Kilgraston celebrating its 90th birthday - flashback to turning 50
With Kilgraston celebrating its 90th birthday in 2020, many of our alumnae, current families and staff have ordered the beautiful commemorative mugs.
However, one of our alumnae recently got in touch to share the mugs from the 50th anniversary celebrations.
Turning 50 in 1980, Kilgraston had an event in Perth City Hall to mark the occasion. There was also a competition to design a mug, this time won by pupil Shona Allan.
Thank you to alumnae, Fiona, for sharing this wonderful story and for the image of the 50th birthday mugs.
You are still able to purchase our 90th birthday mugs via [email protected].
Kilgraston’s Women in Business lecture series welcomed engineer
If it’s a varied future you’re after, pupils at Kilgraston need look no further than the fascinating journey of a structural engineer.
Rachel Battilana MIStructE, who works from Perth on SSE’s hydro power plant throughout Scotland, visited the school as part of its Women in Business lecture series.
“Engineering has given me the scope to travel, constantly learn and work with a huge range of materials and people,” Rachel told senior pupils at the school, many who were listening-in via Zoom.
Asked by one 16-year-old if she wanted to pursue Civil Engineering from a young age, Rachel told the pupil that it was around the same age as she was, but surprised the audience by telling them that, exploring the career route, the book’s reference stated that for ‘Civil engineering, see boring.’
Of course, the ‘boring’ reference wasn’t casting aspersions at the nature of the task, but a nod to the enormous drill-bits used to drive through sheer rock: “I was hooked,” Rachel told pupils.
Reading engineering at Cambridge University, Rachel described how her Masters project saw her designing and building low maintenance cold-climate shelters for Afghan refugees, including “thoroughly testing them in Ford’s vehicle wind tunnel assessment centre.”
After graduation, global design consultancy Buro Happold offered Rachel the opportunity to work on huge civil projects including the impressive Evelina London Children’s Hospital and state-of-the-art Museum of Liverpool: “This was a huge challenge,” she said, “the area included ancient dock gates which had to be preserved and remain undamaged.”
The solution was a great deal of discussion between various organisations, resulting in a formidable, cantilevered, structure suspended over the dock: “Historically, the wall has crumbled around every eighty years, but thankfully” pupils were told, “after all our efforts to avoid placing any more weight on them, they are holding firm.”
Pupils heard how the young engineer completed her professional training to become a Chartered Structural Engineer, before volunteering for an NGO in Malawi, working on an orphan housing project: “It felt good to really make a difference.”
Returning to the UK, she moved into the renewables sector, being offered a job with Sgurr Energy where more travel was possible, working on, among many projects, Mongolia’s first wind farm and a number of offshore wind farms where unexpected slippage of the turbine tower had occurred.
Family life brought Rachel to Perthshire where the opportunity to combine her engineering experience with environmental awareness arose: “I’ve always wanted to try and make a difference from the inside, rather than just sit on the side-lines,” explains Rachel, “so when the chance to join SSE’s hydro department came up and, in particular, the re-watering of the River Garry project, it was really exciting.”
Girls learnt about the extent of Scotland’s hydro scheme, most of which was constructed during the 1950s. “So much more has been learnt about environmental impact in 70 years so a lot of the equipment has to be rethought and updated,” she said, “I’ve been involved with designing a system of gates and sophisticated pivot-valves to release and control the Garry’s water levels.”
Keen to learn more about the engineer’s experience, enthusiastic pupils grilled the speaker, wanting to find out more about being a woman in a traditionally male industry: “Honestly it has never been an issue,” Rachel assured the young audience, “if you know your stuff and get on with your job, it’s a level playing-field with lots of opportunities. The world definitely needs more engineers. Prospects really are limitless.”
Kilgraston’s teachers - Mr Maxton’s story
Kilgraston’s teachers and support staff are a diverse and talented bunch.
Take Modern Languages teacher, Mr John Maxton. In the latest edition of Boarding Schools’ Association magazine, Mr Maxton, discusses how having started his professional career as a pilot, he is now happily teaching languages to our pupils.
