It was announced today that The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) said The Mount School in York “meets all of the requirements of the Education (Independent Schools Standards) Regulations 2014 and the National Minimum Standards for Boarding Schools 2015”.
The Quaker school had undergone a pilot compliance inspection in December, during the final week in post of the previous principal.
“The resulting report from December was very positive and all aspects of The Mount’s quality of education were praised highly,” explains Adrienne Richmond, who has been the school’s principal since January.
“Where the school had not met some of the required standards, it was because of a single flaw, relating to administrative inconsistencies in staff recruitment checks and the recording of that data,” says Adrienne.
Further to the December inspection, the ISI held a one day unannounced visit on 6 May to monitor progress and found that The Mount had “fully implemented the action plan” following the December inspection.
Adrienne said today that she is, “pleased to announce that The Mount is deemed by the ISI to be fully complaint and meeting all the necessary regulatory requirements.”
The 6 May visit had focussed on safeguarding of pupils, suitability of staff, supply staff and proprietors and the quality of leadership and management.
Measures taken by the new principal and noted by the ISI in their report, which is available on the school’s website, include reorganising the school’s HR processes to ensure all administrative aspects of safer recruitment are now fully adhered to, and restructuring the single central register to provide a more detailed and accurate record of all recruitment checks.
“It was very important to me, personally and professionally, that a school as vibrant and forward-thinking as The Mount, secure this clean bill of health from the ISI,” said Adrienne.
The Mount senior school is the UK’s only Quaker school for girls and is York’s first-ever Quaker school, having been originally founded in 1785. It is recognised as a School of Excellence by the International PeaceJam Foundation and was the first school in the country to receive the Historical Association’s highest-ever accolade for excellence in History teaching.