Visiting lectures were always welcome. The Geography Department supported the scheme for lectures by the Commonwealth Institute, and groups had illustrated talks on "Australia Today", "The Far East" and "Nigeria". Professor Wright Baker came for three successive years to give illustrated talks to the 5th and 6th forms-twice on "India" and once on "World Health". In 1960, Mr. W. Gibson Martin spoke to 5th year boys on "The Story of Iron and Steel" and Mr. Saunders of Manchester Youth and Community Service, no doubt hoping to enlist support, spoke to senior boys and girls on the work of the service. With similar recruiting intentions, the R.A.F. Liaison Officer came to speak on occasions and once an officer from the Royal Navy outlined the work of Artificer Apprentices. In September 1965, the schoolwas invited to display paintings in the Henry Watson Art Library at Manchester Central Library, an exhibition which lasted for 6 weeks. Mr. E. Goodman, Headmaster of Manchester School of Art adjudicated for the first years of the Leslie Lever Trophy competition, the donor himself visiting the school twice in 1964. On the first occasion, he presented the trophy at the end of assembly. Lady Simon visited in June 1964, and other visitors included Mr. Chui from China, Students from Manchester College of Science and Technology to see the Auto Tutor, and Mr. Butters, of Manchester Road Safety Organisation to discuss courses in Pre-Driving Training. The 5th and 6th years saw a general film on "Safety" in October 1960.

Once again the site of the games field had to be changed. After many years at North Road, the ground was wanted for school building, and from September 1964, the girls used the Duchess of York field at Burnage and the boys Levenshulme Cricket Ground, changing accommodation being erected there after a year. The Shield team (3rd year) reached the final of their football competition in 1965, and J. Dillon kept goal for Manchester Boys team on several occasions. The school took part in another triangular athletics meeting in July 1966, and also participated in the general display activities which were part of the celebrations at the opening of Nicholls Playing Fields in June of that year. These fields were established behind the Nicholls building on land which was the Ardwick Cemetery. Dispensation for this conversion had been granted by Parliamentary legislation, and the fields were opened by the Town Clerk of Manchester, Sir Phillip Dingle, in the presence of the Lord Mayor, Alderman Mrs Nellie Beer.

It was becoming the habit-to give Senior boys and girls the opportunity to participate in a variety of sports, partly in preparation for leisure pursuits. Ten-pin bowling made a brief appearance in 1964, and the Authority organised transport facilities for Ice-skating groups in 1966. The school was able to enter two teams in the Manchester Schools Cross-Country League in 1966. The annual House Cross-Country Championships were still held at Wythenshawe Park, at the same time as the Hockey Championships at Burnage. Longford Stadium continued to be the site for the annual sports, with House trials held during the previous week. All the trophies for the House competitions were presented at the final house assemblies at the end of the school year. There was a good deal of enthusiasm for House games, and it reached its noisiest peak at the annual swimming galas still held on separate days for boys and girls. On one occasion, one house supporter cheered so vociferously from the balcony that a solitary false tooth was propelled into the bath, but was soon recovered. Swimming tests, not only those for life-saving, but also the new Personal Survival Tests were taken regularly and in 1964, 90% of the school could swim. A Chess Club led by Mr. Booth, had a membership of 50, with a team playing matches regularly in 1966. On a personal note, J. Millership had a place on an Outward Bound Course in 1964.

Mrs Barnes and Mr. Porter the M.E.C. P.E. Advisers, and their assistants Miss Knight and Mr. Davies, were frequent visitors. Many of their colleagues often came to give assistance and support on subject matters-some beginning their association with the school-Mr. Waddington (Art), Mr. Dunn (Science and Maths),Mr. Thomas (Boys' Crafts), Mr. Freer (English), Mr. Darlington (Foreign Languages) and Mr. Pearson (Music). Mr. Keast's support as District Inspector was invaluable, and occasionally there were visits from H.M.l's-Mr. Smart in 1964, Mr. Haynes in 1965 and Mr. Charnley in 1967. H.M.I. Mr. Ruffett who had taken over Mr. Bullock's role as Inspector for the school came in December 1965. When the new school year began in September 1964, the school was able to recruit two additional members of staff because of the increasing numbers and sixth form work. Mr. V.C. Sayer (General Science), Mrs H.M. Sawyer (Housecraft) and Miss M.V. Whitehead (English and History) replaced those who had left in July, but in addition, Mrs A.L. Dawson (Mathematics) and Mrs A. Horsfield (History and English) were also appointed. In October, Mrs. O. Medcalfe (Girls' P.E.) left and was succeeded by Miss H. Filer-soon to become Mrs Cheetham. During a period of staff illness, Mr. R. J. Fielden helped temporarily with Chemistry from November 1963 until March 1964, and similar help in Mathematics and Science was available from Mr. F. Jewell from January until March 1964. Mr. D.H. J. Gay left in December 1963 and his work in Mathematics was taken over in January 1964 by Dr. R.R. Wilson on a temporary appointment, which lasted until he left in July 1966.