You can read more about Mr Maxton’s story in the latest edition of Boarding Schools’ Assoication magazine.
You can also find out more about the people behind Kilgraston in our ‘A Chat With…‘ section.
Kilgraston Junior School prize-giving
This week has been full of celebrations including our 90th birthday and our senior school prize-giving. Now it was Kilgraston Junior School prize-giving. This was for the school year 2019 - 2020 as our typical prize-giving event had been delayed due to COVID.
Mrs MacGinty hosted the event and started with a wonderful speech on the importance of achievements, how these can help nurture each and every one of us person and how the Kilgraston values contribute to this. After the prize-giving ceremony, Upper Third’s Olivia gave a wonderful performance of Chanson Triste by Tchaikovsky on her violin.
Please find below images of the prize-winners. Well done everyone.
Lower Third
Upper Second
Lower Second
Upper First
Reception - Lower First
Kilgraston’s birthday celebrations - we celebrate turning 90
Kilgraston’s birthday celebrations took place as our wonderful school officially turned 90, because on October 20th 1930 Kilgraston official opened as a school , the same day as the Feast of Mater Admirablis.
The house had recently been purchased by the Society of the Sacred Heart to transfer its boarding and day school from Craiglockhart in Edinburgh.
Before becoming a school, Kilgraston House had an interesting history. It was severely damaged in 1872 when the interior was almost completely destroyed by fire. In the First World War, John Patrick Grant loaned the house to the Government as a hospital for shell-shocked servicemen and at one time it was even occupied by the millionaire Andrew Carnegie, who spent part of his honeymoon here.
Over the years, the school has been extended and has had Royal visitors with Her Royal Highness; the Princess Royal opening the new Barat Wing in June 1987.
Today, we are proud of our School and our school family both present and past, and whilst our 90th birthday celebrations were restricted due to COVID, we marked this occasion along with the Mater Admirablis on October 28th, a week after our official 90th birthday.
Mrs MacGinty and our Senior Head Girl team
A special 90th birthday service saw Kilgraston’s Headmistress, Mrs MacGinty, our Deputy Chair of Governors, Ms Gammell and our longest-serving academic member of staff, Deputy Head, Mrs Lund all giving readings. We also enjoyed stunning musical performances by Deputy Head Girl , Libby, who played ‘In French Style’ by Savourna Stevenson on the clarsach as well as Lower Sixth’s Isabel who performed ‘Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt on the cello.
Lower Sixth Isabel
Morning break saw great excitement with a special 90th birthday cake for everyone.
Happy birthday Kilgraston.
You can watch the 90th birthday service below:
Kilgraston prize-giving - senior school 2020
We were delighted to celebrate our annual Kilgraston prize-giving - this time for Senior School only - and with COVID restrictions this was only open to pupils in school. Families were able to watch remotely thanks to Zoom.
From year groups Lower Fourth to Upper Sixth, pupils were awarded merits for different subjects as well as non-academic awards such as courtesy and consideration.
The pupils were then treated to a spell-bounding performance of Czardas by Vittorio Monti by Upper Fourth’s Emma, Kilgraston’s Young Musician Of The Year, who recently performed on BBC Radio Three.
Well done to all Kilgraston pupils.
Upper Sixth
Lower Sixth
Upper Fifth
Lower Fifth
Upper Fourth
Lower Fourth
Former pupil to train with senior Great Britain hockey squad
Former Kilgraston pupil Emily Dark is to train with the senior Great Britain hockey squad. Emily, who graduated from Kilgraston in 2018, said: “It has been an ambition of mine to play for GB for so many years, so to be offered this opportunity to train with them for the next three weeks is unbelievable.
“I am incredibly excited to get started, not only for high-quality hockey, but to meet everyone too. This is a big opportunity for me to show what I can bring to the game and I want to embrace it and have fun.”
Emily, who is now studying Physics at St Andrews University, was selected for the GB Elite Development Programme (EDP) in 2018, and the opportunity to train with the GB women’s team presents an excellent opportunity to develop, and impress, at the top level.
