The Mount School, York

School for girls in North Yorkshire, England

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The Mount School

The Mount School York

Address

Dalton Terrace

York

North Yorkshire

YO24 4DD

England

Coordinates| 53°57′08″N 1°05′52″W﻿ / ﻿53.95235°N 1.09771°W﻿ / 53.95235; -1.09771
Information
Former names| Trinity Lane (York) Quaker Girls' School
Type| Private day and boarding school
Motto| Latin: Fidelis in Parvo
(Faithfulness in small things)
Religious affiliation(s)| Religious Society of Friends
(Quaker)
Established| 1785
Founders| Quakers
Department for Education URN| 121726 Tables
Principal| David Griffiths
Gender| Girls
Age| 3 to 18
Enrolment| ~290
Houses|

* Cadbury
* Frys
* Terry's
* Rowntrees[1]

Affiliations|

* Girls' Schools Association
* Independent Schools Council

Website| www.mountschoolyork.co.uk

The Mount School is a private Quaker day and boarding school for girls ages 3–18, located in York, England. The school was founded in 1785, and the current principal is David Griffiths. The Mount School is one of seven Quaker schools in England. In 2020, it became the first girls' school in the North of England to become an All-Steinway School.[2] The school is also a member of the Girls' Schools Association and the Independent Schools Council.[3]

## History

[edit]

The school, under the name Trinity Lane (or York) Quaker Girls' School, was founded in 1785 by Yorkshire Quaker, Esther Tuke, wife of William Tuke.[4][5]

In 1831, Esther and William's grandson Samuel Tuke, along with William Alexander, Thomas Backhouse and Joseph Rowntree, moved the school to Castlegate House with Hannah Brady registered as the superintendent (1831-42).[4] She was followed by Elizabeth Brady (1842-47), Eliza Stringer (1847-1853), and Rachel Tregelles (1853-1862),[6] who oversaw the move of the school to its current premises, The Mount, in 1856.

In 1866, Lydia Rous returned from her work with the Underground Railroad during the American Civil War to become the new superintendent, eventually retiring in 1879.[7]

From 1890 to 1902, Lucy Harrison was identified as the headmistress of The Mount; Harrison endeavoured to bring many of the conventions of the school in line with contemporary norms at the time, particularly those surrounding health and wellbeing. This included the development of a gymnasium and the increasing the amount of outdoor space designed to be useable by students.

From 1946 to 1966, Margery Willoughby was the head teacher.[8]

## Traditions

[edit]

The Mount School has many long-standing traditions, including a game event called Games in the Dark which takes place on Bonfire Night. Year 11 students arrange a treasure hunt challenge for the younger students to take part in and it often involves many pranks. College-aged pupils traditionally present two events to the school, one at the end of each term, respectively, the College I Pantomime and the Leavers' Play, at which previous head girls are presented with gifts by their successors.[9][10]

The Foundation Meeting (or Speech Day) summarises the year and introduces the new head girl team; awards and scholarships are presented to students from every year group, during this event.

## Curriculum

[edit]

In 2012, the school introduced the PeaceJam Ambassadors programme into the school curriculum.[11] The school has "pillars of excellence" in the subject areas of sciences, math, history, music, sports, art, drama and foreign languages.[12]

### Sports

[edit]

The Mount has yearly activities in orienteering and fencing, netball, hockey and swimming in the winter, rounders, tennis and athletics in the summer. College girls are able to choose the sports, lacrosse and whether or not to use a fitness suite.[13] The school has a team for hockey, netball, tennis, rounders, swimming, athletics and cross country.

### Creative arts

[edit]

The Mount is an All Steinway School[14] and holds annual concerts. Extracurricular creative art groups include both Senior and Junior Orchestra, Senior and Junior Choir, a Wind group and a Swing Band for woodwind and brass instruments. The school follows the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) syllabus and there is usually a school and college play performed every year.

## Accolades

[edit]

In The Times League Table, the school is ranked 2nd by A-level results in the York area. In the Yorkshire Post, the school was ranked in the A-level results table for Yorkshire in 2012.[15]

## Notable alumnae

[edit]

