by Kelly Eve Education reporter

Last updated 05:29, Friday, 13 June 2008

THE buzz of walkie talkies, bringing traffic to a standstill on one of Carlisle’s busiest city centre routes and the bright white polo shirts made it pretty obvious that this was never going to be a quick snap.

• Slideshow: final images from St Aidan's School
• Video: the final photo

The final St Aidan's County High School photograph;2 June 2008

Organised like a military operation, onlookers would have been forgiven for thinking that St Aidan’s School in the centre of the city was being evacuated.

Yet the cleverly-orchestrated scene on the Central Field was set up so a that full school photograph could be taken one last time, kicking off the school’s centenary celebrations.

A poignant and emotional moment, Monday afternoon’s photocall also marked the start of the school’s final term and a series of planned events over the next six weeks marking the end of an era.

St Aidan’s School officially closes at the end of August before the Richard Rose Central Academy is created on September 1.

It took over an hour-and-a half to arrange the 900-plus pupils from Years 7, 8, 9 and 10. Each one had earlier been presented with a brand new polo shirt bearing the logos of St Aidan’s School and the original Carlisle and County High School.

Even before setting foot outside of the school, the pupils had been split into year groups in the gym, two halls and tennis courts.

They were arranged by height before being ushered safely across Victoria Place, where staff had lined the road, stopping puzzled drivers.

The year groups then gradually congregated on the field where a 10metre-high stage had been built to hold 1,000 people.

Patiently they waited until 2.45pm as Tempest Photography led by photographer Matt Young, neatly arranged every row. An assistant on a megaphone asked for smiles and politely warned that hand gestures would not be welcome as Matt walked to his camera set up 200 yards away.

Many of the school’s 260 staff – including teachers, catering staff and cleaners – were among the last ones to take their seats on the front row, joined by staff and 36 children from St Aidan’s Day Nursery and governors.

Monday’s event was divided into two sittings.

After the first sitting, Year 11 pupils who had just completed their maths GCSE exam were joined by sixth formers and remaining staff. Tempest will use digital technology to join and transpose the two images onto a backdrop of the Old School Hall, the oldest part of the St Aidan’s School site. Pupils will be presented with a commemorative copy of the picture on their last day of term in July.

The gathering was emotional for headteacher Martin Murphy, who last organised a full school photograph to mark the Millennium eight years ago.

He said: “This is a historic occasion for the school. We are closing in a few weeks. We’ve had 38 years of St Aidan’s and this is a celebration of the achievements and everything about the school.

“It is eight years since we did the last one and it is a brilliant way to begin our centenary celebrations.

“This is also the end of an era and the beginning of a new one with £30 million plus being spent on the Carlisle central academy. It is always exciting getting altogether.”

He added: “This is always a busy time of year for us, we’ve got field trips, visits and then we’ve got the transitional phase to think about.

“And also from July 3 we’ve got a huge marquee going up in the grounds. Every year group is going to have a party.

“We’re going to be opening it up for afternoon tea on July 6, for old pupils and staff. There’s also going to be an auction of artwork for one of our charities we support.”

It was a chance for maths teacher Bob Cakans to be with all of the pupils and staff before he retires at the end of term after 35 years.

The former county tennis player said: “St Aidan’s has always been like a family and we always support one another so it is nice that we can share something like this.

“The children have been so excited about this. As soon as they were given their polo shirts they wanted to get them on straight away.”

Julie Gibson, manager of the nursery, said: “We’ve been here for 18 years. This is the first time we’ve taken part in the photograph. It is a great honour for us.

“It is also a time of big change for us all and we’ve been really well supported throughout at the nursery. We’ve had our planning permission through now and our new building for the temporary phase is on order and is due to be ready to open on September 1.”