It has been an outstanding few years for Emily, with her representing Scotland at international level winning her 23 senior caps. Her international career has also seen her be part of the team which won gold at the EuroHockey Championship II in 2019 with Emily winning Young Player of the Tournament.
Speaking on the Scottish Hockey website, Emily said: “Winning gold with Scotland at the home Europeans last year has definitely been a highlight for me, and I loved working with the team before and during the tournament to make sure we were in the best position possible to perform at our best.”
Commenting on Emily’s achievements, Kilgraston’s Headmistress, Mrs Dorothy MacGinty said: “We have watched Emily’s progress through the ranks with great interest and enthusias, and watching her move on to this next, very demanding, level of the game is hugely exciting for all the staff and pupils here at Kilgraston. We wish her every success with the future and will be following her progress very closely!”
Image by Mark Pugh
Kilgraston’s commitment to the environment
Kilgraston’s Junior School has been busy charting the growth of a hedge planted in 2009, part of Kilgraston’s on-going commitment to the environment and educating our pupils on nature.
Speaking in the Catholic Universe, Ms Dana Cooper, Junior Years’ teacher and head of the school’s Eco Committee said, “We thought it would be demonstrated particularly well if we showed our eleven-year-olds what nature can do in the same period. Our pupils are particularly interested in natural habitats for indigenous wildlife, which we have an abundance of here at school, but they are also keen to create artificial habitats and, additionally, are currently building a ‘bug hotel’ out of palettes and recycled materials.”
The hedge, which is made up of hawthorn, common lime, hazel and the guelder rose, stretches along the Kilgraston beautiful countryside campus next to the school’s swimming pool. Now, eleven years since it was planted, the hedge reaches four and a half metres high in places and is almost 80 metres long.
Upper Third’s Edith, who is Head of the Junior Years Eco Committee, said: “We have been learning how the hedge provides wildlife with a natural larder.
“Birds such as thrushes, blackbirds and fieldfares love the rose hips, while bees enjoy nectar from the hawthorn and robins, red squirrels and rabbits enjoy the berries.”
This story also featured in the November issue of magazine, Scottish Field.
global poetry competition - winner
Kilgraston pupil Anna has won a top prize in a global poetry competition. Upper Sixth’s Anna was the only Scottish winner in this year’s Foyle Young Poets of the Year award and was one of only fifteen winning young poets from over 6,000 people who entered.
Anna’s poem, Total, was about exam stress, reflecting the experience as a balance sheet.
Speaking in an article on STV, Anna said: “The poem was written the week before results day, it’s a poem about exam anxiety. Every line was given a monetary value to equate to the emotional strain I was experiencing.
“However, you can’t put a price-tag on personality; I am so much more than just results. The final line – ‘trying to add up the breeze’ – represents the impossible, like catching smoke, it’s a poetically expressed concept of being unquantifiable.
“I think the judges all had their own results day memory so this struck a chord.”
The global poetry competition news featured in a number of press outlets including the BBC’s Newsround where Kilgraston’s Headmistress, Mrs Dorothy MacGinty, said: “Anna has been an inspirational pupil to teach throughout her seven years with us. We have witnessed her talent and enthusiasm for the subject of English rapidly develop and could not be more thrilled for her.”
The competition’s virtual award ceremony takes place Thursday 22nd October, where Anna will read her poem to the other 14 winners, guests and judges.
In an article in The Herald, Anna said: “It will still be a very moving experience. Such a shame not to actually be with the other winners and to meet the judges face-to-face but it will be a momentous opportunity nonetheless.”
