Team Show Jumping Competition
They started the day very well with Mischa Steele, Flora Allan, Erin MacGregor and Ruby Forbes winning the first class of the day, beating another 9 teams in the process. This is a huge achievement for all of the girls and shows that we have such promising young riders coming up the years here at Kilgraston. Mischa also took individual 6th place out of the 45 riders entered.
In Class 2, Mischa, Flora, Issie Jeffrey and Frankie Home-Mussop jumped really well, just an unfortunate 1 pole down for Mischa and Flora had a fall at the last fence, but 2 fast clear fences from Issie and Frankie meant we still got team 6th place out of 12 teams. Flora very bravely remounted and jumped the last fence.
In Class 3, the 85cm we had 3 teams entered. We had a few unlucky poles down in what was a very competitive class of 16 teams but still managed 3rd place for Frankie, Hannah Cuthill, Millie Brown and Daisy Galbraith.
The last class of the day was the 1m, we had 2 teams entered. The KG white team of Hannah, Heather Halley, Anna Smallwood and Poppy Currie and the KG blue team of Connie Wang, Poppy (riding her 2ndhorse), Daisy and Millie. It was a really tough course with only 4 clear rounds out of 40 riders and Heather was one them, gaining individual 3rd place. Hannah and Anna had a couple of poles down between them which just pipped us into 2nd place over all.
The girls really did us proud in what was a very long day of some fantastic show jumping. This was the last team competition of the year but the girls are already looking forward to next year’s equestrian events.
Success at the Hunter Trials
The first class of the day was the 1m, where Brooke Walker of Strathallan just pipped Heather Halley to the red rosette, with Heather just being a few seconds under the optimum time. In the team section, Kilgraston finished in 2nd place. The team was made up of Heather, Hannah Cuthill and Millie Brown.In Class 2, the 90cm, Kilgraston really were on form. Anna Smallwood took individual 1st place and the team of Anna, Poppy Currie, Daisy Galbraith and Sasha Niven won the team section. Second place went to St Columba’s and 3rd to Glenalmond.
In Class 3, the 75cm it was Connie Wang of Kilgraston taking the red rosette this time, and again, the Kilgraston Team of Connie, Daisy Lockheart and Tess Wylie won the team section too. Second place went to Morrisons and 3rd to Waid Academy.
The final class of the day was class 4, the 60cm. In the individual section Camryn Wilson won with her pony Dusty it was their first competition together so they were absolutely thrilled. The team section was won by Craigclowan as they were the only team to have 3 rider complete the course. A special mention goes to Mischa Steele who completed her first ever XC competition on her pony Pebbles, a huge achievement.
A huge thank you again to all of the helpers who made the event possible to run, the results show that we have some fantastic equestrian competitors in the school and it really is something to be proud of. Our next equestrian team outing is team show jumping at Howe on October 30th where we have 6 teams entered.
Freestanding tower challenge
It was a very busy morning in the Junior Years. Each house were set the challenge to build the tallest freestanding tower they could out of newspaper and also design something ‘pretty’.
It was great to have the Heads of Houses and the Lower Fourth House Captains helping their houses. It was a hard fought competition and the girls were given points on height, aesthetics and team work.
Lead role for Chloe
Congratulations to Chloe Bloice (Upper 1st) who has been given the lead child role of Tiny Tim in Scrooge the musical at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre. The performances run from the 2nd - 23rd of December.
As well as Chloe’s musical theatre success, she has been very busy ice skating, training 3 times a week at the Dundee Ice Arena. So far this year, she has represented the Dundee Elite Ice Club and most recently achieved a new personal best at the Aberdeen Open.
Congratulations Chloe!
Experiencing Indian Culture
After last year’s successful Unison World School (UWS) exchange, we welcomed back 12 girls and staff from UWS in India for two weeks to experience boarding life at Kilgraston.
A full itinerary was in place for their visit to enable them to experience Scottish education, history and culture. A timetable of activities was organised, including Scottish dancing, cultural trips to museums and theatre and historical visits to Scone Palace and Falkland Palace. The visit to Edinburgh was a particular highlight and the party had an opportunity to visit the Scottish parliament and Edinburgh Castle.
The UWS girls were a real inspiration to us all and delivered several fabulous performances to pupils, parents, staff and former girls. The girls attended lessons with Kilgraston pupils and impressed us with their enthusiasm and diligence. They have delighted their audiences with colourful and vibrant performances of Indian song and dance. With many nationalities represented at Kilgraston, it was a great opportunity for us to experience Indian culture and take part in all of the fun activities they organised.