A major staffing change took place in December 1963, when Mr. Marchington retired, having served since September 1926 (apart from a six months interval), a total of 37 years, and an appropriate presentation was made at the staff tea following the Carol Service on 18th December. His-retirement was tragically brief, for he died suddenly on 22nd January 1964. A memorial service was held in school and, writing in "Torch", the Headmaster, besides paying tribute to his long and honourable service which included one year as Acting Headmaster and several as Deputy Headmaster, described him as "a staunch colleague who was both supporter, advisor and a kind and gentlemanly person". Mr. Marchington lived for the school, its aims, its ideals and its aspirations for the future and his work was commemorated by the donation of a special Physics prize by Mrs Marchington for the next few years, and the placing of a plaque in the Physics Laboratory by his daughter Anne.

Mr. Marchington was succeeded as Deputy Headmaster by Mr. W. C. Martin, who continued to use the room which was formerly the men's staffroom on the top corridor. Mr. Martin's post as Head of the Mathematics Department was taken over by Mr. A.E. Howard, beginning in April 1964. At the same time Mr. A. Spencer joined the staff to teach Mathematics and some Science. In July 1964, another link with the past was broken when Mr. T. J. Chapman, retired after teaching Woodwork for 32 years. Miss W. M. Williams (Needlework) also retired then, and the school had lost two very experienced Craft teachers. They were replaced in September by Mr. D.G. Thackaberry and Miss A. W. Mucklow. Mr. Hilton left in July 1965, Mr. E.P. Sutton coming to take charge of Boys P.E. and Games. When Mrs Cheetham left in December 1965, it was difficult to find a replacement, and so from January and early February, Mrs A. Lodder and Mrs M. Ashton began part-time temporary appointments which covered the greater part of the Girls P.E. and Games. This arrangement continued to the end of the school year and then in September 1966, Miss L. H. Rogers joined the staff. Mr. R. A. Clarke (Biology) left in July 1966. Mrs D. Fyles took his place, and when Mrs H. Sawyer (Housecraft) left at the same time, Miss M. H. Grew took over. Some part-time help with R.l. became available in January 1966 from Rev. S. A. Sutcliffe, this continuing until July 1966, when Mrs J. Dean began a part-time R.l. appointment, attending 4 mornings each week. When re-organisation took place in September 1967, the following members of staff either left teaching (for domestic reasons), or obtained appointments with other authorities or at other schools in Manchester:- Mrs A. L. Dawson, Mrs J. Dean, Mrs A. Horsfield, Miss A. W. Mucklow, Mrs L. Noble, Miss P. Stone, Mr. D. G. Thackaberry, Miss B. Turnbull and Miss V. Whitehead. All other members of staff became members of the staff of the new school. During 1963 to 1967, many staff went on courses including several splendid weekend courses at St. Annes organised by the Education Committee.

The Headmaster was frequently engaged in attending meetings apart from those concerned with re-organisation. He was Chairman and Convenor of meetings of the Technical High School Heads in Manchester, with the meetings invariably taking place in school. At one time, he was Chairman of the Northern group of Heads of Secondary Technical Schools, and from June 1967 he was Governor of Openshaw Technical College. The variety of subjects discussed at meetings called by the Local Authority is best illustrated by listing some of the topics:- In 1964, "Size of Sixth Forms"; "Organisation of Staffing"; "Teachers' Centre"; "Parental agreements on entry to Selective Schools"; "Staffing Allocations". In 1965, "Day Conference on Secondary Education"; "Youth and the Community"; "Pre-Driving Courses in Schools"; "Social Education"; in 1966, "Employment in City Libraries"; "The Newsom Committee Report"; "Ghyll Head Outdoor Pursuits Centre"; "School Playing Fields", and in 1967, "Information about Children moving from Primary to Secondary Education"; "Staffing Allocations"; "Curriculum Research" and "Welfare in Schools".

