Kilgraston

The past twelve months have thrown up unprecedented challenges for today’s keen young minds. At Perthshirebased Kilgraston School, staff have been working tirelessly to adapt and provide their children with the tools necessary to flourish in these testing times. What’s more, headmistress Dorothy MacGinty realises that providing the children with a supportive community is more important than ever before.

Of course, the Coronavirus pandemic has placed stronger emphasis on coursework, and ensuring remote learning meets and exceeds expectations is at the heart of Kilgraston’s 2021 plan. Mrs MacGinty told Scottish Field that the teachers’ ICT skills have ‘sky-rocketed’ in the last year, and that Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings between staff and pupils have helped maintain a high level of tuition, tailored to meet the needs of every student.

‘The pastoral support here is very strong, and our tutors are still in touch with the children on a one-to-one level,’ she says. ‘We have developed a very strong careers programme and we’re also using Unifrog – a platform on which the children can do self-evaluation, and work with their tutors right from S1. By the time they are preparing their Personal Statements and deciding which career path to go down, they’re already very well prepared. We’ve got small tutor groups in Sixth Form, so the tutors spend a lot of time with each girl.’

Nurturing mental well-being has also become even more crucial during lockdown, so Mrs MacGinty has ensured that extra curricular activities and PE lessons are still being offered to the pupils. Even the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme is ongoing, with regular planning meetings scheduled between staff and pupils.

‘We’re keeping as many activities going as we possibly can,’ says Mrs MacGinty. ‘One of our big drives last year was Women In Business, and we’ve been continuing to develop that this year. The girls also joined the Young Enterprise Scotland Scheme where they set up their own company. Last year, we won the regional final for Tayside. We noticed last year a big increase in the number of girls going on to university to study business.’

Subjects including Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology have also proven immensely popular at Kilgraston in recent years, with 55% of girls going on to study a STEM subject at university level. ‘Looking at the UCAS applications, that figure is almost 60% this year,’ says Mrs MacGinty. ‘That includes everything from engineering to medicine, dentistry, maths, biomedical science, and medical engineering.’

The school, based just an hour from Edinburgh and Glasgow in Bridge of Earn, offers education for girls aged 5 to 18 and co-ed from 5 to 12, and equips them with the professional and interpersonal skills to give them the best start in life. Even in these testing times, Kilgraston has seen an increase in domestic boarding. ‘It takes away the travel, they get all their activities, they get a chance to study supervised, it’s a lovely environment, and they’re with their friends,’ says Mrs MacGinty. What’s more, the school’s reputation goes before it, having ranked in the top tier of independent schools in the UK year on year. In 2020, every girl in Upper Sixth was given a place in their first choice of university.

As part of the Sacred Heart Network, Kilgraston’s founding values centre around personal growth, intellectual values, respect and integrity – and these remain an integral part of everyday life at the school. Each pupil is encouraged and empowered to develop their own strengths, personality, and abilities before setting out to pursue their dreams in adult life.

CONTACT

T: 01738 812 257 E: admissions@kilgraston.com kilgraston.com