The Parade Square has teemed with Houses marching together at every opportunity over the past few weeks and in Houses, the smell of shoe polish has permeated throughout. It could only mean one thing – the Longmoor Drill competition, the most hotly-contested and oldest of all the Inter-House competitions. As well as being inspected, students are marked for their Drill. This year, the judges were Captain Levi Gray from the Irish Guards and Major Alistair Bexon of the Royal Welsh, both from Sandhurst. Major Bexon gave feedback to each House after their Drill and then to the Pipes and Drums, which he described as “superb”. In the end, Augusta and Balmoral Houses were announced as winners of the Talbot and Longmoor Cups, which will be presented at Annual.

Congratulations to the students who were confirmed on Sunday by the Bishop of Dorking, The Right Reverend Paul Davies, in the School Chapel of St Edward the Confessor. The candidates were joined by their families for the Service of Confirmation in which Bishop Paul spoke of the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Afterwards, Bishop Paul and the School Chaplain, the Reverend Graham Wright joined the candidates and their families for celebratory cake and tea in the Library.

The results are in and LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) students have excelled again, with 86 per cent passing their Grades, from one to eight, with Distinction and a further 13 per cent with Merit. A record 85 students took the exams for internationally recognised qualifications, shown to nurture creativity, build confidence and improve communication skills. Gordon's offers LAMDA lessons to all year groups in acting, devising drama, speaking verse and prose, reading for performance and speaking in public, as well as the Level 3 Shakespeare Syllabus. Congratulations to all of them.

For more information about LAMDA at Gordon's, please click here.

The half term holiday in May means just one thing for teachers at Gordon’s School, who won’t be putting up their feet and relaxing, but climbing mountains – three of them!

For four members of Gordon’s staff supported by two staff drivers, are taking on the National Three Peaks Challenge in the May half term holiday, aiming to make an ascent of 3064 metres, and walking 37km to scale the three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales within 24 hours.

The reason why they are training so hard and giving up part of their holiday, is to raise money for bursaries at Gordon’s so that more children may benefit from a Gordon’s education.

Houseparents Sam and Daisy Cooper, together with Creative Arts Director Kat Moore and Development Director Jemma Moreau, are taking on the challenge, supported by their drivers, Head of Transport Services Edwin Sutton and netball coach Tina Lowe. They have already surpassed their target of £1,000 and are hoping for even more as they train at every available opportunity.

Gordon’s is a state boarding school, founded in 1885 as a home for ‘necessitous boys’ and the National Memorial to General Gordon, at the insistence of Queen Victoria. It is now a top performing co-educational senior state school providing both day and residential boarding. Tradition and heritage stand at the heart of the school, which has continued its founding principle of providing for the ‘necessitous’ child through bursaries. The state funds the tuition fees with parents paying for the boarding aspect and extended day activities. The bursary programme ensures that no family is precluded from applying to Gordon’s for a day or residential place for financial reasons.

There are currently 60 children across the school on assisted bursary places and those asking for a bursary-assisted place increases every year. It might be that a parent has died or there is a redundancy in the family or perhaps a child is in desperate need of the security and stability afforded by boarding. Whatever the reason, the difference the bursary makes to their lives is seen every day by staff at the school.

Many staff at the school in West End already support the bursary scheme through their monthly salaries. Now the six of them have decided to take this huge step.

Sam Cooper, who is also Head of Boarding at the school, said: “Every day we see bursary children benefiting from being at Gordon’s, where they are nurtured and provided with the stable environment they need to flourish. As teachers, it is one of the most rewarding parts of our jobs. We want more children to benefit, which is why we are embarking on this challenge.”

 Donations can be made through JustGiving  here. 

Swapping Surrey Heath for the inhospitable terrain of Dartmoor, the Ten Tors team continue their practise for the ultimate navigation challenge in May when they will navigate to various checkpoints, across 35 miles while carrying their food, water and camping equipment. The group has been in training for the challenge since the start of the year. Three times a week they have braved the elements, before dawn-break for the opportunity of taking part. 

Eight students, six weeks and countless new skills!

From day one, these athletes pushed their limits—building patience, confidence, precision, mobility, and strength while learning the fundamentals of Olympic weightlifting.

The programme ended with the testing of each student’s max snatch attempt, resulting in a close battle across the board with much determination shown by all. Congratulations to Aden (Junior Champion) and Kian (Senior Champion). 

Olympic weightlifting now firmly established as a co-curricular activity!