Sixth Form Ball 2022
The Kilgraston Sixth Form Ball, without question has always been a highly anticipated and central event in the school calendar for not only the girls in Lower and Upper Sixth but for the Kilgraston staff as well.
The 2022 Ball followed a Parisian theme, titled as ‘A Midnight in Paris’ with a spectrum of elegant ball gowns on display. Whilst Central Hall was decorated with hanging gold stars from the balcony and shimmering fairy lights, the Theatre was renovated into an illuminating French atmosphere incorporating wine bottles with candle wax, Pot Pourri and more, with each table named after an iconic Parisian place: Le Louvre, La tour Eiffel, Le Moulin Rouge etc. Around the ambience were not only self-constructed lampposts but also a hand-crafted 3D Eiffel Tower with inside lighting, replicating the famous landmark at night time. In his first year at Kilgraston, Head of Art Mr Lapeyre, with his ‘can do attitude’ sprung to the opportunity of expanding the Upper Sixth’s creative side and artistic potential. Many girls volunteered to stay late on a weekly basis in the days leading up to the Ball to finish constructing the props and items we had envisioned months ago.
The dining experience first began with Grace and a touching reflection from Deputy Head Girls India and Yolanda prior to the main course of ‘Roast Chicken Supreme’ with cured French bacon being served. Next up was the delicious dessert, ‘Chocolate and Armagnac mousse’ prepared by Dougie and the Inspire Catering Team.
After the meal came the comedic and light-hearted ‘Vote of Thanks’ speech by Head Girl Maria who used the occasion to thank those around her and elevate spirits for the dancing that followed. For the last share of the evening, all guests adjourned to the grange for a period of dancing and entertainment with music by the incredible band Soul Inferno and mood lighting by Mr Pryke.
The success of the evening and transformation of turning Perthshire into ‘A Midnight in Paris’ was undoubtedly down to the work and commitment of several individuals, who all radiated enthusiasm and dedication to the Ball. Mrs McCormick and Mrs McFadden, as always, were fundamental in helping the night operate like clockwork with their wide expertise and guidance; it is fair to say they know a thing or two about Ball planning!
Collectively, it was the Upper Sixth, and in particular the Ball Committee and Head Girl Team whose hard work was on show during the event. It was a lovely moment for the 2022 Upper Sixth to unite together, admire their efforts and moreover grow in excitement for the Leavers trip to Paris this June.
A hugely successful and superb ‘nuit’ had by all, merci!
Maria E, Head Girl
Maths Challenge Finalists 2022
We are delighted to announce the finalists in the recent UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. In Lower Fifth, Francesca and Maria gained Bronze Certificates with Maria taking the Best in Year.
In Upper Fifth, Emily achieved a Bronze Certificate, Érin a Silver Award and Pak Wai swept the board with a Gold Certificate, Best in Year and Best in School.
Pak Wai scored so highly that she has been invited to take part in the prestigious Pink Kangaroo round, which she will sit this week.
Well done to all the girls for their outstanding achievements. Here’s an idea of the problems they were dealing with:
Girls are invited to practice questions like these in the Maths Challenge Club on Wednesday lunchtimes with Mrs Vallance.
Web Publishing with Upper Four
The Upper Four classes have just completed their Web Publishing topic by creating a four-page website. The topic focuses on website design, considering aspects such as colour palette, fonts and font size, image size, page layout and site navigation. The girls had a wide choice of topic and there are sites on, for example, favourite books, plastic waste, protecting bees, interior design, and Thailand.
Given a project brief, the girls had to produce wireframe diagrams of their page layouts before creating and collecting text, image and video resources for their sites. The final part was putting the sites together at weebly.com.
The girls enjoyed the topic and worked hard to create some impressive sites. Here is some of the feedback class teacher, Mr Hamilton, received.
“I personally really enjoyed this topic, and I think my website looks good and I hope other people felt the same”.
“I’ve really enjoyed doing this project because I’ve learnt so much more about a topic I’m really interested in”.
Upper Four B voted Aoife’s and Jaya’s to be the best; Upper Four S voted Phoebe’s and Heidi’s to be the best.
Here’s a selection to look through.
Phoebe http://bees22.weebly.com/
Heidi http://letsrecycleforlife.weebly.com/
Aoife http://acolour.weebly.com/
Jaya http://traveltothailandjva.weebly.com/
Charlotte http://daggersandblankers.weebly.com/
Naimh http://readersatheart.weebly.com/
Daisy http://twigplants.weebly.com/
Kilgraston Hockey Invitational 2022
It was a beautiful sunny day as the 13 teams from around Scotland took to the hockey pitches for the Under 13 and Under 11 Kilgraston Hockey Invitational.
We welcomed around 170 girls from eight different Scottish Prep schools, the first time we have been able to host this event since the pandemic in 2019 and the teams’ enthusiasm showed.
