Category Archive: Latest News

Equestrian vaulting

Kilgraston’s Rebecca Norval (U6) competed this weekend for the Scottish Senior Equestrian Vaulting team at the CVI International Vaulting Competition in Belgium. The event saw more than 35 squads and 170 individuals compete over 3 days on more than 130 horses.

Rebecca competed as a member of the Scottish Senior Team, which placed 3rd out of 10 teams. Rebecca also competed individually in the Senior 2** competition, placing 5th out of 23 riders, and gaining her international score to compete as a senior 3*** next year.

Alongside pairs partner Andrew McLachlan, Rebecca placed 4th in the Senior class. Rebecca aims to gain official selection by British Equestrian federation for both pairs and a member of the senior team

Mrs Pauline Stott, Kilgraston’s Director of Sport, said: “We are thrilled for Rebecca again this term as her performances at the CVI International event were excellent. The time and effort Rebecca dedicates to her sport is commendable and we are very proud of Rebecca’s achievements once again”.

Rounders success

Kilgraston’s annual rounders tournament saw 120 players from schools across Scotland gather at Kilgraston to compete for the U13 title.

Ten schools, traveling from Edinburgh, Perth, East Lothian, Moray and the Scottish Borders, each played four matches on Kilgraston’s astroturf pitches, with the weather proving too unreliable for the matches to take place on grass. Kilgraston’s home team won all four of their initial matches, emerging victors against Fettes, Cargilfield, Riley and Aberlour. Kilgraston progressed to face the team from Belhaven Hill in the final. The final was a close and well-fought match, resulting in a 6-4 victory to the Kilgraston team.

Our Headmistress Mrs Dorothy MacGinty presented the teams with their medals, and was delighted to award the match trophy to Kilgraston’s team captain Pippa Boyle. Mrs MacGinty said: “I am delighted that the Kilgraston Under 13 team have emerged as champions in this competition. Teams from all ten schools from across Scotland showed tremendous skill and sportsmanship and a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon was had by all.”

Equestrian success

Kilgraston’s winning U14 team

The annual Scottish Schools Equestrian Championships, hosted by Kilgraston and sponsored by Knight Frank, saw almost 150 competitors from 19 schools take part. Held for the first time at Highfield Equestrian Centre at Howe, near Giffordtown, Fife, tests were held in Dressage, Showjumping and Combined Training classes across three age groups.

Kilgraston hosted the event, and the teams led by example, with the Kilgraston 1 team (Jemima Cross, Tess Wylie, Emma Leslie and Kyla Campbell Grieve) winning the Combined Training in class one (12 years and under). In the same class our Kilgraston 2 team (Millie Wilson, Kyla Campbell Grieve, Eilidh McPherson and Connie Wang) came 4th overall. In the Individual Dressage sections Jemima won section A and Emma won section B with Jemima also winning the individual combined training.

Family Fun Day Sunday 19 May 2019 1-4pm

All are welcome at the Kilgraston KPA Family Spring Fair on Sunday 19 May 2019 from 1-4pm. This is an opportunity to enjoy our fantastic craft fair, live music, some hands-on science experiments, a bouncy castles, face painting, and pony rides. We hope to see you there.

Catering 'Food Flash'

Discover the latest news and updates from Inspire, Kilgraston’s catering team.

Kilgraston's Robot Wars

Budding engineers in our Prep School were inspired by a day of Robot Wars led by IBM. Thanks to employees from the technology firm, pupils spent a day designing and building robots, which were raced across a number of obstacle courses to test their speed and accuracy.

Working in small groups with a dedicated leader, the girls were introduced to the hi-tech world of robots and given sight of what a future career in engineering might involve.

Invitational Hockey Tournament

The Kilgraston Invitational Hockey Tournament saw almost 200 players and 16 teams from 9 schools gather to compete for U11 and U13 trophies.

In the under 13 tournament, Kilgraston emerged as champions after a series of hard-fought matches. The semi-final match was won against Mary Erskine on running penalties (Kilgraston: 3 - Mary Erskine: 1), which saw the Kilgraston team progress to the final, where they faced George Watson’s College resulting in a 2 - 1 win.

A closely-matched U11 competition saw a number of teams draw in the early phases of the competition, and led to a nail-biting final which was decided on running penalties. George Heriot’s emerged the winners, with Mary Erskine School taking second place with 2 goals to 1. Kilgraston’s Under 11’s drew 1 and lost 2, but played well in really close games and ended up 7th equal overall.

Kilgraston’s Director of Sport, Pauline Stott, said “We were delighted to see such a high standard of play across both competitions today. The running penalties, which decided key matches in both tournaments, were a new experience for many of the younger girls, and were thrilling to watch. Many thanks to the players, staff and spectators who came from all over Scotland to take part in this tournament”.

Higher Education Fair

Hundreds of young people from across Scotland are set to attend Kilgraston’s Higher Education and Careers Fair. The event will host stands from almost fifty universities, employers, and Further Education providers, and pupils are set to travel from as far afield as Fort William to talk to employers and institutions about their post-school options.

With competition high for university places, and the graduate jobs market challenging, the Fair offers a key opportunity for students to make an impression on those who may be scrutinising their CV or application form in the months ahead. And with more options available to young people than ever before, the Fair is a chance for young people - and their parents - to fully assess the range of options available.

Last time the Fair was held at Kilgraston, in 2013, stallholders included the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, St Andrews and Newcastle, employers from legal professions and the armed forces, and gap year providers including Raleigh International, the British Exploring Society and The Project Trust. Prestigious music school The Royal Conservatoire was also in attendance, as were representatives from The Edinburgh School of Food and Wine.

Head of Sixth Form, Mrs Elaine Prentice, said “Our Higher Education Fair is an opportunity for students and families to get a real sense of the options available to them after they leave school. Whether students are planning a gap year, further study or entry to the workplace - or even if they’re still making up their mind, this is a great chance to ask questions, find out more, and make a great first impression with some really prestigious organisations”.

Chinese new year

Our nursery and early years classes celebrated Chinese New Year this week with a whole range of Chinese activities.

We tried noodles, which were delicious, and explored Chinese traditions and customs - including creating our own Chinese dragon! Phoebe (L6) read a Chinese book to our nursery children, who really enjoyed listening to the new words and sounds.

We’ve really enjoyed learning about all kinds of new cultures, customs and celebrations this year, and are very proud to learnt a little about Chinese New Year this week.

Snowdrops and squirrels