1990s: Jacqueline McKie (nee Gordon): Kilquhanity Pupil
. . . . When I was ten years old, I started at the Russell School (Beacon Hill and went on to Dartington two years later – because there were few older children at Beacon Hill. The reason that I was sent to Kilquhanity was that my father felt that Dartington was in a dangerous place in those war-time days of invasion fears and that Scotland seemed safely remote. So – I was not greatly pleased with the move – at the age of fifteen to leave all ones friends seems pretty drastic.
Now, nearly fifty years on, I am delighted that I had that chance to experience Kilquhanity, particularly in its beginnings. Of the staff who were there then, half a dozen and their descendants, are amongst the people I care most about in the world.
Academically I learned a bit and could have probably learned more had I applied myself more but I learned things about living and about other people, of which I had never thought before. Part it of was due to the personalities of a dedicated and gifted group of young teachers and even more came from the real attempt to live as a small community from which, as anyone who has tried it will testify, one learns a great deal, sometimes the hard way.
The parts played by John and Morag Aitkenhead have, of course, been unique. John’s ability to relate and inspire children of all ages, over so many years, has been wonderful and would not have been possible without Morag’s quiteter but just as essential, organiser and administrative ability.
John and Morag
A thing which I have never entirely understood is that although I have never overcome a fear of the dark, at Killy the darkness held no terrors and I always felt safe.
Among its positive virtues Kilquhanity has a real talent for celebrations. The memories of those Mid-summers and Hallow E’ens are a joy. To see the kids and staff preparing for these and other, celebrations, is to see real outpouring of creative energy and cooperation – which is a pretty rare thing in the world today. As to the question of whether a school like Kilquhanity is still needed, I would say that it is – particularly in this Thatcher Ice Age but even beyond it – the world needs magic and that is what, at its best, Kilquhanity has always had.
Of course, Kilquhanity has had imperfections. I was fortunate in the fact that there was fairly stable staff at the time I was there. The fact that the school has not been able to pay enough or have the kind of career structure to keep young teachers for long, has been a weakness and added difficulties for the future. . . . Some of the staff who have left in the past may have done so because of lack of commitment but often it was just because they couldn’t afford to stay long.