See also: Category:People educated at The Mount School, York

* Isobel Barnett, Scottish radio and television personality
* Virginia Beardshaw CBE, Founder Fellow of the King's Fund Institute
* Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, astrophysicist[16]
* Kate Bellingham, BBC technology presenter and engineer
* Laura Busson, BBC Radio 2 Commissioning Executive
* Dame A. S. Byatt, author[17]
* Ruth Cadbury, politician
* Margaret Crosfield, palaeontologist, one of the first 13 female fellows of the Geological Society of London in 1919.
* Dame Judi Dench, actress
* Dame Margaret Drabble, author[17]
* Audrey Evans, paediatric oncologist, co-founder of Ronald MacDonald House[18]
* Professor Ruth Finnegan, social anthropologist[19]
* Mary Sturge Gretton, historian and magistrate[20]
* Jean Henderson, lawyer and Liberal Party politician
* Rachel Howard, artist
* Noni Jabavu, South African writer and journalist
* Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman, former Conservative MP
* Rose Neill, BBC Broadcaster
* Nuzo Onoh, British-Nigerian writer
* Helen Osborne, journalist and critic[21]
* Tessa Rowntree, aid worker in Czechoslovakia
* Winifred Sargent, mathematician[22]
* Anna Southall, director of the National Museums and Galleries of Wales
* Nicola Spence, biologist
* Cheryl Taylor, controller of CBBC[23]
* Kathleen Mary Tillotson, literary scholar[24]
* Mary Ure, actress
* Elfrida Vipont, children's author
* Hilary Wainwright, feminist and Guardian writer
* Anna Walker, BBC Tomorrow's World and Sky presenter
* Frances Wilson, English author, academic and critic
* Elizabeth Young, journalist and literary critic

## See also

[edit]

* List of Friends Schools

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Mount School: A Day in the Life of the Mount School Headgirl's Team". Living North Magazine, Late Winter / Early Spring 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
2. ^ "The Mount in York becomes North Yorkshire's first all-Steinway school". York Press. Newsquest International. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
3. ^ "Girls' Schools Association". Girls' Schools Association. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
4. ^ a b "History & Heritage". The Mount School. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
5. ^ "Tuke, William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27810. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
6. ^ Biographical Catalogue: Being an Account of the Lives of Friends and Others Whose Portraits are in the London Friends' Institute. Friends Institute. 1888. pp. 827–829. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
7. ^ "Rous, Lydia (1819–1896), headmistress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48673. Retrieved 8 October 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
8. ^ "Headmistress held in great respect". York Press. 14 June 2001. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
9. ^ Living North, Spring 2013
10. ^ "A Day in the Life of The Mount Headgirls". Living North (Spring 2013).
11. ^ Hayward, Jo (28 August 2012). "Teaching peace in the classroom". The Guardian.
12. ^ [1]"Quality Mark Case Study" Historical Association
13. ^ "Mount School York". Sports Facilities UK. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
14. ^ "The Mount is North Yorkshire's First All Steinway School". Attain. Pressburst. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
15. ^ Roberts, John (25 August 2012). "Praise as private school tops table on A-levels". Yorkshire Post.
16. ^ Lewis, Haydn (24 August 2021). "York Mount School's Jocelyn Bell Burnell gets Copley Medal". York Press. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
17. ^ a b Kastan, David Scott, ed. (2006). The Oxford encyclopedia of British literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 351\. ISBN 978-0195169218. "When she [Byatt] was thirteen, she and her younger sister—the novelist Margaret Drabble—were sent to Mount School, a Quaker boarding school in York."
18. ^ "Audrey 90th Birthday Event Video". YouTube. 5 June 2015. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
19. ^ "Professor Ruth Finnegan, FBA, Social and Cultural Anthropology, other branches, Elected 1996". Retrieved 7 January 2022.
20. ^ Reid, Ellie (2020). "Gretton [née Sturge; first married name Henderson], Mary Gertrude Sturge (1871–1961), historian and magistrate". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.59036. ISBN 9780198614128. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
21. ^ Coveney, Michael (9 January 2004). "Helen Osborne". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
22. ^ "Winifred L. C. Sargent". Newsletter of the Association for Women in Mathematics (v. 11-15). Association for Women in Mathematics (U.S.): 7. 1981. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
23. ^ Conlan, Tara (9 December 2012). "Cheryl Taylor interview: CBBC 'is where we want the BBC journey to begin". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
24. ^ "The Papers of Professors Geoffrey and Kathleen Tillotson". Royal Holloway Archives and Special Collections, University of London. Retrieved 25 March 2024. "she attended Ackworth School, Pontefract, and The Mount, York"

## Further reading

[edit]

* Sturge, H. W. & Clark, T. The Mount School. York, 1785 to 1931. (Pub. 1931).
* Smith, M. F. & Waller, E. A. The Mount School. York, 1857 to 1957. (Pub. 1957).
* The Mount OSA. A register of old scholars, 1931-1932. (Pub. 1932).
* The Mount School Annual reports (annual lists of pupils 1919–1940).
* Old York Scholars Association Annual reports, 1887-1901. OSA Annual reports. (Pub. 1890).
* Sheils, S. (2007) Among Friends, The Story of The Mount School, York. London: James & James.

## External links

[edit]

* The Mount School Official Site
* The Mount Junior School Official Site
* Profile on the ISC website
* Profile at MyDaughter
* Mount Old Scholars Association

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