It was Speech Day which brought into focus the full range of school activities. The ceremonies were still held in the Free Trade Hall and, as usual, the choirs made notable contributions to the programme, with Mrs Ross playing the organ and the programme included the singing of two hymns "Lord of Health, Thou Life within us" and "The Lord's my Shepherd" to the tune of Crimond. The Headmaster's report was a full review of the past year's events, and the external examination results, together with the names of the prize winners, were printed in the programme. In 1964, Councillor Mrs Lord, a member of the Education Committee and one of the School Governors was Chairman and the two Senior Prefects who proposed the vote of thanks were 1. Bonner and Lynda Collins. The Guest Speaker was the Rev. G. R. Dunstan, Minor Canon of Westminster Abbey. In 1965, Councillor Hatton resumed his role as Chairman. The Senior Prefects were 1. Franks and Jean Jones and the Guest Speaker was the Very Rev. Alfred Jowett, Dean of Manchester, who became a member of the Governing body shortly afterwards. Additional prizes became available through the generosity of two parents- Mr. & Mrs Roberts (Engineering Drawing Prize) and Mr. & Mrs Bonner (Deputy Senior Prefect's Prize). Councillor W. Parkinson re-allocated his General Prize to one for Engineering, and Mr. & Mrs Davies (parents) contributed the Deputy Senior Prefect's Prize in 1966. Speech Day that year was in October instead of July, which meant that two sets of examination results were listed. By this time, the date of the re-organisation had been fixed, and it was more appropriate to hold the last Speech Day of the present school in October. Councillor Hatton was again Chairman, and the Senior Prefects were D. Roberts and Susan Woodworth. It was particularly fitting that the Guest Speaker was the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Alderman Mrs. Nellie Beer, accompanied by the Lady Mayoress, her daughter, who was also an old scholar. Another reason for deferring Speech Day by some months was the decision to hold an Open Day at the end of that school year. This was arranged for 14th July, when the school was "open" from 2 p.m. to 9.30 p.m., with a very good attendance of parents and friends. Those who came were able to see all kinds of activities and displays-science experiments; "cooking while you wait"; art and craft classes; oral groups; physical activities; music; map and graph work; films; and, of course, refreshments were available. Visitors could also go to the Craft centre by taking a bus, specially chartered, "to the Meadow".

Governors meetings were held regularly, when bi-annual reports were received, and the January 1966 meeting was held at Ardwick. With the advent of re-organisation, this experiment in the government of Secondary Schools was discontinued and to mark the occasion the final meeting took the form of a luncheon for Governors, Officials and Heads at Hollings College on 15th June 1967. All relative matters concerning re-organisation had been the subject of much discussion and debate for many years. The finally approved plan meant that selection for the authority's maintained Secondary Schools was to be abolished,with those schools formally closing and being replaced by larger High (Comprehensive) Schools, which in most cases were formed by merging two or even three existing schools into one unit. This meant using existing buildings, with some alterations or additions. It also meant that some of the new schools would be "split site" schools with some distance between the buildings. Three new (purpose built) school buildings were available within the plan, and the whole exercise meant that some of the existing schools were closed without being included in any merger. Parental choice was to be the basis of entry to all the new schools-24 of them in all. Most of the mergers included one selective school, and this facilitated the continuation of Sixth Form work, although one condition of re-organisation was that those who were already attending secondary schools were assured that their courses, particularly if they were selective, would continue.

From 1963, onwards, there was no shortage of meetings about re-organisation-meetings between staffs, teachers associations, groups of Heads, officials, Inspectorate and Committee. The Headmaster was a member of a working party of Heads which attended the Department of Education and Science in May 1966 to discuss the proposed scheme with the Ministry. In September 1965, and again September 1966, Mr. Martin and Miss Lord attended a meeting for school representatives to hear from the Authority about its plans, and Miss Turnbull and Mr. Johnson were the staff representatives at a similar meeting in January 1966. By September 1966,6 other members of staff had attended such meetings. The Authority arranged meetings for parents, and Nicholls School Hall was used for the Ardwick meeting. Heads and some members of staff who wished were given the opportunity of visiting existing Comprehensive Schools. The Headmaster spent a day at Kirkby-Rufford Comprehensive School-and Mr. Johnson went to Gateacre School, Liverpool.