Anna wins a place at a writing residential course at the Arvon Centre, The Hurst set to take place in early 2021 and you can read Anna’s winning poem below:
⁎///TOTAL///⁎
All slow summer long £9.99
I have been living £6.90
in a glass jar of anxiety £16.60
and dreading £7.68
a day in August £6.57
when a devious envelope £12.90
with a barbed paper tongue £3.76
will slither through the door £2.46
to determine my fate £6.83
with only a few £5.80
letters: grades that might £5.45
be as sharp as blades £9.90
or as soft as rising dough. £5.67
At the end of the day, is this £3.54
all that I amount to? £12.80
Five letters on a flimsy £6.53
ghost of paper? £6.45
The narrowest indication £3.87
of my past £7.90
and my future. £14.90
God, these £1.65
endless days of waiting £8.76
and balancing on these tenterhook £17.76
cobweb tightropes just won’t do, £4.50
they just won’t do. £14.90
⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎
I don’t want to be calculated £8.76
counted, £6.84
or summed up £7.36
in cold numbers and letters £3.56
that are typed by robotic fingers £4.90
that have no grace nor growth, £23.90
because I am breathtakingly £16.00
three dimensional, and £5.35
to total me £2.95
would be like £0.90
trying to add up the breeze. £??.??????
⁎//Please retain receipt for your records//⁎
You can read further press articles on this news in The Scotsman, the Evening Express, The Courier and the Independent School’s Council website.
Kilgraston supports World Mental Health Day
Mental Health was also the topic of a recent assembly by Kilgraston school nurse, Laura Rentoul. You can read this below:
In the words of the former first lady of America, Michelle Obama “You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages”.
2020 has been a year of great challenges for us all in many ways. School lives have been interrupted in a way that many would never have imagined. Suddenly being able to study and interact with your peers on a day to day basis was halted by the need to stay at home to keep the population safe. This was not easy for some people. Some people enjoyed it, others may have struggled coming out of the new routine they had established at home. Whatever your experience the person next to you probably had a different one but what you all have in common is the need to look after each other to overcome adversity.
Some people call mental health ‘emotional health’ or ‘well-being’ and it’s just as important as good physical health.
Mental health is everyone’s business. We all have times when we feel down or stressed or frightened. Most of the time those feelings pass. But sometimes they develop into a more serious problem.
Everyone is different. You may bounce back from a setback while someone else may feel weighed down by it for a long time.
Your mental health doesn’t always stay the same. It can change as circumstances change and as you move through different stages of your life.
Here at Kilgraston we recognised the need to look after our school communities mental health even before COVID 19 hit. From late last year Mrs Muller and I started the initial phases of integrating a mental health ambassador programme within the school. Having visited and spoken to other schools where the programme had been a great success we started the process of introducing it into Kilgraston. Pupils that were going to be in the sixth form cohort 2020/2021 were asked to submit a statement expressing their understanding of mental health and why they wanted to be involved. From these applications we identified 11 mental health ambassadors or MHAs. They went through a training process and now stand in front of you eagerly wanting to be here for you.
The project was developed by a team of experienced mental health trainers to encourage young people to ask for help when they need it. It focuses on peers supporting their peers. The thought behind this is that people use their own experiences to help each other. There are different types of peer support, but they all aim to:
• bring together people with shared experiences to support each other
• provide a space where you feel accepted and understood
• treat everyone’s experiences as being equally important
How much support you give and receive can vary depending on what feels right for you at different times.
Lots of people find peer support improves their wellbeing and helps them cope with mental health problems. For example, it can:
• help you to open up about what you are feeling and experiencing
• introduce you to ideas and approaches that others have found helpful
• reassure you that you’re not alone in how you are feeling
• help you to connect with others and give you a sense of belonging
It encourages you to value your strengths, build your self-esteem and confidence and help you to feel more hopeful about the future.
The project was first successfully piloted and evaluated in the 2017/2018 academic year.
The role of your MHAs is to deliver an education programme on mental health to younger year groups and each session is reinforced with handouts for pupils to take home and share with their families. Our MHAs offer a non-judgemental listening ear for any pupils who are worried about their own or their friends’ mental health and they will be raising awareness and challenge stigma around the topic.
Our Mental Health Ambassadors will set a positive example, letting other pupils know that “It’s okay to not be okay” and “It’s okay to talk about mental health”.
Anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary and our MHA’s are here to help.
Sometimes we need someone to simply be there, not to fix anything or do anything in particular, but just to let us feel supported and cared about and this is what we hope you will feel with the introduction of the MHAs within Kilgraston. And now all that is left is for me to do is let them introduce themselves and say a little more about their role.
You can watch some of our other assemblies including this one on the importance of manners.