Peter Mason took on the High Mastership of MGS in the January of 1962. Eric James had been High Master for seventeen years, during which time he was honoured with a knighthood and then a life peerage. He would surely have been seen as a tough act to follow.
The Chair of Governors flanked by the incoming and outgoing High Masters, Peter Mason and Eric James
However, unlike James in 1945, Mason was already a seasoned Headteacher when embarking upon the role at MGS. He had had jobs at Cheltenham College and Rugby School before his first headmastership at Aldenham School in Hertfordshire, which lasted twelve years. It is therefore very interesting to have discovered a report on the School written by Mason in June 1962. High Masters had long written an annual report for the Governors, but due to the irregular time at which Mason took up the reins, this assessment of the School was written with only two terms experience. It therefore gives us a very interesting insight into the MGS which James had entrusted to Mason, and Mason's own particular views of its strengths and weaknesses at that point.
This is what Mason wrote:
"I have the honour to present to the Governors a report on the academic year 1961/2, of which the second and third terms only come within my personal knowledge.
Numbers
At the beginning of the year there were 1440 boys on the roll as against 1432 in 1960 and 1418 in 1959. This was due in part to some unexpected failures in A. Level which brought a number of boys back to School for an extra year. A few leavers at Christmas and a larger number at Easter, mainly boys with awards and university places to their credit, reduced the total in the Summer Term to 1392, with some consequent loss in revenue. This could in future be more serious if University Dons continue to urge boys to leave School even earlier. The sixth form grant of £81-0-0. is calculated by numbers on the roll on March 1st; and since the third year sixth is expensive in manpower and therefore cost, we feel justified in asking parents to keep their sons at school at any rate until Easter, unless they have in mind some specially valuable project, such as Voluntary Service Overseas. Other Direct Grant schools have already found this a serious problem, but it seems unlikely that the Minister of Education would agree to advance the qualifying date, despite his avowed eagerness for both maintained and Direct Grant schools to provide for third year work.
There were 558 boys in the different divisions of the VIth form (559 last year), 48 studying Classics, 63 Modern Languages, 109 History and other subjects, 53 Mathematics and Physics, 181 Mathematics for Science, Physics and Chemistry, 80 Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The remaining 24 were in Sixth Transitus. This shows an increase in History at the expense of Science and has made necessary an additional History stream in the VIth form, which as it accumulates will require an additional master next year. The Upper Fifth form has disappeared.
Organisation
Two major changes in organisation have been agreed and plans are in hand for putting them into practice in 1963. The first springs partly from my predecessor’s agreement to take part in the A.B.C. scheme, under which leading schools agreed voluntarily to give one third of the time-table to non-specialist work in the VIth form. The second is designed to avoid the almost impossible choice forced upon the parents of new boys between the so called Classical and Modern Sides, at a time when neither boys, parents nor masters have any means of assessing a boy’s linguistic capacity. There will in future be a common course in the first and second forms which will include an introduction to Latin for all boys, after which the School will be in a position to advise about their future study in the language field – a system which is now pretty well universal and will help to delay any kind of choice of specialized work until the latest possible time, i.e. when a boy take O. Level of the G.C.E. Meanwhile in 1962/3 the programme of general studies in the VIth form will be extended in preparation for a wider syllabus in 1963 so that all boys taking arts subjects will do some science at this stage.
Staff
Mr. W.J.B. Saunders, the senior of out two P.E. masters, retired at Christmas after being connected with the School for 41 years. He is succeeded by Mr. Welsby, his assistant. Mr. W.G. Hamflett left at the same time to become one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors. At the end of this term we lose Mr. G.W. Crowther to the Headmastership of Lymm Grammar School. Mr. Crowther has done much for many sides of school life in addition to his work in the Modern Languages Department and will be greatly missed. Mr. R.H.L. Armitage leaves to join the staff of Twyford Preparatory School; and Mr. I. Tenen reverts to retirement after coming back for a year on a part-time basis. The excellence of academic work at MGS and of the prolific out-of-school activities, including treks and camps, which together justify its reputation for providing an exceptional all round education, is mainly due to the skill and devotion of the staff; and it should be noted that by any standard of comparison they carry a very heavy load by reason of the very large numbers they teach in forms and sets in our huge VIth form. A staffing ratio of 1 – 17.5 is less satisfactory than the school deserves, less good than that of some comparable Direct Grant Schools and much less good than that of the best boarding schools, even allowing for boarding duties; and I feel strongly that the burden should be eased somewhat in due course even at the cost of some increase of fees, so that men doing very difficult advanced work should have more time and energy for reading and for some very necessary pastoral work with juniors. I have postponed considering the introduction of a tutorial system, despite encouragement from the staff, because of the extra demands it would make. Our recruitment of first class staff must depend upon the conditions of service we offer, even more than on good salaries.
