It has been three weeks since The Mount School York returned to remote learning and girls and staff are once again outperforming expectations. 

The Mount’s hugely successful and innovative online delivery of teaching demonstrates why The Mount School York continues to be a leading light in educational excellence for girls. 

Junior School girls at The Mount enjoy their Explore, Discover, Create curriculum, which this term focuses on the human body in Blood, Bones and Burps. This week, the girls learned about different bones in the human body and recreated giant skeletons of themselves using items they found at home or, for children of key workers who are still learning in school, around the classroom.

Using their online learning platform they posted their efforts to award-winning teacher, Miss Wilson, who tweeted some of the results to popular acclaim. Within 24 hours, the tweet had almost 80,000 views worldwide. 

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Meanwhile, girls in Years 5 and 6 explored what makes up our blood, using their knowledge to create home-made "blood smoothies," with different ingredients to recreate platelets, plasma and blood cells.

The girls also created story characters based on the various blood components. The enormous variety of responses demonstrates the girls unleashing their boundless creativity. It also shows their firm grasp and understanding of the complex topic. 

Parents of Junior School pupils have been effusive in their praise for the "amazing, fully taught, remote provision. 

"The school has been well prepared throughout for all that the Covid pandemic has thrown at them. They have consistently responded with agility and creativity.

“The communication with the parents has been excellent, regular and with clarity. The online teaching programme being delivered is excellent, with clear learning goals and visible progression. It is interactive with both teachers and classmates, with play and fun as well as learning." 

In the Senior School, Key Stage 3 girls continue with bespoke online lessons allowing them face-to-face time with their teachers and classmates. Year 11 GCSE pupils have been completing their internal assessments and, despite the cancellation of formal examinations in the summer, they remain extremely engaged and committed to completing the syllabus. Year 13 A Level pupils are also continuing to learn as though final examinations had not been cancelled.

"The girls are still doing past papers, still practising their exam techniques,” said Deputy Principal and chemistry teacher, Bridget Perks,  “and once they have completed the syllabus will be going over and above the curriculum to explore self-directed projects which focus on an aspect of study that interests them and goes toward their university course of choice.

“Girls won't only be aware of the A Level syllabus, they will be even better prepared for their university courses." 

Lockdown conditions can present an obstacle for maintaining physical fitness, especially with shorter daylight hours and temperatures dipping below freezing.

The PE Department are setting the girls different daily challenges which can be completed within indoor spaces. Girls are encouraged to keep track of their physical fitness regime with a weekly diary. Online sessions of dance and fitness, which are proving popular with the girls, are run by staff and Sixth Form students. 

Across the entire school, girls have continued to work hard and produce fantastic results. Whether they are at home or in school, staff comment on how wonderful it is to see how engaged the girls remain with their lessons, teachers and each other. Lockdown may have returned to the UK, but the educational lights at The Mount blaze on, undimmed.