, motto_translation = Faithfulness in small things , established = 1785 , closed = , type =

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

day and boarding school , religious_affiliation =

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

(Quaker) , president = , head_label = Principal , head = David Griffiths , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair = , founders =

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

, specialist = , address = Dalton Terrace , city =

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, county =

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, country = England , postcode = YO24 4DD , local_authority = , ofsted = , urn = 121726 , dfeno = 816/6003 , staff = , enrolment = 290~ , gender =

Girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...

, lower_age = 3 , upper_age = 18 , houses = , colours = , publication = , affiliations = , free_1 = , free_label_2 = , free_2 = , free_label_3 = , free_3 = , website = The Mount School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

day and boarding school for girls ages 3 –18, located in

, England. The school was founded in 1785 and the current principal is David Griffiths. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The Mount offers full boarding, weekly and flexible boarding and in 2020 became the first girl's school in the North of England to become an All Steinway School. The school is also a member of the

Girls' Schools Association The Girls' Schools Association (GSA) is a professional association of the heads of independent girls' schools. It is a constituent member of the Independent Schools Council. History The GSA can trace its history back to the Association of Headm ...

and the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the busin ...

. The Mount School has been acknowledged as one of the top independent girls' schools in the United Kingdom. In ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' League Table, the school is ranked 2nd by A-level results in the York area. In the ''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'', the school was ranked top of an A-level results table for Yorkshire in 2012.

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 William Tuke (24 March 1732 – 6 December 1822), an English tradesman, philanthropist and Quaker, earned fame for promoting more humane custody and care for people with mental disorders, using what he called gentler methods that came to be k ...

. In 1831 Esther and William's grandson Samuel Tuke along with William Alexander, Thomas Backhouse and Joseph Rowntree moved the school to

Castlegate House Castlegate House is a Georgian Grade I listed building in central York, in England. Design The house lies on Castlegate in York City Centre. Further along the street lies Fairfax House, another Grade I listed Georgian house, which is open to ...

with Hannah Brady as superintendent (1831–42. She was followed by Elizabeth Brady (1842–47), Eliza Stringer (1847–1853), and Rachel Tregelles (1853–1862). Lydia Rous returned from helping in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

to become head. Rous retired in 1879. In 1856 it moved to its present premises, The Mount. From 1890 to 1902 the Headmistress was

Lucy Harrison Lucy Harrison (17 January 1844 – 15 May 1915) was a teacher at Bedford College School, and later founder and then head of Gower Street School for Girls and then The Mount School, York. Early life Lucy Harrison was born on 17 January 1844 in ...

. From 1946 to 1966

Margery Willoughby Margery Gertrude Willoughby (13 December 1905 – 10 June 2001) was a British headteacher and Chair of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Biography Willoughby attended Manchester High School for Girls and then Girton College, Cambridge where ...

was the head teacher.

Traditions

The Mount School has many long-standing traditions throughout the school year, including a game event ''Games in the Dark'' at Bonfire Night, where Year 11 students arrange a treasure hunt challenge for the younger students to take part in. College girls present two events to the school, one at the end of each term, respectively, the ''College I Pantomime'' and the ''Leavers' Play'' at Leaver's Supper, at which the new head girls present the old head girls with flowers and College II present the school with a gift, typically, an award in memory of a teacher and a digital photo frame of student trips. The school holds an end of term meeting both at Christmas and in the summer. Between these meetings is Family Day. This event is typically held around mid-May and is the main fundraising event of the year. The school body selects two charities to support: one based in the U.K. and one overseas. The students and staff speak about potential charities and all students vote for which charities to support. Family Day is an opportunity for every year to run a stall to raise money, whilst music and drama group offer entertainment. Other activity groups run stalls to raise awareness for the work of organisations such as

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

and

Eco-Schools Eco-Schools is an international programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that aims to “empower students to be the change our sustainable world needs by engaging them in fun, action-orientated, and socially responsible lear ...

Eco Committee, which in 2011 won the

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

for the school. This represents the highest achievement for an eco-friendly school. 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, including Grade 8 Music and Drama awards. Each leaver in College II writes a few sentences about their time at The Mount and their future plans, these are read out as they receive a necklace of the Mount Rose as a leaving gift. Other traditions include such events as the ''Carols on the Stairs,'' which takes place at Christmas, and ''Tea Party with the Elderly''.