Academic Record
Despite some gloomy forecasts, 33 members of the VIth form won Open Awards at Oxford and Cambridge; of these 18 were awarded Scholarships and 15 Exhibitions. One boy won a Choral Bursary and 41 boys were awarded State Scholarships. The School was again ‘facile princeps’ in the award list; and it is interesting to note that more than 10 Old Mancunians were awarded first classes at Oxford and Cambridge in 1961.
I append some notes on the further careers of boys who left school in 1948, which supplements previous studies. Our records of Old Boys are not as complete as we should wish, and it is difficult to track them down. The compilation of a complete Register of Old Mancunians is a very necessary task, though a difficult and expensive one, it would be very valuable indeed in following up careers and assessing our results.
Other activities
As a new comer I am most impressed with the range of these activities and their quality, some account of which has been given in recent reports. I am less happy about our provision of games for the average boy, and some changes in time tabling in the new programme will I hope improve this somewhat, and provide better coaching. The limitations imposed by weather, lack of ground, badly drained pitches and loss of time caused by travelling make this an intractable problem; and many boys will of necessity find their best outlet in minor games, athletics and the like. For this reason I should like to see, as soon as possible, some squash courts on the premises and a better provision of tennis courts.
One of the most notable school activities, the Service Groups, has been reported in the “Times” Educational Supplement. About 700 boys now belong to the Groups and the work they undertake, apart from its value to the community, is among the most valuable pieces of social training the school can give at a time when a feeling of social responsibility is more than ever necessary if our way of life is to survive.
Buildings
The building of the Physics School has continued throughout the year and it will be formally opened by Lady Marks on September 19th. The School will be admirably equipped for Science teaching when the old Chemistry Labs have been reorganised, a job which should be finished in October next.
As I have already reported verbally, I am constantly aware of the severe overcrowding which is inevitable in a building designed for 1100 boys and regularly used by 1450, of whom more than a third are now in the VIth form. Although buildings are less important than human qualities, the School urgently needs more provision for VIth forms, for music and art, for working library space and other things if it is to maintain its place in English education, and the 450th centenary in 1965 might well be the occasion for an effort to improve the amenities which do so much to broaden the general cultural education of intelligent boys and help them in the difficult transition to University life.
I should like to conclude this report with a very sincere word of personal thanks for the kindness, tolerance and encouragement with which a new comer has been absorbed into this very vigorous and independent community; and an especial tribute to Mr. Roger Stone, the Second Master, and Mr. McCorquodale, the Receiver."
This early report gives us an indication of Mason's priorities for the future. With the benefit of hindsight we can look back and see whether he achieved some of his early objectives. One of his clearest priorities was to increase the number of teaching staff so that class sizes were more manageable. Looking at the statistics we have, the number of staff at the time of this report numbered eighty-three. By the time Mason moved on in 1978, the numbers had risen modestly to ninety-five, whilst pupil numbers remained fairly stable. It is clear that his other main ambition, to extend the School's accommodation, was realised. During his tenure, Mason launched a flagship appeal to fund the addition of music accommodation, a sixth form centre (later renamed the Mason building), squash courts and additions to the Physics (Marks) building. Mason also mentioned the need for a register of Old Mancunians. Another legacy of Mason's time at MGS was indeed the creation of the Biographical Register of Old Mancunians, sometimes known as the "Blue Book". This was compiled to coincide with the School's 475th anniversary, and the data collected has formed the basis for later registers and, ultimately, the current Development Office database which has proved so useful to MGS and the Old Mancunian community.
What I remember is his criticism of 6th formers visiting the local chippy as “an unhealthy northern habit”