The excitement was palpable during the semi-finals and finals, particularly when the teams had to go to sudden death penalty shoot-out.
Well done to St Mary’s for their first place in the Under 11 category and to Edinburgh Academy for their first place in the Under 13 category and thank you to all the teams, staff and parents who took part and came to watch. We look forward to next year. Read more about sport at Kilgraston including our Hockey Academy.
Kilgraston Scottish Schools Equestrian Championships 2022
Sunday 6th March 2022 saw the Kilgraston Scottish Schools Equestrian Championships return to the events calendar after a year off due to COVID, and it was the biggest competition to date. With over 150 horse and rider combinations and 330 entries, there was 10 hours of dressage and showjumping running simultaneously across 3 arenas.
Thanks must go to Briagha, Fiona and Beth from the equestrian team for overseeing stewarding, Ms Curtis and her team for running the secretary’s office, Upper Sixth’s riding captains Tegan and Anna, Ms Carden for bringing the boarders and the SLT for handing out prizes.
Kilgraston riders were out in force with 14 teams entered on the day with some great results.
* Naomi, Rosie and Florence, all Upper Second, won Class 2 dressage and were third in the 55cm showjumping
* Dressage highlights included Upper Four’s Lucy coming 2nd in Class 3 dressage and the team of Hannah and Olivia, both Lower Four, together with Upper Four’s Lucy, and Kiki from Lower Sixth came 2nd in the teams section. Upper Sixth’s Tegan came 4th in the Novice dressage and the team of Tegan, Charlotte, Flora and Erin came 3rd.
* Show jumping highlights included a team WIN in the the 90cm for Charlotte and Flora, both Upper Fifth, together with Jessica and Erin both Lower Sixth, and many placing across the board for Mellissa, Hannah, Jessica, Lucy and team placings in every class.
A huge well done to all the girls that took part and helped and supported on the day.
Kilgraston’s Woman and Business series welcomes journalist and broadcaster, Catherine Pepinster
Who knew that a Ladybird book could alter the course of your life? One woman’s did and that is Catherine Pepinster, journalist, broadcaster, religious commentator.
Speaking to Kilgraston pupils from her base in west London, the journalist was delivering a lecture as part of the school’s Women and Business industry expert series: “I was only about seven or eight at the time and there, in my Christmas stocking, was the Ladybird book of newspapers, featuring a lady with a reporter’s notebook, and I thought, “that’s what I want to do!””
And she did, regaling pupils with stories of a childhood home filled with stimulating political discussion and intellectual reading material, noting, “My parents were always shouting at politicians on Panorama!”
Editing her school’s magazine fully galvanised a career in journalism, prompting Catherine to read Economic and Social Studies at the University of Manchester, before doing a Post Graduate diploma in journalism at City, University of London: “I know that being involved with the student newspaper at university definitely helped with my post-grad application. Work experience is absolutely vital, as is being insatiably curious; essential for a journalist!”
Proceeding to local papers, Catherine highlighted lessons learnt when pounding the pavements, attending courts, council meetings and inquests, explaining: “Very quickly, you learn the power of good contacts and being held to account by your community,” adding, “developing trust and respect lead to more stories being directed your way and that holds true to this very day.”
Moving-up to national newspapers, Catherine’s talent was spotted by The Tablet magazine, becoming its first female editor since its 1840 inception and where she experienced one of her career’s biggest scoops: “I received a tip-off about the resignation of Pope Benedict XV1 in 2013. It wasn’t trite to say this really was the first draft of history.”
The power of working and thinking as an individual – having ideas, following instincts – was counterbalanced with an explanation of how news comes together and the line-up behind production: “Always remember, well-presented, accurate reporting takes a large team of professionals.”
Concluding her talk, Catherine highlighted how her long career in journalism has offered “a reserved” child, self-belief and confidence: “During Downing Street’s Tony Blair era, I was curious to know about the acquisition by the Labour Party of a sizeable London building,” she continued, “Looking-up an old contact, I was able to request – and receive – information evaded by others. You have to hold your nerve and poise so people feel they can trust your judgement.”
Asked about the future of her profession, the focus was on ‘data journalism’, from the likes of Freedom of Information requests, and the creation of stories from available material: “I think that is definitely the way it is heading.” However, the power of the ‘long read’ was, she said, not to be under-estimated, referring to weighty weekly, The New Yorker’s terrific pieces.
‘Long reads’ is something with which Catherine is all-too-familiar, having just completed a 100,000 word book, entitled ‘Defenders of the Faith.’ It was, she concluded, an “ambitious six-month deadline” even for someone for whom words do come easily.
Kilgraston was greatly appreciative of her sharing her words with the school.
4.3.22
Catherine Pepinster taking over the reins of The Tablet. pic.David Sandison, The Independent
Pupils in front of Catherine’s ‘remote’ lecture
Pancake Day at Kilgraston
Every year, Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday is seen as a highlight in the calendar for everyone to indulge and enjoy a treat before the beginning of Lent.
