A YORK all-girls school is set to accept boys again for the first time since 2018.

The Mount School York on Dalton Terrace, which currently has 210 pupils and counts Dame Judi Dench among its former pupils, will start taking boys in early years again from September this year and then, over the course of the next eight years, will become co-educational for primary school age children.

Principal David Griffiths took the top job at The Mount in January last year, becoming the 20th principal since the all-girls' school moved to Castlegate in 1831 and the first man to lead the school since co-founder, William Tuke, retired in 1804.

He said the move 'makes sense' and is a return to form for a school that taught younger boys from 1901-1936 and then again from 1991-2018.

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The secondary school will remain for girls only with Mr Griffiths saying it will never, ever go co-ed.

"For us it's a return to what we always were. We're a small family school and this just fits," he said.

"We have informed parents and the decision has been well-received, but, as with any change, there's always going to be some people, who didn't see it coming.

"Part of our Quaker view is we want people to have their voice heard and no one family is the same as the next and their needs are all different so I am encouraging parents to talk to me about it, and they have been.

"Over the past 18 months the school has repositioned itself as part of the community and we now have so much going on here.

"It's something former Principal Barbara Windle, who reestablished co-education in 1991, was passionate about and did so well under her leadership here, so we are just reconnecting with that.

"As the first man in charge of an all girls school I feel a lot of pressure, but the calmness and the dedication of the school is incredible and I'm just in awe of these young women.

"It's been an amazing 18 months, but we need to grow at the right pace without losing the things that make this school so special and unique."

Something else that made Mr Griffiths feel the weight of expectation was receiving a Christmas card from Dame Judi herself, he said.

Mr Griffiths has created a new academic society, the Borealis Society, which enables pupils to learn about Arctic and subarctic areas of the planet from a wide variety of academic viewpoints. At the epicentre of this society will be the opportunity for all sixth formers to experience major mountaineering expeditions to these areas, and on one such trip the girls got to meet the ambassador for Iceland, who is herself a former pupil.