the image above is shown with the permission of Janet Sheldon

Councillor Mrs Sally Shaw was in the chair for the Speech Day in May 1977 and Mr. Fiske was Chief Guest. Warren McGuire, Senior Student welcomed all the guests and at the end of the proceedings his colleague Visanti Mehta proposed the vote of thanks. After addressing the assembly, Mr. Fiske was presented with a gift made in the workshops by Mr. Barber and a 4th year boy, Anthony Jones. In what was his last report, the Headmaster was tempted to look back over his 25 years to 1952, and in conclusion spoke of those 25 years as "happy ones, not glorious, but frequently rewarding, certainly interesting, often surprising, occasionally disappointing, but rarely with a dull moment".

On the last day of the school year, 21st July, Mr. Woodhead took Upper School assembly in "H" Hall in the morning. At the end of the day, he took a full assembly in "N" Hall, after which he was presented with gifts from the school by Naomi Jupe, Senior Student elect for 1977/78, and in reply thanked everyone and wished them all well.

The new Headmaster was Mr. Harry Draper, also a Yorkshireman, and graduate in French and German from Sheffield and Birmingham Universities, with wide experience as an Assistant Master, Head of Department, Deputy Headmaster and Headmaster. During the weeks prior to taking over officially, he had been in close touch with his predecessor, Senior colleagues and the Registrar in school, and had been present at Speech Day. At his first Speech Day in 1978, Councillor Sally Shaw was Chief Guest and Councillor Dale, Deputy Chairman of the Education Committee was in the chair. Naomi Jupe and Lloyd Kerr were the senior students. Unfortunately, this event was to some extent restricted by the effects of the flooding in part of "N" Building.

It was not long before major planning began for special events to celebrate the School's Centenary Year (1979). Mr. Draper worked closely with a lively Old Scholars' Association Committee,which at this time consisted of Miss H. Lord, Mr. Roy Gosling, Mrs L. Cragg (Linda Longworth), Mr. Howard Jones, Mr. Leslie Cockerham, Mr. David Tyror, Rev. Norman Dawson, Mrs J. Scott (Joan Heywood), Mrs B. Kynch (Barbara Heywood), \/lr. G. J. Davies (former staff), Mr. M. Grady (staff representative), Mrs C. Smith (staff representative) and Mrs H. Leech (Registrar). Honorary Alderman Mrs Beer, as Chairman of the Association, maintained an active and lively interest, and Mr. Woodhead was co-opted on to the Committee. In September 1977, the committee organised a special dinner and presentation to Mr. & Mrs Woodhead, a delightful and well attended event. A special Centenary dinner was also arranged for March 1979, at the same venue-a suite at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. Honorary Alderman, Mrs Beer was Chairman and there were speeches from the Headmaster, Councillor K. Eastham, Chairman of the Education Committee, Mr. G. Kaufmann, M.P. and Mr. Woodhead, and Mr. & Mrs Fiske were guests. On behalf of the Association, Mrs Beer made presentations to Miss Lord (whose record of service has already been mentioned) and Mrs Leech (who as Registrar had helped to maintain for 21 years liaison between Old Scholars and the school) and Mr. Roy Gosling (Treasurer of the Association for 30 years). Great effort had been made to contact old scholars and the event was a fine reunion and a great success. Later in that year, the City Council honoured the School and Old Scholars by arranging a special reception by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress in the Town Hall. Cocktails and refreshments were served, the school band played in an adjacent room, and the Lord Mayor and Honorary Alderman Mrs Beer paid tribute to the contribution made by the school over its 100 years. In November, past and present staff had a reunion in "H" Hall, with a buffet meal prepared by the Schools Catering Service. Several members of the Inspectorate were guests and there were speeches from the Headmaster, Mr. Howard, Mr. Woodhead and Mr. G. Hainsworth, Deputy Chief Education Officer.

The school itself made contributions to its Centenary celebrations. A lively spirited production of the musical "Wizard of Oz", directed by Mrs Pearce and Mrs Bailey with many staff helpers, was given for 3 nights in March. At a Centenary Speech day on the afternoon of May 22nd, Mr. Woodhead was Chief Guest, accompanied by Mrs Woodhead, and Councillor Dale was in the chair. Before distributing the prizes and certificates it was understandable that in his address Mr. Woodhead referred to items of past history. He also presented the "Woodhead Shield" for the first time to the House winning the overall championship, and, in accordance with practice received a gift token from Bharat Mehta and Shilla Mebta, the two Senior Students. In producing the programme for Speech Day, Mr. Draper carried on the practice which had prevailed since 1953-printing all individual examination results on that programme.

The last public activity of the school in its Centenary year was an event which fittingly brought together past and present. For one morning, afternoon and evening in October the school was open to the public and they were able to see displays, exhibitions and activities in various parts of the buildings. In the 6th form library in "H" Building, the Old Scholars' Association organised a special centenary exhibition of documents and photographs covering the 100 years. This exhibition was prepared by Mrs B. Kinch and Mrs Joan Scott, assisted by Miss Lord, Mrs Leech and Mr. Woodhead. Many visitors,including old scholars, attended and were grateful for the opportunity of seeing both modern school activities and glimpses of the past.

And so the school celebrated its Centenary appropriately, with a proud look back from the present to its distinguished past; and the remarks of the then Headmaster in his Speech Day report of 1970 could be repeated here: - "It is true that we cannot live in the past. We can take from it the lessons it teaches and the encouragement it gives. Looking back over many years of education in the Ardwick area, this school can count amongst its ranks of Old Scholars, a Minister of Education and a Minister of Food; a life Peer; two Lord Mayors of Manchester; a Director of Education; a Professor of Chemical Engineering; a Director of an Art Gallery; several Ministers of Religion, a Registrar of a University; an H.M.I.; innumerable teachers, engineers, private secretaries, nurses and bank employees; a good proportion of Honours graduates; an author of a book on Art and a writer of published poems; a Chairman of Manchester City Football Club; a national long distance runner; a national netball trialist and an l.T.V. outside broadcast producer; the Chief Engineer to an Electricity Board; a lecturer at an Australian University and two Research Scientists at American Universities.