To follow our key focus on charity this school year, each year group has been assigned a charity to research and raise funds for throughout the school session. The Upper Sixth rose to this opportunity and decided to represent and support three different charity organisations.
In October, the Upper Sixth raised money for the Head Girl Team charity, CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland) with a ‘Sponge the Upper Sixth and Staff’ event followed by a ‘Santa Dash’ in December for another Upper Sixth charity, Cardiomyopathy UK. On Pancake Day, for our third and final charity, Pancreatic Cancer UK, we used this special occasion to sell pancakes at break time for senior pupils and staff with a range of sweet toppings. The most important element of this fundraiser for us all was to spread awareness and show respect to our cause for their admirable work and research.
Pancreatic Cancer UK is an extremely admirable charity; one that is very close to the hearts of many individuals at Kilgraston. In running this fundraiser, we aimed to show our solidarity to those affected by this illness and help raise funds for extended research and aid. Prior to the event, we unanimously agreed that we’d be happy with any donations made yet we were delighted to see that we had managed to raise a staggering total of exactly £300!
On behalf of the Upper Sixth, a massive thank you to everyone who donated to Pancreatic Cancer UK and helped us reach our target!
Maria E, Head Girl
Green Flag award for Kilgraston
Kilgraston is delighted to have been awarded our first Eco-Schools Scotland Green Flag Award. The Eco-Schools Green Flag is a global award given to young people making a positive environmental impact.
The award judges praised Kilgraston pupils on their commitment and determination, with specific mention to how Kilgraston’s Eco-Code gives a clear message of our mission in how to contribute to the solutions of climate change.
Kilgraston’s stunning countryside campus in rural Perth is already home to red squirrels and a myriad of wildflowers and native trees. Pupils in our Junior School have been monitoring the growth of a hedge, planted in 2009 and now home to many animals and birds.
Our recent COP26 Activities Fortnight also received high praise, as it allowed the students to learn about marine conservation, sustainability and to think about the future.
Kilgraston’s Eco-Committee have been dedicated to achieving the Green Flag Award. Dr Phillips, Kilgraston’s Head of Geography said:
“This has been a long time coming! Our original Action Plan pre-dates the first lockdown, so it is to the credit of the girls in the Eco-Committee that they have been able to maintain their focus on achieving this award, and keep the faith that we could get there in the end. We have to renew this award every two years, though, so this is just the beginning…”
Kilgraston attends schools conference
Kilgraston pupils Phoebe and Katie recently attended a schools’ conference where the discussion centred around steps, we could take to improve the world. The European Sacred Heart Schools Conference saw pupils from Sacred Heart schools around the world take part virtually in stimulating workshops and lectures looking at ways we could work together to protect our planet.
In the breakout sessions, Katie and Phoebe spoke about how they were both members of the school eco committee and how our the fortnight of activities in school during COP 26 helped Kilgraston pupils become better informed about the environment. They also mentioned various school campaigns we have undertaken such as the campaign against single use plastics.
For months now, Kilgraston’s glass corridor has been a sea of colour and powerful messages regarding the environmental issues we are currently facing. In one of the breakout sessions, Katie and Phoebe highlighted this project and how it helped to send daily reminders to the school community about the beauty of the natural world and the creative and informative lessons the glass corridor has given us all.
As well as sharing our own initiatives, the event also gave the opportunity to hear from other schools and Sacred Heart representatives including two from Sacred Heart United Nations NGO Office. So, with luck some of what was discussed at the event, could be filtered through to the headquarters of the United Nations.
Burns Supper with Sixth Form
One of the most popular events on the Kilgraston calendar made a welcome return this year as the Sixth Form enjoyed their post-prelim Burns Supper. Drinks were served in Central Hall, after which Tallie piped the attendees down into the Theatre, paused so that India and Yolanda could say the Selkirk Grace, then continued in her musical duties to welcome the haggis. Mr Campbell recited Burns’ address to a haggis in broad Scots, looking like he was having just a little bit too much fun in brandishing a sharp knife while doing so. A glass of Irn-Bru was raised, and the meal duly began.
Post-supper entertainment was provided by Hannah-Rose and Isabel, who gave a stunning rendition of ‘A Red, Red Rose’, before Ms Hall proposed an immortal toast to Burns’ Immortal Memory. Dr Phillips offered some well-intentioned thoughts on behalf of the gentlemen present in his Toast to the Lassies, and Head Girl Maria replied with some well-intentioned thoughts of her own in her Response. Mr Allaker brought proceedings to a close with his Vote of Thanks, after which there was just time for one final glass of Irn-Bru to ensure that everyone was suitably refreshed before joining in with a version of Auld Lang Syne that made up in volume for what it lacked in finesse.
Until next year’s Burns Supper, fare thee weel awhile.
