What a difference a day made! Over 600 students working for others and producing some fantastic results. They cleared graves, gardened, painted, set up a new 400 metre mountain bike track at school and delighted elderly residents in local care homes as well as one near neighbour whose wooden fence they replaced as well as transforming his garden. They sifted through donations at the Phyllis Tuckwell, helped at the Woking Foodbank; produced toys for Hearing Dogs and litter-picked in the Surrey Hills and West Wittering Beach and put their gardening skills to the test at Holy Trinity School; Holy Trinity Church, Aldershot FC and the school’s new Eco Loop. A fantastic day of helping out in the community where they really did make a difference.

A spectacular Summer’s evening for the Gordon’s Summer Arts, a celebration of the creative arts at Gordon’s and beyond. Queues for ice creams and Gordon’s umbrellas and picnic rugs as the temperature hit over 30 degrees! Kicking off a packed programme was the Pipes and Drums. Holy Trinity School Choir also entertained, as well as the Gordon’s Singers and every conceivable music band from the school as well as dancers and musical theatre performers. A special exhibition of art showed it’s not just the students with artistic talents but teachers too!

Students in Gordon's School Pipes and Drums had a once in a lifetime opportunity as they performed at Windsor Castle for His Majesty The King, the school Patron this week. The school is the National Memorial to General Charles Gordon and in this, its 140^th anniversary year, the Pipes and Drums are commemorating the event by performing in places associated with General Charles Gordon. Windsor Castle holds General Gordon’s Bible, which was given to Queen Victoria by his sister Augusta in March 1885. The Bible, now on display in the castle, was given to General Gordon on the day of his birth by a relative of his mother and on the flyleaf are the names and dates of each of his postings. Students were able to see the Bible in the King’s Drawing Room in the State Apartments.

For the special performance, Drum Major Lucy Carter led the Pipes and Drums through the George IV Gateway and into the Quadrangle of the Castle, watched by hundreds of tourists. There the students played a number of traditional Scottish melodies, including tunes that are said to be among His Majesty’s favourites!  The drummers performed Drummers’ Beating.

After the performance, The King spoke to all 52 members of the Pipes and Drums and joined them for a photograph. His Majesty also greeted many of the parents and staff.  

Two of the students, Harry Gordon and Logan Green, together with the Senior Pipe Major Iona Scotson, composed music for the bagpipes to mark the occasion, called Gordon’s Crown, a copy of which was presented to His Majesty.

Afterwards, The King’s Piper, Pipe Major Paul Burns told the student band: “The King thoroughly enjoyed it. The sound of it inside the quadrangle was absolutely fantastic, so well done everybody, keep up the hard work!”

Headmaster Andrew Moss spoke of his pride at seeing their performance, adding: “This is probably the most unique thing you have done, so keep it, treasure it and look after it. The King said ‘I do hope the Pipes and Drums keeps going forever’.

The school was originally opened as a home for ‘necessitous boys’ in 1885 at Queen Victoria’s insistence that a fitting National Memorial be created in honour of General Gordon. It became a school in 1943 and is now one of the most successful state boarding schools in England, rated ‘Outstanding’ by OFSTED both for boarding and academic. Queen Victoria became the first in an unbroken line of Sovereign Patrons of the school, with HM King Charles III accepting the Patronage last year.

Since its inception it has boasted a Pipes and Drums Band. Today around 50 students play for the band on either the bagpipes, snare, tenor or bass drums.

As well as taking part in the school’s annual Whitehall Parade in London, the Pipes and Drums compete in the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships and have played for the Last Post Association at Menin Gate in Ypres, the Lord Mayor’s Parade and the Tartan Parade in New York. In 2022 the school was partnered with the National Piping Centre, a national and international centre of excellence for bagpipes.

As part of the Pipes and Drums celebration for the school’s 140^th anniversary, they are performing in places associated with General Gordon. Included is St Paul’s Cathedral; Westminster Abbey, Chatham, Gravesend and Rochester Cathedral.

Taking to the skies above Gloucestershire, the RAF CCF cadets with 612 Volunteer Gliding Squadron at Little Rissington. Particularly special for our cadets as one was flown by Gordonian Liz Mockeridge, whose father, Squadron Leader Peter Mockeridge has been involved in Gordon's RAF section for many years. Thank you 612 Volunteer Gliding Squadron!

The end of their GCSE exams – finally! As the last papers were handed in for the majority of the Year 11 students, they took up their indelible markers and congregated on the Front Field to sign each other’s shirts. Congratulations to all of them for their hard work and determination in their public exams. The year group will reunite on July 1st to celebrate properly with their Prom.