Kilgraston

Now more than ever, young people must be ready to take on whatever challenges might lie ahead and have the ability to adapt to new environments. A Perthshire-based school for girls is aiming to provide its pupils with the skills they need to do exactly that. Kilgraston School in Bridge of Earn already has some impressive credentials when it comes to running business and enterprise projects for its pupils with the school winning the regional finals for Tayside at Young Enterprise Scotland last year, an impressive achievement considering it was the school’s first time taking part.

Current headmistress Dorothy MacGinty told Scottish Field, ‘We teach our girls to be very resilient and that they can expect to have multiple careers throughout their lives so we prepare them for that. We’ve seen more girls apply to study business at universities along with economics and law.’

Kilgraston has been teaching Business Management for the past 6-7 years, but the aim is now to press on and turn the school into a ‘business hub’ so that it becomes the go-to destination for any ambitious girls looking to enter the world of business, knowing that they will be fully nurtured and mentored to bring out and develop their entrepreneurial spirit.

The Coronavirus pandemic has also placed more importance on coursework and preliminary examinations than ever before. ‘Moving forward, we will build on our existing communication to pupils so they understand the need to study hard right from the beginning of the school year and all assessments and coursework will represent each girl’d level of knowledge and understanding.” ’ says Mrs MacGinty. With that being said, pupils and staff at Kilgraston have been celebrating an impressive new record for exam results this year, with 100% of girls achieving Grades A to C at Advanced Higher level and 93.6% achieving Grade A to B at Higher level.

Each day there’s also plenty of opportunity to continue learning whilst having fun outside of the classroom with the school’s extra-curricular programme offering over 50 different activities including art, meditation, opera, baking and horse riding. ‘We’ve seen an increased interest in boarding this year from domestic boarders and I think it’s because the girls get to do everything here in school. Pupils are seeing the benefit of boarding even if it’s just weekly boarding and then going home at the weekend.

‘We develop the girls’ confidence early so from the age of five they are making presentations and contributing to assemblies. We want them to be comfortable in their own skin and able to contribute their own thoughts and ideas in the best way possible. One of the key things we focus on is soft skills; being able to work both independently and in a team, how to debate and when to listen. These are hugely important skills when it comes to employability in the future.’

The school’s founding traditions as part of the Sacred Heart Network reinforces its values, as does its Scottish education heritage. Trust, respect, integrity and responsibility lie at the heart of Kilgraston’s community and underpin the academic achievements of each of the school’s students. Each girl is encouraged to grow, learn and mature in an atmosphere of freedom and opportunity.