The film is part of the Mount School collection and is an account of the work of The Mount School during the year 1977, the last year of the headship of Joyce Pickard. There are shots of the classes, activities and sports carried out by the students, as well as a drama production and the summer sports day. Title-The Mount School Title-1977 The film opens with a shot of York Minster and York taken from the wall near the railway station at Leeman Road. Then there is a shot of the Mount School...

The film is part of the Mount School collection and is an account of the work of The Mount School during the year 1977, the last year of the headship of Joyce Pickard. There are shots of the classes, activities and sports carried out by the students, as well as a drama production and the summer sports day. Title-The Mount School Title-1977 The film opens with a shot of York Minster and York taken from the wall near the railway station at Leeman Road. Then there is a shot of the Mount School near Blossom Street. Inside the building, a hand turns the calendar to March and then the scene cuts to outside the school where lots of cars are arriving. The cars pull up outside the school on Dalton Terrace and park all along the road. Mothers, fathers and the students carry trunks of different colours along the path and up the steps of the school; there is a shot taken from inside the dark hallway looking out at the people coming in, There is a sign on a door which reads `Staff Meeting, Do Not Knock' and then there are lingering shots of the staff seated around the room talking and taking notes. One of the teachers removes the sign from the door after the meeting. Two teachers stand beside a notice board and point to the timetable, which is followed by a close up of one section of it. The following scene opens with a quarter inch machine playing a tape; the camera takes a shot of the blackboard which is covered in French. The teacher sits at a sound desk at the back of the room, while each child listens to the tape in a small booth with earphones. The home economics class is next and an egg is cracked into a bowl followed by a shot of the students preparing their ingredients; the recipe is up on the blackboard. Then the camera cuts back to the students mixing the ingredients while the teacher walks around and inspects. Another two girls are rolling out pastry ad then put their biscuits into the oven. The next class is chemistry and the students are filling test tubes with liquids while their teacher looks on. After this she has atom models and is showing them how they fit together. There is a close up of the biology book `Biology A Functional Approach' and the teacher in the classroom pouring water into the fish tank. The students gather around petri dishes which have different insects in each one. Out in the garden the girls are digging a hole to accommodate a pond. Once it has been put in the ground, the fish are put into it. There is a shot of a badge which reads `1977 Silver Jubilee'. The next section takes place in a physics class and shows a group of girls standing beside their teacher as she explains how a certain type of circuit works. Some of the students are using special equipment to measure different things. The following section opens with the cover of `The Complete English Poems' by John Donne. The teacher sits on his desk at the top of the class and talks to the students who write in their notebooks. A sign reads `Drop into the Book Shop' where there are lots of students browsing the books on the shelves. Two students at a desk are taking in the money and selling the books. There is a dark hole and when the camera zooms out it is possible to see a student playing tuba while the conductor is conducting a brass band. There is a project on the wall all about weaving and the shot cuts to a student weaving on a spinning wheel. There is a class of students working on different sized looms; there are close up shots of what they are making. Two teachers walk down some steps and enter a classroom in which an art class is taking place. There is a close up of a ceramics book and then it cuts to a potter's wheel, where the teacher shows them how to make a pot; some of the students try unsuccessfully to use the wheel. There are other shots of them make clay models and figurines, putting them into a kiln and then a shot of the finished result. Outside is a shot of a white town house with a sign over the door which reads `Riseholme'. The shot cuts to the letter `F' on a red door which leads into one of the dormitories; the camera pans across the beds, each with a collection of teddy bears on them. A girl jumps up from hiding beside the bed and smiles at the camera. Several other girls get into their beds and hold their teddy bears and dolls up to the camera; there are lingering shots of all of the posters on the walls. They play cards, jump on their beds and hit each other with pillows and then jump into bed when they hear their teacher coming in. She comes in and shakes her finger at them and says that they must be quiet. Cut to her standing on the stairs and reading a story the girls who are sitting in the hallway. When she looks up, they have been replaced by a huge pile of dolls; she looks very shocked. The next section begins with the cover of `The New Shakespeare the Merry Wives of Windsor'. A teacher is teaching a small group of older girls. Afterwards the girls are outside, with the Minster visible in