Gordonstoun school

[squidge]

Lately I have had reason to visit gordonstoun school. I went along determined to be as open minded as possible. I don't believe in private education and was not sure what I would make of this school. The overriding impression myself and my companion came away with was one of warmth and ordinariness. I found no evidence of snobbery or snootiness and I was impressed.

One of the things I had read was the emphasis on service, the pupils choose a service to belong to. Although this is very commendable I did not realise how complete this service is. I sort of assumed that it was an hour or so a week of voluntary work and was surprised to find it was much more than that. Take the fire service for example. Gordonstoun has it's own fire service run by the students. Very commendable but what I didn't know is these student volunteers are fully trained reserve firefighters. The station is an operational station, the students carry pagers and attend fires and call outs in the locality supporting the full time service in Elgin. Last year they attended 31 fires. They do the same training as all other reserve firefighters. They do the same for the coastguard, mountain rescue and other services. I was very surprised.

I was wondering whether anyone else had been to this school in any capacity and what you thought.

[squidge]

I was looking for some REAL knowledge or experience. It's an interesting issue for me just now.

[theone]

Firstly, I've no problem with private education, if people can afford to give their kids the best then they should be allowed to do just that. That goes for other things, beyond education, also. Each to their own.

As for my personal opinion of theprivately educated, most of the ones I have had dealings with have impressed me as people.

I find it hard to put a finger on it, but you can just tell that they're well educated. They have an "air" about them and it shines through in their debating and reasoning skills.

As for "joining a service", I think that's indicative of the values they are taught. They seem to learn a lot more "life skills" and develop a sense of duty that perhaps the public schools offer.

Sweeping generalisations on my behalf, I concede that, but genuine observations none the less.

I've never felt intimidated or looked down upon by anyone privately educated and have never experienced, or been affected by, snobbery. I think it's a two way street, and that "poshness" is often deduced from an accent or mannerism, then, wrongly, confused as snootiness.

[golach]

Not really worth the post Golach. I was looking more for some REAL knowledge or experience. A three year old newspaper article and a description of the place from 50 years ago is not really any use at all. I am Surprisingly enough capable of a google search by myself and I'm sure you know me well enough to know I would have found those articles before I even drove down the drive.

Squidge I have removed my post, I meant to add smilies in my post to show I was not serious

[ducati]

Talking generally about private education. People associate it with privilege. I was entered for my local private Grammar School by my desperate parents after I failed my 11+. I saved my family fortune by failing the entrance exam. It was full of Mechanical Math, which as a child of the "new math" experiment, I didn't have a lot of experience of.

I have worked with a chap whose entire family went Eton. He was able to enrol his own son at birth as a result. One of the most genuine people I have ever known.

[squidge]

Squidge I have removed my post, I meant to add smilies in my post to show I was not serious

Oops. That will teach me to post when I can't get to sleep. I'm sorry I was a little grumpy. I think I will amend my post and I apologise for jumping down your virtual throat.

Sorry :(

[rob1]

I was a pupil at Gordonstoun for 5 years and left about 10 years ago. I never found any form of snobbery at all with pupils coming from all walks of life with some only coming because of full scholarships to those that are royalty.
I was in the fire service when I was there. It's nice to see that fire prevention in Moray is working. We used to get between 60 to 80 calls a year.

[Dustybits]

Our daughter is in her final year at Gordonstoun (isn't it spooky our nickname for her is Squidge!!). She'll have done 4 years there and the person coming out at the end is a whole different one than the moody goth who went in!! They dont try to produce academic excellence, but rather a 'well-rounded citizen'. She's done the first-aid service, helping St. John's Ambulance at events, and last year she did 3 weeks up a remote mountain in Thailand living with locals in mud huts and building a fresh water project for them. Totally life-changing experiences for them and well worth every penny. We're certainly not what you'd call posh, but lucky enough to be working in the Middle East so are able to give her a fantastic start in life. Their motto sums it up......Plus Est En Vous ("There is more in you!")

DB