The Mount School, York Explained

The Mount School
Former Names:Trinity Lane (York) Quaker Girls' School
Coordinates:53.9524°N -1.0977°W
Motto:Latin: Fidelis in Parvo
Motto Translation:Faithfulness in small things
Established:1785
Type:Private day and boarding school
Religious Affiliation:Religious Society of Friends
(Quaker)
Head Label:Principal
Head:David Griffiths
Address:Dalton Terrace
Country:England
Postcode:YO24 4DD
Urn:121726
Dfeno:816/6003
Enrolment:~290
Lower Age:3
Upper Age:18

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.[1] The school is also a member of the Girls' Schools Association and the Independent Schools Council.[2]

History

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.[3] [4]

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).[3] She was followed by Elizabeth Brady (1842 - 47), Eliza Stringer (1847 - 1853), and Rachel Tregelles (1853 - 1862),[5] 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.[6]

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.[7]

Traditions

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.[8] [9]

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

In 2012, the school introduced the PeaceJam Ambassadors programme into the school curriculum.[10] The school has "pillars of excellence" in the subject areas of sciences, math, history, music, sports, art, drama and foreign languages.[11]

Sports

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.[12] The school has a team for hockey, netball, tennis, rounders, swimming, athletics and cross country.

Creative arts

The Mount is an All Steinway School[13] 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

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.[14]

Notable alumnae

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 4 March 2020. The Mount in York becomes North Yorkshire's first all-Steinway school . York Press . Newsquest International. 4 March 2020.
  2. Web site: Girls' Schools Association. Girls' Schools Association. 25 February 2021.
  3. Web site: History & Heritage . The Mount School . 4 March 2019.
  4. 27810. Tuke, William.
  5. Book: Biographical Catalogue: Being an Account of the Lives of Friends and Others Whose Portraits are in the London Friends' Institute . 1888 . Friends Institute . 827–829 . 4 March 2019.
  6. Rous, Lydia (1819–1896), headmistress. 8 October 2020. 2004. 10.1093/ref:odnb/48673.
  7. News: Headmistress held in great respect . 14 June 2001 . York Press . 26 April 2022.
  8. Living North, Spring 2013
  9. A Day in the Life of The Mount Headgirls . Living North . Spring 2013.
  10. Web site: Teaching peace in the classroom . Hayward, Jo . 28 August 2012 . The Guardian.
  11. http://www.history.org.uk/resources/secondary_resource_7519_283.html
  12. Web site: Mount School York . Sports Facilities UK . 25 February 2021.
  13. News: The Mount is North Yorkshire's First All Steinway School . 25 February 2021 . Pressburst . Attain . 4 March 2020.
  14. News: Roberts . John . 25 August 2012 . Praise as private school tops table on A-levels . Yorkshire Post.
  15. News: Lewis . Haydn . York Mount School's Jocelyn Bell Burnell gets Copley Medal . 24 August 2021 . York Press . 24 August 2021.
  16. Book: Kastan . David Scott . The Oxford encyclopedia of British literature . 2006 . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 978-0195169218 . 351 . 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..
  17. Web site: Audrey 90th Birthday Event Video. . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/Sao1skfzHJs . 19 December 2021 . live. en. 9 December 2019.
  18. Web site: Professor Ruth Finnegan, FBA, Social and Cultural Anthropology, other branches, Elected 1996 . 7 January 2022.
  19. Web site: Gretton [née Sturge; first married name Henderson], Mary Gertrude Sturge (1871–1961), historian and magistrate]. 13 September 2020. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 2020. 10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.59036. Reid. Ellie. 9780198614128.
  20. News: Coveney. Michael. Helen Osborne. 6 May 2016. The Guardian. 9 January 2004.
  21. Winifred L. C. Sargent. Newsletter of the Association for Women in Mathematics. Association for Women in Mathematics (U.S.). v. 11-15 . 1981 . 2024-03-25 . 7.
  22. Web site: Cheryl Taylor interview: CBBC 'is where we want the BBC journey to begin . Conlan, Tara . 9 December 2012 . . 20 December 2012.
  23. Web site: The Papers of Professors Geoffrey and Kathleen Tillotson. 25 March 2024. Royal Holloway Archives and Special Collections, University of London. she attended Ackworth School, Pontefract, and The Mount, York.

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