Kilgraston’s Autumn term - preparations
Kilgraston’s Autumn term is due to start on Monday and we are looking forward to welcoming back all our pupils for the first time since March.
Over the past weeks, our support staff have been busy getting the school ready in line with government guidelines around COVID.
We’ve installed almost one hundred hand sanitising stations to ensure hands are kept clean and to maximise protection around the school.
Any visitors will still be welcomed by our usual familiar faces on reception albeit from behind a screen. Our head of catering Dougie and his team are also getting ready to serve up the usual delicious Kilgraston food although again this will be from behind the screens set up in the Dining Hall.
Kilgraston’s first class education will continue as before with some tweaks in terms of room lay outs and we are looking forward to continuing to embrace the technology which has helped us over the lockdown.
Summer term 2020 was different but our pupils still had an action-packed time full of activities. Take a look at some of our highlights here.
We are extremely excited to be welcoming our pupils back on Monday – look forward to seeing you all then.
Scottish exam results
With the release of this year’s Scottish exam results, Kilgraston pupils are celebrating an impressive new record with 100% of girls achieving Grades A to C at Advanced Higher level and 97.1% achieving Grade A to C at Higher level.
Kilgraston’s Headmistress, Mrs Dorothy MacGinty, said: “I am so proud of our pupils who have achieved these outstanding results and indeed the staff who have supported and nurtured them. This is the first time in five years that 100% of our pupils achieved Grade A to C in their Advanced Highers. The pupils and our fantastic staff have shown such dedication and resolve, staying focused and continuing their teaching and learning, particularly given the circumstances in which we have all found ourselves. In many ways, it has been inspiring.”
The cancellation of the 2020 examination diet was a blow to staff and pupils alike who were working determinedly for examinations that were tantalisingly only a few weeks away from taking place and in a radio interview for The Times Radio, Mrs MacGinty discusses the impact of COVID-19 on pupils (listen to this here).
Throughout May staff followed SQA guidelines to provide estimates that comprehensively reflected each individual pupils’ performance and potential, and with the publication of results today Kilgraston, its pupils and its staff have much to celebrate.
Alongside the record-breaking 100% pass rate at Advanced Higher level, 94.4% of pupils scored an impressive A-B Grade at the same level. At Higher level, some 99.4% achieved Grades A to C with 93.6% obtaining Grades A – B. At National 5 level, an outstanding 98.3% of pupils achieved Grades A – C with 92.5% attaining Grades A – B at the same level.
Kilgraston, which is both a day and boarding school, continues its strong results in the STEM subjects but this year also sees remarkable results in Art, Drama, Music, French and Latin and with many pupils gaining straight A’s at all levels.
Yet the school’s outstanding exam results are just one part of the Kilgraston education. Mrs MacGinty continues: “The distinctive Kilgraston experience is to develop young people who have a thirst for life-long, independent learning and a vital commitment to making a real difference to the world around them. These outstanding results are a significant and important step forward into making that dream a reality for our pupils.”
The good news doesn’t stop at exam results because for Kilgraston’s UCAS university applicants, a phenomenal 100% of pupils received their firm choice of university with 55% going to a prestigious Russell Group university.
Mrs MacGinty continues: “We are thrilled for the girls going onto the next stage of their lives and wish them every success in the future.”
Mrs MacGinty discusses exam results on Times Radio
On exam results day, Kilgraston’s Headmistress, Mrs MacGinty, shared her Scottish exam insights on the newly launch Times Radio station.
Mrs MacGinty was invited onto the morning show hosted by Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell, where she discussed the impact of COVID-19 on pupils and how Kilgraston performed in this year’s examinations.
You can listen to her interview via the Times Station website on this link, and Mrs MacGinty’s interview is around the three hour mark.
Kilgraston’s Summer 2020 Term - highlights
It may have been different to our typical summer term but Kilgraston’s Summer 2020 term has still been packed full of exciting news and activities.
All of our pupils continued with their education, with Kilgraston teaching taking place online. We held our first Virtual Open Day which was hugely successful, had a number of sporting challenges, and had smaller online versions of our main end of Year celebrations including our 90th Birthday Picnic. and our Leavers’ Assembly.
It seems technology has helped us all over these past few months and where would we be without Zoom? Thank you to all our pupils, families and staff.
We are looking forward to welcoming all our pupils back in August and say congratulations and good luck to our amazing Class of 2020. Here are just some of our Summer 2020 Term highlights.
Kilgraston’s vegetable patch
In her Easter assembly, Kilgraston’s Headmistress told us how she and her family, had built a vegetable patch and been busy planting vegetables as well as building a treehouse for the Juniors.
A number of vegetables were planted including spring onions, leeks, broccoli, beetroot, broad beans as well as tomatoes in the greenhouse. Given all the warm weather, look at how the plants have shot up since April. Looking forward to seeing what Kilgraston’s fabulous catering team can do with all this home-grown veg.
Kilgraston Upper Sixth Lockdown Moments
Some of our Upper Sixth sent in their snaps and stories of the things that epitomise their lockdown experience. Our Class of 2020, congratulations and here are your lockdown moments.