The visit has enabled us to strengthen our exchange programme and plans are now being made for our girls to visit UWS next year. Before leaving Kilgraston, Ms Sharma and Ms Beri presented the Chairman of Governors with a beautiful image of Lord Krishna, painted by one of the UWS girls, which now hangs in pride of place at the back of the Chapel, highlighting our strong bond with UWS.
Mrs MacGinty said “They have been the most delightful group of students and it was lovely seeing our girls interact with UWS and adopt them into the day and boarding community. I believe establishing links with international schools and learning about different cultures is pivotal in today’s world where our girls understand that they are truly global citizens and not just citizens of the country they were born in.”
Unison World School
At the weekend we were delighted to welcome back the Unison World School, India. This year, twelve girls and two staff have travelled to Kilgraston to take part in the eighteen-day visit where the girls and staff will be immersed in each other’s cultures, living and learning together, sharing the hopes, aspirations and challenges which they face in their respective countries.
Unison is an all-girls residential school in Dehradhun, set in the foothills of the Himalayas and is ranked as number three school in India. The girls and staff will live in Kilgraston, attend lessons and visit historical, political, scientific and cultural sites. Their experience will be reciprocated next year when a group of Kilgraston pupils and staff will travel to India. The Exchange Programme will continue to promote the advancement of international understanding, the dissemination of learning and the strengthening of cultural ties.
Mrs MacGinty said “It is an absolute delight to welcome back the Unison World School, the girls and staff have been so looking forward to their visit after the success of last year. We will be sharing our Scottish history, culture and education and have many excursions and events planned. We are particularly looking forward to seeing and hearing their performance of the Indian song and dance”.
Kilgraston Nepal Expedition
On the morning after Speech Day, Sunday the 26th of June, eleven sixth form girls departed for a three-week expedition to Nepal; Catherine McInnes, Ellen Eastwood, Erin Rennie, Isobel Campbell, Jade Courtney, Rachel Black, Rebecca Bruce, Zoe He, Susie Dougall, Lucinda Turquand-Young and Sophie Jacobs were the challengers. And accompanied by two School staff, Miss Patton and Mr Johnston along with our World Challenge leader, Mr Ian Ridley.
On arrival to Katmandu there was an instant culture shock, with cows wandering freely down the busy moped and car filled city streets of the Nepal’s capital! In our first few days we visited many sights, Swayambhunath often known as the monkey temple, a steep climb up to the Stupa allowed us to see the full panorama of the city, while carefully fending off the cheeky monkeys keen to steal food from visitors. While spending a few days in the capital we noticed the affects from the earthquake, which happened the previous year. However, many Nepali’s we encountered said it was an important time for us to embark on an expedition, as more than ever, Nepal needed tourists to help in the rebuilding of their country.
The expedition was made up of three elements, a trek, volunteer project and sightseeing. The trek itself was a tough six-day hike along part of the challenging Annapurna circuit. We stayed in some homey tea houses along the way and saw the majestic mountain range with several peaks over 8000metres, a truly astonishing sight. The girls on the whole very much enjoyed the trek, despite its tests, namely the monsoon rain and dreaded leeches. All challengers made it to the top of Poon Hill standing respectively at 3210metres, despite what t-shirts purchased in Katmandu claim! Our local team of guides, porters and cooks were excellent throughout and were always there to help motivate the group.
On finishing the trek, the girls enjoyed a well-earned rest in Pokhara, a beautiful popular tourist city beside the grand Phewa Lake. The team did not stop on their adventure seeking, while in Pokhara they each flew down the longest zip wire in the world and then took on the mighty rapids with an excellent day of white water rafting.
The trip was not all about adrenaline seeking; the girls had planned and raised several thousand pounds for a week-long volunteer project at the Hillside School, an hour from Katmandu. The newly opened school provided an English language education to local children. On the project the team laboured hard building a path leading to the school, they carried many bricks and wheelbarrow loads of gravel to achieve a finished path. The girls also used their artistic skills to create a beautiful English alphabet mural in one of the junior years’ classrooms. It was fantastic to see what had been completed in a week by the Kilgraston team.
A full packed trip, the girls were outstanding and showed great maturity in their organisation and budgeting skills. As staff we were privileged to have spent such a great trip with all the girls. We all look forward to the girls sharing many of the great experiences and memories with an assembly and school magazine article this year.