Kilgraston Junior School Young Musician Of The Year 2021
Kilgraston’s Young Musician Of The Year 2021 Competition has been underway over the past few weeks.
This year, pupils are sending in their entries via video with the Junior School competition now judged and we are delighted to announce that Upper Third’s Lucy Moran is this year’s Junior Young Musician Of The Year. Congratulations Lucy and to everyone who entered. Results are below.
Junior Years: Junior Open Class (Grade 3 or above)
1st Place: Lucy, U3, Flute I Got Rhythm, Gershwin
Highly Commended: Chloe, U3, Voice Can We Sew Cushions, Burns
Junior Years: Grade 2 Class
1st Place: Heidi U3, Piano Gigue a l’Angloise, Telemann
Junior Years: Beginner/Grade 1 Class
1st Place: Sally L3, Clarinet Blue Monday, Rae
2nd Place: Sophie, U2, Piano One and a Half Minute Waltz, Duro
3rd Place: Georgiana, L2, Piano The Detective, Wedgwood
Highly Commended: Eliza, U1, Flute Springtime, Pollock
You can watch Lucy’s winning performance below and the results of our Senior School competition will be announced after the Easter holidays.
Kilgraston pupil wins place on Netball Scotland Ambassador Programme
Kilgraston pupil, Lower Sixth’s India, has just won a place on the Netball Scotland Ambassador Programme. The scheme is for young people aged between 14 and 25 years old and they are selected to represent the voice of young people. India is one of just fifteen others, and she will take part in the one year program, playing a key role in influencing the future development of netball.
India said: “I want to promote the positive values of netball as a sport and hopefully grow the future of netball by making it more diverse and adding an extra stepping stone of U19 across all levels. I am excited to meet and work with others who share my love for the sport and am proud to be a voice for the next generation of players.”
Here is our quick-fire Q&A with India:
How long have you been playing netball?
I started playing netball when I eight or nine years old. I have been playing ever since so that would be about eight years now.
What position do you typically play?
I always play in the shooting circle, preferably at GA but I often wear the GS bib. It is important to be able to play in a variety of positions across the court. This helps improve your game and is something that is encouraged by the Scotland Academy.
What teams do you play for?
I have played for many different teams over the years and currently play in the National Academy Hub, Perth & Kinross U17 District team, Perth U17 and in the Perth ladies league. I am also captain of the Kilgraston Senior Team.
What is the best thing about playing netball?
The best thing about playing netball is definitely the people you meet along the way, and the memories you share with them. I have met some of the most incredible and inspiring people on my journey. The feeling when you win a league or a tournament and can share the experience with those around you is unmatched. I have so many close friends up and down the country that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet if it weren’t for netball. Besides the social benefits, netball is great to keep you fit and healthy. It is a difficult sport to play as you need to think about so much when you are on court.
What is Netball Scotland’s Ambassador Programme?
Netball Scotland’s Ambassador Programme is a platform where young people, like myself, can share their views and influence the future development of netball in Scotland. The programme lasts one year and allows me to represent the voice of young people across Scotland.
What is the benefits of this programme?
As a Netball Scotland Ambassador, I am hoping to promote the positive values of netball and help shape the future of netball by making it more diverse. I would like to see an extra stepping-stone of an U19 age group across all levels. I am so excited to meet and work with others who share my love of netball and am proud to be a voice for the next generation of players.
What would you say to anyone who hasn’t played netball before?
I would tell anyone who hasn’t played netball before to get involved! It may seem daunting at first, but it is a team sport, and everyone is very supportive. Even if you aren’t interested in playing at a high level, it is very sociable so you will meet loads of amazing people. The netball court is a place where you can unwind and also gain lots of new skills. You never know, you might just love it!
Well done to India, and all the other Netball Scotland Ambassadors.
Studying modern languages at Kilgraston - annual Heriot-Watt University multi lingual debate
Studying modern languages at Kilgraston offers the chance to attend a variety of events each year, including the annual Heriot-Watt University multi lingual debate.
This year, due to COVID, the event took place online and our Advanced Higher French class attended.
The Multilingual Debate is a free-to-attend annual event hosted by Heriot-Watt University where topical issues are debated in multiple languages, including Chinese, French, German, Spanish and British Sign Language. The debates are interpreted live into English by Heriot-Watt’s Undergraduate and Postgraduate Language students and it gives Heriot-Watt University’s Interpreting students a taste of live conference-interpreting in front of an audience as well as inspiring the next generation of language students to continue their language learning.