Curriculum

Academically the school maintains traditional values and has developed ‘pillars of excellence’ in several subject areas: sciences, maths, history, music, sports, art, drama and foreign languages.

Sports

The Mount has many sporting activities for every year group like orienteering and fencing, netball, hockey and swimming in the winter and rounders, tennis and athletics in the summer. College girls are able to choose from a wider variety of sports including lacrosse and using the fitness suite. The school has a team for hockey, netball, tennis, rounders, swimming athletics and cross country. These teams compete with other schools in the area.

Creative Arts

The Mount is an All Steinway School and holds annual concerts. Musical opportunities include Senior and Junior Orchestra, Senior and Junior Choir, a Wind group and Swing Band for woodwind and brass instruments. The Mount follows the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) syllabus and there is usually a school and College Play every year. Previous years have performed ''Alice'', ''The History Boys'' and ''Accrington Pals''. The Drama department present ''I See A Voice'' every year.

Peace Studies

In 2012, the school became the first in England to introduce the PeaceJam Foundation's Ambassadors programme into the school curriculum, as opposed to as an after school club or extra curricular activity.

Notable alumnae

Isobel Barnett Isobel, Lady Barnett (born Isobel Morag Marshall; 30 June 1918 – 20 October 1980), popularly known as Lady Isobel Barnett, was a Scottish radio and television personality, who had her highest profile during the 1950s and 1960s. Early life B ...

, Scottish radio and television personality of the 1950s and 1960s *

Virginia Beardshaw Virginia Beardshaw, Lady Cahn CBE (born June 1952) is the Chair of the Annual Fund at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was Chief Executive of the children's communication charity I CAN for 10 years, spanning from 2005 t ...

CBE, Founder Fellow of the King's Fund Institute * Dame

Jocelyn Bell Burnell Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (; Bell; born 15 July 1943) is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. The discovery eventually earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in ...

, astrophysicist *

Kate Bellingham Katherine Bellingham (born 1963)Royal Society of Chemistry
– s ...

BBC technology presenter and engineer *

Laura Busson Laura Margaret Busson (née Sayers; 11 October 1978) is BBC Radio 2's Commissioning Executive and deputy to the Head of Station, Helen Thomas. She was well known for her former role as sidekick and Assistant Producer for Scott Mills on BBC Radio ...

, BBC Radio 2 Commissioning Executive * Dame

A. S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy ( Drabble; born 24 August 1936), known professionally by her former marriage name as A. S. Byatt ( ), is an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been widely translated, into more than t ...

, author * Ruth Cadbury, politician *

Margaret Crosfield Margaret Chorley Crosfield (7 September 1859 – 13 October 1952) was a British paleontologist and geologist. Biography Crosfield became an active member of the Geologists' Association in 1892, later becoming a council member in 1918. In 1894 she ...

, palaeontologist, one of the first 13 female fellows of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1919. * Dame

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

, actress * Dame

Margaret Drabble Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, (born 5 June 1939) is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer. Drabble's books include '' The Millstone'' (1965), which won the following year's John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, and ''Jer ...

, author * Audrey Evans, paediatric oncologist, co-founder of

Ronald MacDonald House Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent United States, American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children. RMHC has a glob ...

* Professor

Ruth Finnegan Ruth Hilary Finnegan (b. 30 December 1933) is a Northern Irish linguistic anthropologist and Emeritus Professor of the Open University. Biography Finnegan was born in 1933 in Derry. She attended Londonderry High School (now Foyle College and Th ...

, social anthropologist * Mary Sturge Gretton historian and magistrate *

Jean Henderson Jean Mary Henderson (18 December 1899 – 1 April 1997) was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician. Date of birth According to The Times newspaper obituary of Jean Henderson, she was born on 18 December 1899, but the records of the ...

, lawyer and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician *

Rachel Howard Rachel Howard (born 1969) is a British artist. Early life and career Rachel Howard grew up on a farm in Easington, County Durham. She attended The Mount School, York a Quaker school from the age of sixteen and the stories, concerns and questi ...

, contemporary artist *

Noni Jabavu Helen Nontando (Noni) Jabavu (20 August 1919 – 19 June 2008) was a South African writer and journalist, one of the first African women to pursue a successful literary career and the first black South African woman to publish books of autobiogr ...

