Kilgraston Tennis Tournament 2022
On Friday 27th and Saturday 28th May we hosted our annual Kilgraston Tennis Tournament, the Kilgraston Invitational Doubles event. This is always the most important date in our season and it was a very special two day tournament.
On the Friday, we competed against other independent schools including Morrison’s, Craigclowan, Dollar, Strathallan, Mary Erskine’s and Lorretto. There was some amazing tennis on display as the girls competed for the under 12 and under 14 trophies. The Kilgraston team did incredibly well, with Olivia and Willow winning the under 14, A Pool, winning all 6 matches. To top it off, our Upper Four team came third in the B Pool, which meant that Kilgraston won the overall under 14’s event (A and B pools combined).
On the Saturday it was time for the under 18 event, where we played against Dollar’s top four pairs and Morrison’s top two pairs. Kilgraston’s number one pair: Olivia and Pauline (both only 13 years old) won the A pool beating the Dollar first pair (both 17 years of age) 6 games to 3. It was an inspired performance by Olivia and Pauline, who stuck to their game plan throughout the match and executed their tactics with conviction – well done girls!
I am so proud of the Kilgraston Tennis Team. The girls showed amazing team spirit, fair play and determination throughout. Now it’s back to training for next year!
Billy McNeil, Kilgraston Tennis Coach.
Kilgraston Botanical Society
The Botanical Society are delighted be back this year. The girls have propagated a range of plants in the flower beds including roses, calendular, raspberries, marshmallow and lavender, together with tomato plants in the green house. The intention is to turn these botanicals into a range of beauty and confectionery products. We have already practiced making botanical candles, using bees wax.
Watch out for our stall at the upcoming Spring fair. Our future projects include establishing a Kilgraston Apiary - we have already practised making honey comb frames. This would be in conjunction with an our outdoor classroom including wild flower and a wildlife pond.
Find out more about the other clubs and activities on offer at Kilgraston.
Junior School show 2022 review - Matilda
The Junior School show 2022 is ‘Matilda: The Musical’. After last year, when the Junior musical was recorded, it is great to be back performing live in front of an audience, and everyone has certainly taken it in their stride. You wouldn’t be able to tell that we had all been online for the last two years! The energy and enthusiasm of the young actors and actresses can’t help but make you smile.
Matilda is a fantastic choice of script; it has everything you could wish for from a musical – comedy, suspense, and of course, catchy musical numbers. The set, which was designed and created by our own stage crew was indistinguishable from a professionally made set, and really speaks to the talent and vision of our National 5 drama students. The number of people involved in pulling this off speaks to the inclusion and spirit of community within our school, with children aged five performing in the musical, to the exam years helping during the performances and coming in during study leave to assist teachers.
It is evident how much time and effort our head of Drama Mrs Murphy, and Director of Music Mr Morley, dedicated to the musical, as the acting, choreography, and singing came together at the final performance to encapsulate the work of several months of hard work. Mr Murch and Mr Stewart provided the top-notch instrumentals to accompany the scenes. The sound and lighting was carried out by Mr Pryke and a team of talented sound technicians in the making, Emma and Kaitlin, and gave a polished and professional feel to our musical.
I think we definitely have some future stars in our midst - Caitlin played the lead role of Matilda, and made us all fall for this intelligent, quirky character with her heartfelt and genuine performance. Ms. Honey, Ms. Trunchbull and the school children also gave delightful performances, showcasing vocals and acting that rivals a West End production. The entire cast was enthusiastic and shared their feeling of fun with the audience.
This was a superb production and is testament to the dedication and perseverance of our outstanding performing arts teachers, as well as the students! I feel privileged to be a part of this wonderful school community.
Isabel, Upper Sixth, Music Prefect
Planet Birdsong - a day of creativity
On Monday Lower and Upper Fourth got the chance to meet part of the team from Planet Birdsong, an organisation that is helping to educate people on birdsong. This includes learning to recognise different bird’s songs and calls out in the real world as well as delving deeper into how the sounds are made up using recordings.
We started and ended the day all together, learning about sonographs (used to show the highs, lows and lengths of different notes) and how birdsong is made up of repeated patterns. This included drawing our own sonographs and creating lyrics to birdsong!
Next we were split into smaller groups and got the chance to walk through the grounds, and — with the help of Peter Cowdrey, the founder of Planet Birdsong, we quickly learnt to distinguish between the different birds we could hear. This included the great tit, wren, blackbird, robin, chaffinch, chiffchaff, wood pigeon and more. We also saw a greater spotted woodpecker feeding its young in their nest, high up in a tree.
