Independent School of the Year Award!
Kilgraston has recently been crowned Independent School of the Year! Principal, Michael Farmer, received the prestigious award at the Independent School Awards, sponsored by The Spectator magazine and VISA, held at the National Motorcycle Museum on Wednesday 16th November. The award is a reflection of the hard work of all the staff and pupils over the last few years and the transformation of Kilgraston into Scotland’s leading girls’ boarding school.
We were nominated for the Outstanding Strategic Initiative Award in recognition of the changes the school has made to achieve a 55% growth over the last five years. We also received the Outstanding Financial/Commercial Initiative prize for our ongoing multi-million pound investment in facilities and the introduction of our new Sports Academies. The culmination of these led to our nomination for Independent School of the Year and our eventual success.
We faced tough competition from some of the most progressive and innovative schools in the country with the award ceremony being a fantastic way to celebrate success in a sector which has seen many challenges in recent years.
Kilgraston joined a host of other excellent schools from across the country at the ceremony including New Hall School; Aberdour School; Adcote School; King Edward’s School, Birmingham; Caterham School; King’s College Taunton and St George’s Ascot to name but a few.
The award is prestigious with a rigorous selection process judged by a distinguished panel of educationalists and business people evaluating all aspects of the 28 shortlisted schools.
The panel of judges included Graham Able, former master of Dulwich College and former chair of HMC; Jill Berry, former president of GSA; Anne Evans OBE, chief executive of HTI; Jeremy Herrtage, Bursar of St Ive’s School, Haslemere; Andrew Maiden, Editor of Funding for Independent Schools magazine; Prof Malcolm MacDonald, Emeritus Professor at Cranfield University School of Management; Nick Shryane, Bursar of the Harrow School Foundation.
The judges took into account Kilgraston’s recent excellent HMIe inspection along with a number of factors including our outstanding examination results. The judges described Kilgraston as “particularly impressive”, “forward-thinking” and “an example to other schools”.
Mr Farmer was pleased to accept the award on behalf of the school and said “This is a testament to the enthusiasm, commitment and hard work of everyone in our community and we are all delighted that Kilgraston has been rewarded with this outstanding accolade.”