Coping with Covid- TES reports Kilgraston School’s approach
Pupils returned to Kilgraston School’s Autumn Term, 2021, having lived with Covid 19 for a year and a half.
Noticing how this experience manifested itself in the youngsters’ approach to the pandemic, Headteacher Dorothy MacGinty has written about the old adage of a ‘problem shared is a problem halved’ in newspaper, TES.
“The seriousness of the disease is still very much emphasised,” she notes, “but with the reassurance that there is less likelihood of hospitalisation.”
Continuing, Mrs MacGinty comments: “So many more girls have the shared experience of knowing someone who has had Covid – or perhaps even having experienced it themselves – that they now have their own story to tell and discuss; the common bond (facing the enemy, if you like) is a lot less frightening. With the help of the school’s mental health ambassadors, discussion of guilt or concern is commonplace and encouraged both in and out of the classroom.”
The full Times Educational Supplement article can be read here
6.9.21
Kilgraston Junior School trip
It was another exciting milestone for Kilgraston Junior School when our Reception and Lower First class headed out on a school trip post the COVID pandemic.
Heading out in the sunshine the class went to idyllic Tentsmuir Beach in Fife, a minibus ride from our school.
It was an opportunity for the class to put into practice some of the skills they have been learning in class with their current topic of bridges. The huge sandy shores of Tentsmuir proved the perfect landscape for the class to trial their bridge-making skills with the class designing and building their own.
After two hours, the pupils unveiled their individual masterpieces, impressing class teacher Mrs Stewart and classroom assistant Mrs Armstrong.
So to celebrate all their hard work, the class headed to a play park for lunch (with delicious chocolate crepes) before getting back on the minibus. Concluding their day of bridges, they opted to return via the Tay Bridge, noticing the remnants of the old rail bridge and counted all the bridges on the way home - an impressive 33. The class then stopped in Perth to admire the three bridges over the Tay.
Sounds like a wonderful day out.
PE department challenges during lockdown
Even in lockdown Kilgraston’s PE department has been working to keep our pupils exercising and energised.
From mountain climbing to snowmen-making, we’ve had many weeks of different challenges.
But this week there was a twist: the challenges were set by each of the Sports Captains and below you can watch Senior Netball Captain, Lower Sixth’s India, setting the netball challenge. Can you complete it?
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Our capacity to adapt - lessons learnt
The challenges of COVID and lockdowns has taught us much about change and our capacity to adapt and this was the focus of assembly by Kilgraston’s Head of Boarding and Pastoral Care, Mrs Sonja Mueller.
“A lot has changed over the past year,” said Mrs Mueller, “and it’s important to look at how we handle change and strategies we can use to help us.”
Pupils may some questions surrounding the return to school following the latest lockdown. The pastoral team at Kilgraston is always available to pupils for any questions they have may, and Mrs Mueller said now is the opportunity to reflect on change without fear.
Here are tips from Mrs Mueller’s assembly:
- Don’t change everything at once
- Find information and answers
- Recognise the risks
- Predict the benefits
You can find out more about the excellent Pastoral Care at Kilgraston here.
Our lockdown windows
Lockdown has presented us all with challenges, one is that we cannot be together in person as a school community. So whilst we cannot be together physically, we asked our families and staff to share their home classroom and office windows.
Where some are enjoying sunshine, others are reveling in the snow, see where are Kilgraston family is around the world (music is by Kilgraston’s Clarsach Group). You can see another video of view from our windows here.
We are looking forward to having everyone back in school.
Kilgraston food bank drive
Kilgraston’s Charity and Community Prefect, Upper Sixth’s Katie, has been spearheading a drive to help local families facing food shortages with a campaign to donate to local food banks.
Kilgraston pupils and staff donated what they could to the food bank collection points at their local supermarket. Donations would go to their local food banks.
Thank you to everyone who kindly donated.
Kilgraston welcomes back its youngest Junior Year pupils
It’s been wonderful to see our youngest Junior Year pupils back in school this week. In line with Scottish Government regulations, our first three year groups were back in school and there have been plenty of smiles as the pupils got the chance to see their friends and be back in the classroom.
There was plenty of time to be outside for some snowdrop spotting and to enjoy tennis lessons with Kilgraston’s tennis coach, Billy McNeil.
Welcome back to those year groups and we look forward to seeing more of you back when we can.
Mrs MacGinty discusses the return to school on Radio Tay
Kilgraston’s Headmistress, Mrs Dorothy MacGinty, featured on local radio station, Radio Tay, to discuss the return to school.
Schools in Scotland have been closed again due to COVID-19 but today sees the return of the youngest pupils, in the Primary 1, 2 and 3 year groups.
You can listen to what Mrs MacGinty said via the link below, around 40 seconds in at the first news and then every half hour news slot thereafter.
Kilgraston discusses COVID in Scottish Business Insider magazine
Kilgraston’s Head of Finance, Mrs Moira Mackie, contributes to the latest Independent School supplement in Scottish Business Insider magazine.
In the article, Mrs Mackie discusses how, in spite of the challenges of COVID, Kilgraston has seen an increase in admissions enquiries and our strong pupil sign-up numbers.
You can read more on page of page eight of the latest edition of Scottish Business Insider magazine.
Kilgraston virtual open day February 2021
Kilgraston hosted its third virtual open day at the weekend.
In place of the usual in person open day events, COVID has meant all of our open days have been virtual since March 2020.
The event saw a panel of senior staff, pupils and parents take part with information on the advantages of the Scottish Examination system, boarding and even what the food at Kilgraston is like (delicious was the unanimous pupil response).
With the ease of attendence, virtual open days are proving particularly popular with our international families.
In case you missed it, you can watch the virtual open day session below. You can also watch some of our previous open day videos for information on the Kilgraston experience.
If you would like to find out more about to apply to Kilgraston, please contact [email protected].
