Kilgraston’s Mrs Saunders is retiring
It is with great sadness for us that Mrs Saunders has decided to retire after 26 years at Kilgraston. For all of us who have worked with her in either capacity as pupil or colleague, we all share this truly privileged position to have known her and witnessed the everyday acts that make her an astonishing educator and person.
She subverts all notions of the tired retiree needing to be put out to pasture. The perfect example of this was right at the end of last academic year when the teaching staff were exhausted from rounds of internal assessments yet Mrs Saunders was the epitome of creative power leading the entire school to transform glass square into an art installation that expressed our concerns about the climate emergency.
We will remember everything Mrs Saunders has said. All of it brilliant.
We will remember everything she did. All of it equally brilliant too.
But more than anything, we will remember how she made us feel.
Ms Hall, Kilgraston’s Head of English and friend of Mrs Saunders
A longer length version of this will appear in the next Cor Unum, our annual school magazine. which will be published later this year. Sign up to our mailing list here.
Junior School - Upper Second turn detective
This week, Upper Second became Crime Scene Investigators.
As part of their class project on crime they were visited by Jon Bates from Sci-High Forensics who spent the day with our Upper Second detectives and led them through different role plays.
In this scenario, there had been a break-in at Kilgraston School and the culprits had left behind lots of forensic evidence. Upper Second pupils donned their forensic suits to collect blood swabs, dusted for fingerprints, and found footprints in our initial search.
The police then sent the forensic team the fingerprints, clothes, handwriting samples from the three main suspects. They then had to analyse these carefully to paint a picture of what happened that night.
Once the Crime Scene Investigators had pulled together all the evidence, Upper Second pupils then held a full trial complete with judge and jury to determine whether the suspects were innocent or guilty. The forensic evidence we had found was essential, especially the blood spatters.
The class had a fantastic day so thank you to Jon for leading this investigation.
You can find our more about our Junior School curriculum here.
Duke of Edinburgh experience at Kilgraston
Duke of Edinburgh, while a tough experience was something I will remember forever. It made me realise just how resourceful I could be and how valuable a good team is! I will also remember the amazing memories with the girls, while it was difficult, it was also really fun.
Of course, it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine (although we did see a double rainbow and lots of sun at the end of day two), The laughs while walking up hills out of breath and my wet sleeping bag (make sure to put everything in dry bags) were worth it. It also tested my cooking skills, as I managed to make a stir fry for lunch on day two consisting of pepper and spinach.
I will definitely use the skills that I learnt from Duke of Edinburgh, such as patience, medical skills (like the use of blister plasters) and how to have an amazing time in the most unlikely circumstances.
On day one we were all really discouraged at the start because we went the wrong way, only to fix it and loose a member of our team to injury, however by the end of our bronze expedition we got to see a double rainbow, and a group of extremely aggressive sheep who definitely did not want us there.
Overall, Duke of Edinburgh was worth all the hardships, and you can be sure I am doing silver next year!
Aine, Lower Fifth
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!