The Gordonstoun student experience is very different. While some aspects of life and certain items in the curriculum may be shared by other schools, it is the comprehensive and compelling nature of our distinctiveness, influencing all Gordonstoun students, which make it unique.
Four Pillars to a Gordonstoun Education
There are four main educational principles, called pillars, to unlocking the success of a Gordonstoun education and upon which the School’s unique curriculum is based:
Challenge
Reflected in the school motto, challenge is central to the Gordonstoun ethos and is evident in all aspects of the curriculum.
Responsibility
Students are given a high level of responsibility both to manage their own lives and to play a real part in running the school.
Service
Students regularly work in, and with, the local community and become members of one of the School’s twelve services.
Internationalism
Students are encouraged to develop an international outlook which is consolidated by exchange programmes and service to communities overseas.
These four principles are inspired by Kurt Hahn, a German educationalist and founder of the School and each of them represents a part of the whole curriculum for each and every student at Gordonstoun. Although they express the ideas and beliefs of Hahn, they also reflect the School’s Mission Statement and are still as relevant in current educational thinking today as they were in 1934 when the School was founded.
Outdoor Education
We believe that students learn through experience rather than simple instruction. Our unique programme of outdoor education is therefore also an essential part of the curriculum for all students in both the Junior and Senior School and includes expeditions, adventurous activities and seamanship, including term-time voyages on the School’s 80 foot sail training vessel, Ocean Spirit of Moray.