In my opinion, the best part of the day was the opportunity to ‘sing like a bird’. This concept might appear strange, but it was the most unique and eye-opening experience I have ever had. Birdsong is far too quick and high pitched for a human to sing, so Planet Birdsong have slowed down recordings of birds, to a quarter or even an eighth of their original speed. Then all you need to do is copy the sounds you hear. After a few practices, this is recorded and sped up again, and you really can sing like a bird!
The day was a great success all round and I am sure that none of us will ever think of birdsong as meaningless twitter again!
Written by Upper Four’s Phoebe
Kilgraston polo team picks up the pace
Each week, a group of Kilgraston girls make their way to Kinross, collecting sticks and saddling-up their charges.
Polo is a fast-moving sport, rapidly growing in popularity and, throughout the year, the pupils take lessons at the Thom Bell Centre, just twenty minutes from the School.
“It’s been really exciting to learn new skills,” say Flora Allen, already a talented equestrian, but keen to expand her ability, “although in show jumping you are often competing as part of a team, it is usually on an individual basis, so, with polo, it’s great to be taking part with your friends, all at the same time.”
While Flora was an experienced rider, together with Mia from Germany who has previously played polo, the other three girls had never had a go at the game. “Funnily enough,” says Flora, “we’d all played hockey before and that proved very beneficial!”
Girls use Thom’s horses - riding the same ones each week so that they become familiar with the animal - learning about neck-reining, chukkas and how to ride people off with your shoulder. “First of all we started on the wooden horse,” said Flora, “learning to hold reins correctly, so soft mouths aren’t damaged and also our stick-swing. Obviously, it’s absolutely vital that you don’t hit the polo pony.”
Having conquered the wooden model, girls moved onto actual ponies and started walking and using a small, soft, football to improve their aim: “Very quickly, we moved through the paces, cantering up and down the arena. It’s great fun!”
Girls have improved quickly, now forming a team - competing at Cirencester Park Polo Club in June - with more tournaments over the summer: “I just can’t wait,” says Flora.
Equestrian is an important part of life here at Kilgraston, find out more this here.
Kilgraston goes into Space with Tayside Planetarium
Kilgraston went into Space recently courtesy of Matt Williamson, owner and presenter of the Tayside Planetarium.
This epic adventure began with a ‘Journey through Space and time,’ which saw both Lower Third and Upper Third pupils exploring our amazing Solar System. This exploration included the wonders of our beautiful ‘Blue Planet’ Earth, the rocky ‘Red Planet’ of Mars and finally to the gas planet ‘Jupiter’ with its raging storms and hurricanes and a gravity so strong it would crush you!
The pupils of Lower Four took on the ultimate question of ‘is there other life out there?’ In their search for other planets that may have been inhabited they focused on the ‘Goldilocks Zone of the Solar System– where conditions were neither too hot nor too cold!’ A prime candidate considered was a moon of Jupiter called Europa. Europa although an ice-planet is believed to have liquid water in the core beneath its icy crust – an essential for the existence of any life-form. A NASA mission planned for 2030 will send a robot to explore these possibilities.
Finally the Upper Four were educated on advancements in our knowledge and understanding of Space and possible career pathways in Space Engineering. They visited the ‘VLT’ (Very Large Telescope) located in an observatory on Mount Cerro Paranal in Chile at a height of 2,635 metres / 8,645 feet, where atmospheric pressure is lower producing much clearer images of Space.
They learnt about the professionals involved from Astronomers, Physicists, Computer Analysts, Engineers and Educators all working together to collect ground-breaking images and data. From Earth, Upper Four then went into orbit docking at the International Space Station. The Station itself is a giant feat of engineering built from individual modules and taking over a decade to construct. Here they observed experiments carried out by British astronaut Tim Peake.
National Numeracy Day at Kilgraston
Our youngest pupils joined forces with schools around the world in a bid to crush a world record.
The Reception, Lower First and Upper Second classes were taking part in National Numeracy Day on 18 May. They attended a live event, watching the Times Tables Rockstars number roll at the same time. The organisation behind National Numeracy Day was aiming to get 1500 children to watch, but in fact almost 600 joined in - now confirmed as the ‘Most viewers of rolling numbers live stream on YouTube’.
The children all had to know the 5 x table and join in a dance taught to them by Strictly star, Katya Jones.
National Numeracy Day is the only day in the UK dedicated to Maths and a raft of stars joined the pupils online for the event and well done to the Kilgraston pupils who took part as well as everyone else in the UK. You did it!
One of our longest-serving members of staff set for retirement
At the end of this month, Kilgraston is saying a fond farewell to one of our most recognised and longest-serving members of staff, Mrs Lillian Friars, who is retiring. Lillian has worked at Kilgraston for 30 years and has seen many changes.
Lillian said: “When I first started working at Kilgraston, the Grange was just being renovated. There was no equestrian centre, it was just fields full of sheep. There was no science centre or swimming pool either. I’ve worked with five Kilgraston Heads and it has changed a lot but what hasn’t changed is the sense of family in the school.”