the background. Some boys lean out of a window and whistle at them but the girls just head into the building; they are rehearsing for a play with the boys. A teacher writes `Hockey Practice 2.00' on a blackboard. The students run out onto a pitch in their hockey kits. There are two teachers coaching them as they run around the pitch, practice their techniques and have a match. `Netball practice 3.15' has been written on another blackboard and the girls are practicing throws on the netball court. There are another two teachers coaching them as they practice. Two men walk up to the fence and watch the girls play. Another sign reads `Parents and friends welcome to Exhibition and our Open Weekend-take a leaflet please, and go ANYWHERE'. There is a long sequence of shots showing a hall covered with white drapes and full of tables with all of the student's art and craft work. Friends and parents walk around looking at the paintings, sewing, weaving, pottery and wood craft. A teacher then rubs the message off the board. `Staff v Coll II Netball Match Court I start 4.30' is written on a black board. Students line the netball court while the umpire tosses a coin and the game between teachers and students begins. At the end of the game the uninjured umpire is carried off on a stretcher and every one laughs. A teacher puts a notice up about the arrangements for the last week of term. What follows is a long sequence showing the students throwing out rubbish, taking pictures and items down, packing their bags and filling their trunks. Parents parking on the road outside the school and putting the trunks back into their boots. There is a final shot of the deserted street outside the school. Part 2 Title-The Mount School Title-1977 Shot of the school Someone changes a calendar to July Lots of students and teachers gather on the lawn; they sit on chairs, stand on tables and kneel on the grass and have their picture taken. There are shots of rabbits and mice being held by some students. A guinea pig follows a girl around the tennis courts, several guinea pigs run along in a row and other girls hold their pets for the camera. A sign on a blackboard reads `Welcome to all old Scholars. Enjoy the weekend; make use of the room, reserved for you!' Older women and men stand around chatting in the garden; they smile at and talk to the camera. Students are playing tennis, people are sitting around in chairs, and catering people are setting up plates of sandwiches and refreshments on tables. Then the sign is rubbed off the blackboard. There are close up shots of the elastics on a trampoline and then a long, slow motion shot of a girl doing jumps and twists. The teacher gets up on the trampoline with one of the girls and helps her to do a twist. Then there are more shots of the various girls on the trampoline. The students are playing tennis outside on grass courts. There is a shot of a beehive in a tree and the bees swarming around and this is followed by more tennis lessons. Then the girls play rounders in a field. Students dive into a pool and have a race, as instructed by the teacher. Then she blows her whistle and they all get out. The teacher walks off too, but the students come back out and jump into the water. The teacher comes back in and gives out to them, and in a reversed shot, the students jump out of the pool. A sign reads `Sunday Evening Speaker-Rev. Michael Burch' and there are shots of the various names of speakers and it finishes on `Joyce Pickard', the headmistress. She stands on the stage and begins to talk and then the shot cuts to her nodding to all of the students as they file out. A student looks through a card index in the library and other students pick books and read. There are shots from around the library. There is a brief shot of a form for `Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board' and then shots of a hall set up for exams. A teacher sits at the top of the hall and goes out to let the older students in. There is a shot of them leaving the hall afterwards. A poster reads `Royal Jubilee It's a Knockout, Sunday July 3rd'. Lots of students have gathered outside where the grass has been lined for races. Lots of the students have dressed in various costumes, including several pantomime horses. The girls get two teachers to dress in crowns and they pull them along in carts. Then there are a variety of games played, including relay races, races while carrying water, and balloon races to name but a few. Then the brass band plays while the teachers add up the scores. The winning team is given a prize by the crowned headmistress and they run around in delight. Then the headmistress is pulled along in the cart as she leaves the events and the students all disperse. There is a close up shot of strawberries and cream and then of the Rowntrees Mackintosh sign. A large group of young women in dresses walk into the building followed by a large group of young men in suits. Inside, they are seated at a table with strawberries, dishes, and glasses and they all chat to each other. Title-February There are shots of men digging the grounds. Title-April More shots of the grounds. Title-Later! A new building has been built. Title-Meanwhile A woman walks into the school through an arch in a wall and into an office. Joan Pickard comes out of the main entrance and puts a placard on the wall which reads `Under New Management' and then she walks off. Title-The End. 2153 includes 1/4inch sep sound track.