Virtual Leavers Assembly
Our Leavers Assembly is a celebration at the end of the academic year to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of every Kilgraston girl.
Instead of being held in the Chapel, this year’s event was held online where parents, girls and staff could tune it to watch the event together.
The event began with Reflection from Mr Allaker, our Chaplain, live from the Chapel. This was followed by the leaver’s concert pieces from each year group. The Upper 6 then gave a beautiful zoom choir performance of ‘You Say’. After some parent advice came the Lower 6 montage which was the penultimate feature before the final address.
The final addresses came from our Head Girl, Alice, our Head of Sixth Form, Mrs McCormick and our Headmistress, Mrs MacGinty.
Alice, our Head Girl reflected on her time at Kilgraston, remembering when her year group entered the theatre a year ago: ”Myself and the rest of the year came crashing into the theatre singing ‘Don’t Forget Where You Belong’, we had to make a grand entrance which I think is quite telling of our year, we gave everything 110% and spent most of our time singing, or just being generally loud” she continued with a heartfelt thank you to from her year group to the teachers and wider Kilgraston community: ”I don’t think there is enough time in the world or words in the dictionary for me to say all the thank yous that the U6 and I have for Kilgraston, we wouldn’t be the people we are today without the School and we will treasure the memories from our time at Kilgraston for the rest of our lives. I’m sure we will be back as soon as we can to say our proper goodbyes and most likely sing one last song.”
Mrs McCormick, Kilgraston’s Head of Sixth Form said “The leaving class of 2020 have really lived up to the Goal of Character this year. Each and every girl has pushed themselves to excel no matter their strengths in a variety of avenues. They have been exceptional prefects, incredible BFG’s and the relationships they have developed with their peers and staff are legendary. I thank them wholeheartedly for embracing all Kilgraston has to offer and making the most of every tradition and opportunity to make memories. I have no doubt that this year group and their incredible Leadership Team will be remembered for years to come. I wish them every success in their future pursuits.”
Best of luck Upper 6, see you soon!
Kilgraston’s Virtual Picnic
Girls, staff and parents from the Kilgraston community virtually came together to celebrate 90 years of Kilgraston from their living rooms and gardens today. There was plenty of bunting, ice creams and glasses of champagne to be seen across the 100 plus screens of those who tuned in.
Mrs MacGinty began the virtual gathering by giving an an insight into the rich and vibrant history of the school. She finished by commenting on the welcoming and inclusive atmosphere within the school: ”Everyone in our community welcomes diversity. Be humble, be simple and bring joy to others.”
Following on from Mrs MacGinty’s speech, our Chair of Governors, Tim Hall gave an insightful and emotional recollection of his twenty years as Chair of Governors and as a trustee at Kilgraston as he steps down from these positions.
Mr Hall has seen a lot of change over the past twenty years; the swimming pool, new AstroTurf courts and the theatre, but he described the things that haven’t changed as ”the central heartbeat of the school” and ”commitment and dedication of our staff”.
Mr Hall continued to describe how ”independent spirit and a sense of kindness are the hallmarks of a Kilgraston girl.”
To finish, Mr Hall left the Kilgraston community by saying ”Someone had asked me to sum up the Covid-19 experience in three words. I first came up with the words Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Houseparty, but then I realised I could sum it up in two: friends and family, and this fits my thoughts on Kilgraston.”
Mr Hall has been a integral part of Kilgraston’s progress and achievements over the past twenty years. We want to take this opportunity to thank him and wish him all the very best for the future.
To conclude our virtual event, our talented bagpipes teacher, Mr Sinclair, sent a performance of the piece that was specially created for our 90th anniversary celebrations.
If you missed this event, you can watch it here.
Kilgraston Goals Day 2020
Goals Day in June 2020 was carried out remotely, as we were still in lockdown, but that did not prevent the school community enjoying the day. In the morning, everybody was encouraged to make masquerade masks that represented a real-life or fictional inspirational character; there was also the option to make an Ancient Greece-style theatre mask to represent an aspect of character.
Pupils then created artwork based on the quote and aspects of character for their part of the school and all of these wonderful creations from the morning were shared on Teams for all to enjoy.
Following a lunchtime meditation (via Zoom!) the focus turned to the pertinent issue of ‘Black Lives Matter’, with girls taking the time to explore books, articles, documentaries and films suggested by Upper 6, before then creating their own posters, video documentaries or written articles. These were then shared in year group and house Zoom meetings.
Home Sports Days
Nothing quashes Kilgraston spirit, our girls are known for their determination and ability to overcome challenges. This week was no exception!
The coronavirus put a stop to all our planned events this term, including Sports Day. However, some of our junior girls refused to miss out and decided to host their very own at home. Girls have built obstacle courses in their back garden, used their wonderful imagination to create different events, got their families involved and one pupil decided to try an equine sports day and competed in all their races with their pony!
Well done to all those girls who refused to let the current situation affect their learning and fun. Hopefully we’ll be back to normal next year!
