MEET the new head teacher at a top York school.
Anna Wilby started her role as head at The Mount School York in January and has hit the ground running at the 16-acre campus.
She came in after an Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), published in the Autumn, found the school in Dalton Terrace fell short on leadership, safeguarding implementation and risk assessments.
Since then an ISI monitoring report has said the school has turned things around.
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"We are looking to the future, which is informed by the past of course, but things have been very positive since I have been here," said Ms Wilby.
"We are delighted to have had the ISI back in and there are some very generous comments in the report.
"I'm still in my first 100 days here and my first impressions are incredibly positive. It's a beautiful school - it's a secret oasis in the city. It doesn't feel like you are in the middle of the city here.
"Just looking out at the beautiful trees and knowing they have been there for hundreds of years and the likes of Dame Judi Dench will have had the same view, it's just incredible. Her visit here last year meant a huge amount to the girls."
Joining from her post as deputy head teacher at Ashville College, Harrogate, Ms Wilby previously worked in Hong Kong as the director of music at Harrow International School.
With 83 per cent of all A-level pupils achieving grades A*- B in 2024, The Mount, which has 223 pupils, 36 of whom are boarders, is proud of its academic record.
"I definitely plan to continue boarding here. I'm a big believer in boarding and I think the diverse community it brings is a very good thing," said Ms Wilby.
Last year Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a 20 per cent VAT charge on top of fees would be introduced from January 1 this year for independent schools.
Ms Wilby said: "Every school has to do what's right for them and I'm happy where this school landed. We haven't passed it all on.
"We haven't set fees yet for next year, but there's no doubt it's been complicated for schools and in a sense it's pitting them against each other in a way that they weren't before.
"We all have different things to offer in York, every school is different and there's room for everyone."
The school started taking boys in early years for the first time since 2018 again back in September 2023 with the school becoming co-educational for primary school age children, but Ms Wilby said there are no plans to take the senior school co-ed.
"I am here because I really believe in girl's education at senior school level. My first school was a girls' school and I then spent some time in boys' schools and then co-ed and I definitely feel that girls' education is where I want to be for various reasons," Ms Wilby.
"Enthusiasm for single sex education ebbs and flows a bit, but I still think there's a real appetite for girls' single sex education particularly during the teenage years.
"I would say at the moment an all girls education, at least for some of it, is a really great thing. There are certain distractions that come as standard with a co-ed environment that you don't get here.
"The best way to see this is to visit and my door is open."
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