The plan for Ardwick was logical and simple. The three adjacent schools-Ardwick Technical High School, Ardwick Secondary Girls School and Nicholls Secondary Boys School (across Hyde Road) were to merge to form one school, Nicholls Ardwick High School, with about 1200 boys and girls, 3 buildings and a playing field area. Hyde Road bisected the unit yet it was felt by the Authority that the buildings were sufficiently adjacent for the school not to be classed as a "linked" school. The point is interesting because "linked" schools did receive certain concessions, particularly in terms of staffing ailocations. Equally interesting was the fact that the merger involved 3 existing schools whereas in almost all the other cases, only 2 existing schools were involved. This fact had both advantages and disadvantages. There were probably more resources available, but the carrying out of the merger was more complicated.

The re-organisation plan could not be put into effect from September 1967 without some major building alterations. The Ardwick Girls and Nicholls Boys buildings had to be prepared to receive both sexes, and new toilet facilities were provided or existing ones altered. Girls' Craft facilities were made in Nicholls Building by converting workshops, and an extra laboratory and new staff facilities for ladies were provided. At this stage, only minor work was needed to the Ardwick Girls building, although it was eventually intended to take over a suite of classrooms and establish boys craft workshops there instead of at Bank Meadow. This did not materialise at first, however. In the Technical High School building, the one major change was that of the Sixth Form establishing its own centre by September 1st,using Rooms 1 and 2,which would not be required by the new school plans, because there was a surfeit of classroom space. These building changes meant lengthy planning sessions with Mr. Keast and specialist inspectors. During the months of June and July 1967, much time had to be spent by Heads of Departments checking stock and equipment and where necessary moving to a different base. An adequate communication system had to be established and from April 1967 the G.P.O. prepared to install adequate telephone arrangements.

Parents and scholars had to be acquainted with the changing pattern. Parents of boys and girls already in the three schools were made aware that the courses already embarked upon would continue, with some change of building. Parents of new entrants came into school on the evening of 11th July 1967 to see around the Nicholls building-which was to be the Lower School (Years 1,2 and 3) and meet Senior Staff. On the following day, parents of boys and girls joining the 2nd,3rd and 4th years from schools which were closing, came in the afternoon with their sons and daughters, totalling 40 and strong efforts were made to bring about a smooth transfer.

The most extended exercise in the re-organisation process was the appointment of Staff. Following discussions, it had been agreed that with the closure of the schools, all appointments would be terminated, and staff invited to apply for posts in the new schools, with their previous salary guaranteed. All posts were to be advertised and appointments made only within the Authority and application forms were designed to allow for candidates to express preferences. The first appointments to be made were those of the Headships, and in November 1966, the Headmaster informed the staff that he had been appointed Head of the new school. All the newly appointed Heads met the Chief Education Officer and his colleagues in December to work out the next stage. During the first three months of 1967, Deputy Heads were appointed and completed staff application forms were sent in. Each school had its staffing requirements listed-Senior Staff, Heads of Departments, Graded Posts and finally ordinary posts, according to an agreed establishment figure. The Headmaster discussed establishment in February with Mr. W. R. Hey, Assistant Education Officer, outlining the planned organisation of the school and deployment of staff. A further meeting was held with Mr. Hey's successor, Mr. J. Hall in May.

The months of April, May and June were taken up with appointments until finally, on 4th July 1967, the Headmaster met all the newly appointed staff at 4.30 in the Hall of the Ardwick Girls building and,after tea and light refreshments, outlined to them basic plans for the beginning in September. The scale of non-teaching assistance was the subject of much discussion during 1967. Mrs H. Leech was appointed as Registrar for the new school and Mrs Moran, hitherto Clerical Assistant in the Girls school to continue as Clerical Assistant. It was established that each of the three buildings would retain existing caretakers (Mr. O'Kelly, Mr. Newsham and Mr. Gilbody) and cleaning staff; that there should be laboratory assistance for the Senior Technician, Mr. E. Wilson, and that all the canteen staff should be retained for the three dining rooms, with the canteen in the Technical High School building supplying meals to the canteen in the Girls building. Mrs N. Woolley, in charge of Nicholls Canteen,was to have oversight of all the catering arrangements.