, South African writer and journalist * Dame

Elaine Kellett-Bowman Dame Mary Elaine Kellett-Bowman, DBE (née Kay; 8 July 1923 – 4 March 2014) was a British Conservative Party politician, serving as Member of Parliament ( MP) for the constituency of Lancaster for 27 years from 1970 to 1997. Life and caree ...

, former Conservative MP *

Rose Neill Rose Neill (born 1958) is a Northern Ireland news broadcaster, currently working for UTV. At the beginning of her career she was the youngest newsreader in the United Kingdom, and she is the longest-serving newscasters in the British Isles, hav ...

, BBC Broadcaster *

Nuzo Onoh Nuzo Onoh (born 22 September 1962) is a Nigerian-British writer. She grew up the third of eight children of the late Chief Mrs Caroline Onoh, a former headteacher. Her father was Chief Dr. C.C Onoh, the wealthy landowner, lawyer, politician, and f ...

, British-Nigerian writer *

Helen Osborne Helen Osborne (11 March 1939 – 12 January 2004) was a British journalist and critic, and the fifth wife of the playwright John Osborne. She was born Helen Dawson, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and educated at The Mount School, York, and Durham U ...

, journalist and critic *

Winifred Sargent Winifred Lydia Caunden Sargent (8 May 1905 – October 1979) was an English mathematician. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge and carried out research into Lebesgue integration, fractional integration and differentiation and the propert ...

, English mathematician *

Anna Southall Anna Catherine Southall (born 9 June 1948) served as Director of the National Museum Wales from 1998 to 2002. She was educated at The Mount School, York and the University of East Anglia (BA, 1970).‘SOUTHALL, Anna Catherine’, Who's Who 2015, ...

, Director of the

National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Nicola Spence Nicola Jane Spence (born 22 February 1961) is the Chief Plant Health Officer and Civil Service (United Kingdom)#Grading schemes, Deputy Director for plant and bee health at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Early life an ...

, Biologist *

Cheryl Taylor Cheryl Francis Taylor (born March 1964) is the Controller of CBBC (TV channel), CBBC in City of Salford, Salford. Early life She was brought up in Liverpool in a family of Quakers. She went to the independent boarding school The Mount School, Yor ...

, controller of CBBC *

Kathleen Mary Tillotson Kathleen Mary Tillotson CBE (3 April 1906 – 3 June 2001) was a British academic and literary critic, professor of English and distinguished Victorian scholar. Her various works on Elizabethan literature have accumulated significance in the lite ...

, literary scholar *

Mary Ure Eileen Mary Ure (18 February 1933 – 3 April 1975) was a British stage and film actress. She was the second Scottish-born actress (after Deborah Kerr) to be nominated for an Academy Award, for her role in the 1960 film ''Sons and Lovers''. Ear ...

, actress *

Elfrida Vipont Elfrida Vipont Brown (3 July 1902 – 14 March 1992) was an English writer of children's literature. She was born in Manchester into a family of Quakers. As a children's writer, she initially published under a man's name, Charles Vipont, which wa ...

, children's author *

Hilary Wainwright Hilary Wainwright (born 1949) is a British sociologist, political activist and socialist feminist, best known for being a co-editor of ''Red Pepper (magazine), Red Pepper'' magazine. Early life and education Wainwright's father was the Libera ...

, feminist and ''Guardian'' writer * Anna Walker, BBC

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...

and

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

presenter *

Frances Wilson (writer) Frances Wilson (born 1964) is an English author, academic, and critic. Biography Born in Malawi, she attended The Mount School, York, and read English literature at St Hugh's College, Oxford. She received a DPhil on Henry James and Freud from Su ...

, English author, academic and critic * Elizabeth Young, journalist and literary critic

References

External links

The Mount School Official Site

The Mount Junior School Official Site

Profile
on the

ISC #REDIRECT ISC {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

website
Profile
at

MyDaughter MyDaughter was a British website set up by the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) offering advice to parents of daughters on all aspects of raising and educating girls. Advice was provided by headteachers from the member schools of the Girls' Schoo ...

Mount Old Scholars Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount School, The Boarding schools in North Yorkshire Quaker schools in England Girls' schools in North Yorkshire Independent schools in York Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association 1831 establishments in England