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  • Gordonstoun
    Elgin
    Moray
    IV30 5RF
  • Head: Lisa Kerr
  • T 01343 837837
  • F 01343 837808
  • E [email protected]
  • W www.gordonstoun.org.uk
  • An independent school for boys and girls aged from 6 to 18.
  • Boarding: Yes
  • Local authority: Moray
  • Pupils: 547; sixth formers: 221
  • Religion: Christian Inter-denominational
  • Fees: Day £32,550 - £35,601; Boarding £45,900 - £48,990 pa
  • Open days: We are holding monthly Virtual Open Days – the dates are advertised on our website.
  • Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review

What says..

We’ve all heard schools talking about the importance of physical exercise, but Gordonstoun really does walk the walk. In fact, thanks to its founder, the inspirational Jewish educationalist Kurt Hahn, it invented the walk. Its 80 foot sail training vessel, Ocean Spirit, makes annual trips to destinations such as the Arctic. Pupils regularly leave for drama school. As part of the school’s fully trained fire service, pupils are called out to real blazes...

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What the school says...

As well as preparing students for exams, Gordonstoun prepares them for life.
The school’s uniquely broad curriculum encourages every individual to fulfil their potential academically, but it does more than that. It encourages students to fulfil their potential as human beings. The school motto is ‘Plus est en vous’ – There is more in you. At Gordonstoun, this sense of possibility is presented to its students, every single day.
‘It wasn’t until we saw the curriculum and the schedule of what they would be doing each day that we truly understood the difference between Gordonstoun and other schools.’ Current parent.
Gordonstoun’s remarkable location on a 200 acre woodland estate in the North of Scotland provides the background for its world beating outdoor education programme. Gordonstoun was the birth place of both the Outward Bound Movement and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, and expeditions to the Scottish Highlands or sail training on the School’s 80ft Sailboat are an integral part of the school’s day to day life. Students gain invaluable experience in being both leaders and team players and in having compassion and understanding for their fellows - and of themselves.
Active engagement in service to the local community also comprises a core part of Gordonstoun’s ‘working week’, further expanding the students’ sense of personal and social responsibility and building self-esteem.
Gordonstoun follows the English GCSE and A-Level curriculum. With a staff/pupil ratio of 1:7 and every student’s progress carefully overseen by their tutor, they go on Universities, Colleges and Art Schools all over the world.
The students at Gordonstoun inhabit a community which is both balanced and internationally dynamic. Pupils live and learn alongside fellow students from across the social, cultural and geographical board. And because Gordonstoun is one of the few remaining full boarding schools, it has a seven day programme which ensures that students are happily integrated and engaged. It also affords the opportunity to make full use of the comprehensive facilities on offer - which includes an expansive sports centre, a drama and dance centre and music studios.
The uniquely all-round education on offer at Gordonstoun provides its students with the chance to develop intellectually, emotionally, physically and spiritually because Gordonstoun understands that the broader the experience the broader the mind.
'I send my children to Gordonstoun because I want them to have an excellent academic education. But I want them to have more than that. I want them to enter the ever changing world with a sense of possibility and optimism about themselves and their options. It seems to me that the Gordonstoun’s uniquely broad curriculum gives them the best possible chance of achieving that.' Current parent (and former pupil)
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Other features

All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

School associations

Round Square - a network of 40 schools worldwide that share ideals such as internationalism, adventure and service.

Sports

Shooting

What The Good Schools Guide says

Principal

Since 2017, Lisa Kerr BA (music, York), a former governor at the school with a long career in business, mostly as a strategy and PR consultant. Married to John (Royal Marines officer) with three children at the school.

To be replaced in September 2024 by Peter Green, currently executive headmaster of Rugby School Group. Geography degree from Edinburgh, PGCE from St Andrew’s College (now Glasgow University). He began his teaching career at St Olave’s Grammar School, followed by Strathallan and Uppingham School where he was a housemaster and head of geography. Thence to Ampleforth College as second master before becoming head of Ardingly, then Rugby where he introduced the IB. He will be joined by his wife, Brenda, with whom he has two grown-up children. His interests include rugby football...

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Special Education Needs

Gordonstoun School provides learning support for students across the mainstream educational curriculum, within its dedicated Learning Support building, offering state of the art resources and ICT equipment. The department aims to build the confidence and self-esteem of all the students whilst meeting their specific learning challenges both in the Learning Support lessons and through collaborative approaches with mainstream colleagues. The school has over the years built upon its foundations in meeting the often diverse needs of its students by offering a diverse and unique curriculum, aiming to develop confident and competent young people for today's society.

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Aspergers
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders Y
CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia
Dyscalculia
Dysgraphia
Dyslexia Y
Dyspraxia
English as an additional language (EAL) Y
Genetic
Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory
Has SEN unit or class
HI - Hearing Impairment
Hospital School
Mental health
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Natspec Specialist Colleges
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
PD - Physical Disability
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Special facilities for Visually Impaired
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
VI - Visual Impairment

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