This year there were five speakers, one German, one french, two Spanish and one using British Sign Language. Our class could access the English and BSL translation and also switch off between each language.
The class really enjoyed it, and it gave them an insight of one the use of language learning, and see how important and fascinating they are.
Boarding in Mater - dancing and laughter
What is boarding in Mater like? Fun, energetic and full of laughter is probably the best way to describe it.
So when Boarding Mistress Miss Smith opted for a virtual session with Strictly Come Dancing winner, Oti Mabuse, we knew it was going to be all of the above and much more.
We started off with a vote on whether to learn a ‘The Greatest Showman’ themed dance or a ‘Frozen’ themed one, the girls went with ‘The Greatest Showman’. Oti and her husband, Marius Lepure, led us through a series of moves to create a one minute 30 second dance routine to ‘The Greatest Show’. It was very dramatic and it was a lot of fun.
Later that day, Miss Smith led the girls in a series of improvisation games and activities. We started with a bit of ‘Wish, Wash’ before moving into a game called ‘You! Yes!’ – both of these games got the girls thinking about the importance of eye contact, and clarity of voice and gesture. We then moved onto playing a game called ‘Sevens’.
Then Montse bravely led us in a rhythm game, which tested our ability to keep a rhythm AND listen closely to each other. We then played a game simply called ‘Numbers’ – the aim of the game was to try and get the ‘Queen’ out of her chair by catching her out. If you spoke too slowly or you hesitated in your decision, then it was the ‘Peasant’ chair for you!
Our last game of the day was the hilarious ‘Emo-Taxi’ – with Maria as the taxi driver. This game means every time a new person gets into the taxi, the rest of the taxi has to adopt the emotion of that new person whilst carrying on with their conversation. This results in the mood of the taxi changing at warp speed and someone who was previously very angry about their destination suddenly becomes incredibly happy about their destination.
We ended our day with a Karaoke session in the Theatre. The girls danced and sang to pop-tastic hits like ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ by One Direction and ‘Waka Waka’ by Shakira before someone suggested a few rounds of ‘Just Dance’. Cue all the girls lined up in the theatre following the Russian folk-dance moves for ‘Rasputin’ by Boney M then strutting their stuff to Kei$ha’s ‘Tik Tok’.
What a day: we all fell into our beds exhausted but certainly well entertained!
You can find more about boarding at Kilgraston here.
Kilgraston Science Week 2021
This year for Science Week we are focusing on Space Exploration and on Biodiversity.
We are running a Space Probe Design Competition. The competition will involve students researching and then designing their own space probe complete with model and explanation poster.
It is open to the whole school and will be judged in four age categories, Junior, Fourth Form, Fifth Form and Sixth Form. The competition is inspired by NASA’s Perseverance rover which successfully landed on the surface of Mars on the 18th of February earlier this year.
Its mission is to search for evidence of life in the Martian crater Jezero. A mission which so far has taken many years of work, thousands of engineers and scientists and several billions of dollars to accomplish. However if life is discovered on Mars it would be the scientific discovery of the century, if not the whole of human history, and will confirm that life is not unique to Earth.
Our second activity is the Biodiversity Scavenger Hunt. The aim of this challenge is to encourage students to get outside and engage with the environment around them. Their task is to identify and name as many different plant and animal species as they can. The ability to name the plants and animals around you is a precious skill which can help you to connect with and appreciate the role and importance of each individual species in the environment. Biodiversity is also becoming increasingly relevant as one of the key indicators of climate change and the impact it has on the environment. Understanding the beauty and diversity of the nature around us is a reminder of why it’s so important to preserve and protect our climate for the future.
Winners will be announced in a few weeks so we look forward to sharing this with you then.
Kilgraston Junior School - wildlife visit
Earlier this week Reception and Lower First pupils in Kilgraston Junior School had a visit from some furry friends.
Thanks to Rhona Forrester, the children had the opportunity to learn about beavers and their reintroduction to Scotland. Rhona is an avid wildlife enthusiast and is a member of the Scottish Wild Beavers Association (and many other wildlife groups).
Rhona showed the children how to look for signs of beavers and brought lots of beaver activities for the children.
Thank you Rhona for such a wonderful talk.
Kilgraston Drama Monologue Competition
Kilgraston Drama Department recently launched The Monologue Competition, which was open to all pupils in the senior school.
The task was to write a 300 to 400 word monologue (complete with stage directions and a title) in response to the stimulus of ‘The Musings of a Teenage Mind’, a book of poems written by Mala Krishnamoorthy. Students could write about whatever they wished as long as it fell into this category.