In 1992, Lillian initially started working in the school’s laundry which, as every pupil knows, is a vitally important role. She worked her way up and is now Housekeeping Supervisor, managing a team of ten who collectively keep our extensive school buildings – and our boarders - looking spick and span throughout the year, both in and outside of term-time.
Lillian said: “Kilgraston has been a big part of my life for so long, it’s a great place and it’s the sense of family which keeps people working here. I am looking forward to retiring though and to travelling but I will miss the food from the catering team, in particular Helen’s soups which are simply delicious.”
We wish Lillian all the best in her retirement – do send us postcards!
Kilgraston Equestrian team wins at prestigious competition
Friday 13th may be dubbed a luckless day for some but it was not unlucky for one of the Kilgraston Equestrian teams. Horses, ponies and riders headed down to Kelso for a prestigious National Schools Equestrian Association show jumping and arena eventing competition.
It took place in the grounds of the spectacular Floors Castle and the competition ran alongside Floors Castle International Horse Trials where some of the biggest and best names in equestrian were taking part.
Friday was the first day of the competition and the atmosphere crackled with anticipation with the Kilgraston riders and horses showing confidence and poise. The team of Olivia, Hannah, Phoebe and Lucy and their ponies performed outstandingly, winning the 75cm show-jumping class much to the delight of all. This now means they qualify for the National Championships which are held in Bedfordshire in October, a brilliant achievement.
Next up was the 85cm class with Melissa, Phoebe and Olivia coming third, just missing out on further qualification and Hannah, Lucy and Olivia on Beano this time coming fourth.
Saturday kicked off with the arena event, where riders jump round a course of SJ and XC fences whilst getting marked on their style as well as jumping and time faults. The 75cm team knocked a few poles putting them down into 5th place, and the 85cm team of Mellissa, Hannah, Phoebe and Olivia came 3rd, again just missing out on qualification by one place.
The girls did so well, riding in an extremely busy arena with a lot of activity around them with some fantastic results too, a huge well done to all riders and their horses.
We are thrilled and cannot wait until October.
Subject Spotlight: English at Kilgraston
Ms Hall tells us more about: English at Kilgraston
English is a subject that has at its heart discussion; Kilgraston is the place that allows discussion to flourish with the girls assertively articulating their views in an environment that encourages full participation. It is a source of pride that we do not have quiet classrooms with passive listeners. Much of the discussion arises from the sparks that literature provides us with in abundance. Advanced Higher students have delighted in discussing class divisions, the position of women and the unconventional and aspirational hope for love in marriage following their close comparative study of ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Higher students, as they do each year, relished the study of Tennesse Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ with the conflict between two characters, representing two contrasting world views, inspiring much heated debate. Blanche, the central female character, is arguably one of the finest dramatic creations that ranks alongside the likes of Lady Macbeth, and she never fails to provoke powerful reactions in our girls.
The Lower and Upper Fifth girls similarly enjoy the discussion that arises from their study of ‘Of Mice and Men’. Curley’s wife’s character is always understood by the girls who feel the injustice of her treatment keenly. Likewise, the plight of all the characters leads to in-depth and enriching discussion on race, the futility of the American Dream during the Great Depression and the enduring power of friendship. ‘Journey’s End’ also leads to great interest in WWI and it is wonderful to see the girls using their knowledge gained from History to inform their understanding of this most poignant play. Other texts studied at National 5 include ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and Ms Hall’s favourite for the philosophical debate it provokes on the nature of humankind, ‘Lord of the Flies’.
Texts in the early years of the senior school are equally academic in their rigour with the likes of ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘The Merchant of Venice’ being studied. These are mighty texts that the girls derive great enjoyment from. Pleasure in reading is central to what the English department does. Subsequently we balance these classics with modern writing that is of the highest calibre and is simply brilliant to read. Upper fourth, many of whom were staunch ‘Non-readers’ at the beginning of the year, all read and loved the thrill of ‘Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror’, wonderfully crafted short stories, written in an accessible gothic style. Lower fourth had the pleasure of Louis Sacher’s modern classic, ‘Holes’, a carefully crafted novel that plays with time and narrative perspective and yet remains a page-turner; it was eagerly devoured by the girls.
We are fortunate at Kilgraston to be able to be responsive to the reading needs of our girls. Our small classes enable us to know our pupils and their needs fully enabling us to choose texts that we know would be most suitable for them. We do love our classics and delight in making those texts accessible (many parents will certainly recognise a few that we study!) but we are not wedded to them; the needs of our girls come first and we take greater satisfaction in finding just the right text that will unlock that love of reading.
Ms Hall, Head of Kilgraston’s English Department