Principal Adrienne Richmond with a junior school student who was part of the PeaceJam Juniors programme

Peace of mind

The Mount School in York is the first school in the country to be recognised as a centre of excellence for peace studies

Posted by Stephanie Broad | March 24, 2016 | Teaching

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A York school has become the first in the country to be recognised as a centre of excellence for Peace studies in primary and secondary education.

The international PeaceJam Foundation, based in Colorado, awarded The Mount School in York the designation of PeaceJam School of Excellence, following the Quaker school’s implementation of peace programmes in all areas of the school curriculum from its Junior School through to Sixth Form.

A delegation from The Mount attended the PeaceJam Conference at the University of Winchester, where the school was awarded the designation of a PeaceJam School of Excellence. 

In 2015 Barr’s Hill School and Community College, a secondary school in Coventry, was the first school to receive the designation for its secondary education programmes; The Mount, which takes pupils from age two to 18, has been recognised for work with its junior and senior school students. 

Sally Milne, the former Chair of PeaceJam UK and colleague of the late Professor Joseph Rotblat (Nobel Peace Laureate, 1995), said: “The Mount has supported PeaceJam UK from the very beginning, when they came to our first conference in Bradford ten years ago. Not only has The Mount rolled out PeaceJam’s programmes into the school itself across primary and secondary age ranges, the school has also rolled these out across the City of York, involving other schools as well, which is very impressive.”  

Adrienne Richmond, Principal of The Mount, said: “Many of the pupils have described their PeaceJam experiences as ‘life-changing’. Before taking up post as Principal in January this year, I had never heard of the PeaceJam programme but now I see it in action, I can only marvel at its power and the positive influence it has on all of our pupils from year one upwards.”