Before submitting their entires, pupils had a workshop, with girls from all year groups attending, to explore some of the ways we could write our monologue and some of the content about which we could write.
The announcement of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners was made in a recent assembly with three students receiving a ‘Highly Commended’ Award (see below for the results).
1st Place – Lower Four’s Jaya - ‘The Musings of a Teenage Mind’
2nd Place – Lower Sixth’s Lexie – ‘My Friend, The Phone’
3rd Place – Lower Fifth’s Flora – ‘Our Lullaby’
Highly Commended – Upper Fifth’s Esma – ‘Woman’
Highly Commended – Upper Fifth’s Liliya – ‘Teenagers are never happy - reality or imposed opinion’
Highly Commended – Lower Fifth’s Kate – ‘Elizabeth’
Well done to everyone that entered and thank you for your entries.
We are really looking forward to seeing them performed either digitally or in person very soon.
Boarding activities at Kilgraston
Boarding at Kilgraston offers girls so many advantages such as building up confidence and independence.
In lockdown, Kilgraston boarders have also been able to take advantage of our superb campus and facilities along with enjoying a fun-filled diary of events.
Recently, Miss Smith, Kilgraston’s Drama Teacher, organised an exciting afternoon of competitive Games and here is a round-up of the event below.
After a warm up round of ‘Evolution’, the boarders moved onto an energetic round of Musical Plates (just like Musical Chairs but with paper plates).
It was a close match – Montse and Ambika fought it out in the final round but Ambika just got her foot on the plate first. It was a win for Team KFC.
Then came ‘The Best Game’ – teams had to nominate one person from each team they thought would be the ‘best’ at something. These categories ranged from ‘The Best Crab Walk’ to ‘The Longest Hair’, ‘The Furthest Paper Aeroplane Flown’ to ‘The Tallest Thumb’. It was a close call, but this time, it was another win for Team KFC.
The next round tested boarders’ patience, their creativity, and their precision – The Toilet Paper Mummy Game. Who can create the best Toilet Paper Mummy using one roll of toilet paper and a time limit of (around) five minutes? Team KFC created a very expressive mummy, Team Get Out of My Kitchen a very pretty mummy, but it was the Golden Quad who committed to a patience unravel of the toilet roll to win points for precision and historical accuracy.
Our fifth round was called ‘Bring Me’ involved Miss Smith saying ‘Bring me… something gold’ or ‘Bring me… something that is living but is not human’ or ‘Bring me… something that feels cold’. It was – in the end – Team KFC who successfully finding and bringing the most things.
The final challenge was to design an outfit using only old magazines, some sticky tape, and a couple of pairs of scissors. All three teams did a sterling job, with Team KFC producing an outfit reminiscent of a Gladiator, complete with sword – they won the points for the most inventive outfit; Team Golden Quad produced an outfit that would have made Louis Vuitton’s Bridal Collection jealous – they won the points for the outfit with the most integrity; and Team Get Out of My Kitchen went for a glamorous number that wouldn’t have looked out of place at a Black Tie Gala – they won the most points overall for this challenge.
So, who won this exhilarating afternoon? It was Team KFC with a whopping 28 points! (Team Get Out of My Kitchen were super close behind with 26 points, and Golden Quad came in third with 22 points).
A huge well done and thanks to everyone involved including Miss Smith for organising and all staff.
PE department challenges during lockdown
Even in lockdown Kilgraston’s PE department has been working to keep our pupils exercising and energised.
From mountain climbing to snowmen-making, we’ve had many weeks of different challenges.
But this week there was a twist: the challenges were set by each of the Sports Captains and below you can watch Senior Netball Captain, Lower Sixth’s India, setting the netball challenge. Can you complete it?
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Our capacity to adapt - lessons learnt
The challenges of COVID and lockdowns has taught us much about change and our capacity to adapt and this was the focus of assembly by Kilgraston’s Head of Boarding and Pastoral Care, Mrs Sonja Mueller.
“A lot has changed over the past year,” said Mrs Mueller, “and it’s important to look at how we handle change and strategies we can use to help us.”
Pupils may some questions surrounding the return to school following the latest lockdown. The pastoral team at Kilgraston is always available to pupils for any questions they have may, and Mrs Mueller said now is the opportunity to reflect on change without fear.
Here are tips from Mrs Mueller’s assembly:
- Don’t change everything at once
- Find information and answers
- Recognise the risks
- Predict the benefits
You can find out more about the excellent Pastoral Care at Kilgraston here.