Why service matters at Gordonstoun
Service at Gordonstoun is concerned with fostering and developing a sense of responsibility and a feeling of care towards all fellow beings.
It builds on the experience of responsibility within the School community, transferring this to society at large.
It involves each student demonstrating a willingness to give up his or her time and effort to benefit another individual or group without expecting return or reward.
Our students are involved in:
Service helps students develop a sense of social responsibility and sensitivity to people from different backgrounds and circumstances. Putting others before self is a commitment and a discipline that will live with them as they go through life.
Service is a significant passage in the journey towards citizenship. Each student should appreciate service by experiencing it in practice as a member of a Service and through international service projects.
Service is also an excellent way of fostering links with the local community and of increasing self esteem.
Training in and for service is an essential aspect of preparation for making a difference in life. Service therefore involves the acquiring of skills and qualifications.
Gordonstoun students visit residential homes, nursery schools, hospitals and centres for people with disabilities, both to help and to learn.
Some, for example, help with Riding for the Disabled while others help less advantaged members of the community to develop computer skills.
Within the School, some help with the crèche while others take part in the very popular National Children's Home activity evening at the sports centre.
All Community Service members help to prepare and organise the popular and successful annual Christmas Party, where they entertain carers and those whom they help and visit.
Students who are members of other services are always welcome to become Community Service members as a second service and to obtain a placement that will help them achieve Duke of Edinburgh Award qualifications.
Students also work on environmental schemes in and around Gordonstoun and further afield.
Typically, work involves renovating, conserving and managing habitats and maintaining coastal paths.
Students organise recycling throughout the School, consulting and working with the local authority.
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Rescue and Emergency services
Gordonstoun assists Coastguards who are on call along a craggy 50-mile stretch of the Moray Firth, while our Mountain Rescue Unit and the Nordic Ski Patrol play a part in search and rescue operations in the mountains and forests of the nearby Highlands.
The Gordonstoun Fire Service, part of Grampian Fire and Rescue Service, houses two campus-based fire-fighting appliances and responds to call-outs in the locality on a frequent basis.
Members of our Lifeguards, Canoe Lifeguards and Special Boat Service, learn to save life in and from water. They assist with searches, safety patrols and help police and others in the community when needed.
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