Robert Raikes
Robert Raikes was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools...

, editor of the Gloucester Journal, who saw the need to prevent children in the slums descending into crime.

In 18th century England, education was reserved for a minority and was not compulsory
Compulsory education
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all persons.-Antiquity to Medieval Era:Although Plato's The Republic is credited with having popularized the concept of compulsory education in Western intellectual thought, every parent in Judea since Moses's Covenant with...

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