Would-be engineers and aviators enjoyed a spectacular day of flying displays and static aircraft at the The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford. The CCF RAF students visited during the ‘Futures Day’, which is aimed at showcasing careers in aviation and which included interactive stands for budding aviators and engineers. The students were also given a private tour of a Boeing Poseidon MRA1 (P-8A) multi-role maritime patrol aircraft!
Baking temperatures, rain and boot blow-outs! Sixth Form students on the The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Gold in the Black Mountains, Wales have experienced it all on their four day/three night practice expedition. Later this month they will head to Snowdonia for the final expedition. Good luck to them all!
A whole school celebration of the school’s 140th Anniversary as Gordonians, parents, students and staff joined together today for Prize Giving and the Annual Parade. Inspecting the Parade and presenting prizes, was the Guest of Honour Major General Peter Rowell MBE Commandant and Chief Executive of the Defence Academy of the UK. Recent successes including national wins for the golf team and the Gordon's School Pipes and Drums’ visit to Windsor Castle were celebrated today along with individual and House prizes and cups. Gordonians also attended their Memorial Service in the School Chapel and took part in the ‘Big Blaw’ giving them the opportunity to play the bagpipes alongside students in the Pipes and Drums.
Top three places for Gordon’s golf teams in the National Schools Golf national team stableford finals at Royal Ashdown Forest GC with Gordon’s also clinching fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth places – a stunning result with seven teams finishing in the top ten! The top two places in the scratch event also went to Gordon’s! Congratulations to all!
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.
Make a Difference (MAD) Day has arrived. Over 600 students across the school going out into the community to make a difference. They are painting, litter-picking, renovating gardens, clearing graves and helping in care homes, schools and foodbanks. Coaches are ready to take the students to West Wittering Beach, Aldershot FC, Bagshot Gardens Care Home, St John the Baptist School, Manor Green School, Horsell Care Home, the Surrey Hills, Surrey Wildlife Trust, Woking Foodbank. Back at school, we are welcoming Hearing Dogs for the Deaf.
Pictured are students are cleaning the pews and clearing the graveyard and gravestones at Holy Trinity Church, West End. Many of the gravestones are dedicated to Gordonians who died in the First and Second World Wars while not much older than the students cleaning them.
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!
With their A Levels now behind them, the Year 13s were able to enjoy a special evening with each other and the staff who may have taught them for the past seven years. A beautiful sunny evening on which to catch up and make more memories.
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 140th 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 140th anniversary, they are performing in places associated with General Gordon. Included is St Paul’s Cathedral; Westminster Abbey, Chatham, Gravesend and Rochester Cathedral.
On track for a great career in long jump, Caleb Kuwana, whose jump of 6.10 metres in the South East Regional Inter-Counties Schools’ Athletics Championships has earned him a place in the English Schools’ Athletic Association’s National Championships in Birmingham next month. Caleb, representing Surrey, is now ranked fifth in the UK for U15 long jump. Congratulations Caleb!
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!
A stunning celebration of strings in the Chapel last night as individuals, trios and the senior string orchestra joined to perform for the Summer String Soiree. The event featured new talent as well as music scholars playing a range of pieces including ones by Mozart, Bach, Elgar and Shoskakovich.
